Most collectors I know are mostly educated caretakers. The good one keep guns for us to enjoy later. Some just collect thinking theirs are the greatest collection on Earth. It's ego. Don't care. Collect, buy, inherit, find its all the same to them. Makes them feel better about themselves.

I stopped being a serious collector when I sold my Winchester Model 70 collection. I had a decent one with many rare examples but had friends whose collection made mine look like a pawn shop. Didn't care then or now. I liked what I had and had several that they did not. It's funny watching another collector who can't put a gun down because they just have to buy it. The impulse is so strong.

Now I am more a shooter/collector. Few guns I own are ones I won't or can't shoot. A couple are too old, too weak to risk life or limb. Those have been made safe so others won't shoot them by accident thinking them safe to shoot. The rest all get shot some or I intend to shoot them someday. You know how that goes.