doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Hoarder or a Collector

Glad I'm not the only one, Buzz. Few things bug me as much as the special handshake guys, regardless of the sphere of interest.

I love the way Don (Rocketman) brings order to chaos on a few different subjects and I think he has done it again here. A sensible group of categories. I think I fall into the collector-shooter group, because while I want to be able to shoot all my guns, I'll put up with a less than perfect shooter if I like the gun for other reasons.

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.

skeettx used the same term I use. I'm an Accumulator too and Our tastes seem similar, but I do lean heavily toward German guns, and mostly buy things that interest me mechanically that are "cheap in price" and often rare. I find single action Colts, Lugers, toggle-link Winchesters, and LC Smiths to be over priced compared to actual worth, so I mostly leave them alone. Rare doesn't mean expensive,( ie Standard Arms Mod M or Haenel Mod 09 Para.)if not one of the "cool" types.
Mike

Many of my generation think of hoarding as stocking up to keep our bellies filled in times of scarcity, a kind of selfishness. I doubt that ever applied to guns. What I see is consumerism, a manufactured or otherwise need to have things we like. I began to see that possessions are a burden---their numbers didn't provide more pleasure---and weaning off to own the best for my missions gave more satisfaction. (This board made me slip once but I got it under control.)

There're always exceptions, but the kinds of gun shops I like to poke around in had to have been accumulated by serious long time hoarders. King, I think it's sad that you refer to your generation of doers as selfish for planning ahead. It's way more selfish to be unprepared, and then assume entitlement to the fruits of a neighbor's hard work.

Good to hear from you, craig. I don't think of my generation as selfish, weaned as it was on the Depression. I meant to refer to hoarding as behaviour of people below the salt who put themselves before others and acquired deserved opprobrium for it: sort of the way majorities now look on chewing tobacco and spitting in public as a filthy and disgusting habit. My time was of scarcity, ration books, and those who cut corners to get more than their share of a scarce source were called "hoarders." That's different from being resourceful, being prepared, acting responsibly. Hoarding doesn't enter into guns in my opinion; always lots of those.

Mirror mirror on the wall ....


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Just flew in from Halifax. Boy are my arms tired!

In, my opinion, collectors have a focus. Accumulators do not. Most people who consider themselves "collectors" are not. They are merely accumulators who want to see what it's like to own, shoot, and show off shotguns, rifles, or handguns that have some appeal for them. They have no focus on gauge, caliber, grade, condition, uniqueness, or rarity. They may buy a certain model or brand, but no real hard specifics are used otherwise.

Bob Cash's Model 21's are perfect examples of an accumulation. No real criteria were used other than a desire to acquire a certain gun because it was neat, it looked good, he like it, and would be a good version for "x" usage. Not judging, just saying.
JR

To me they�re like collecting $100 bills.
Certain guns are just like money in the bank.
JR, look closely, most of my Model 21 COLLECTION are sub gauges, That was my focus.

Really? We can only be collectors if we follow your criteria. Is that it? How about the focus is SxS shot guns? Is that too broad to be allowed under your rules? Maybe German or French SxS shotguns? Or SxS shotguns made before the Great War? Would that qualify?

The ego required to tell us what constitutes "collecting" is staggering. And not in a good way.

The problem, John, is that the words "collector" and "collecting" actually have a very broad meaning. You can't narrow it's definition for all of us to suit what you imagine it means...for you. I suspect you need to find a different word...or add some modifiers to make your meaning clear.