doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - reality...

Spent the last few days working at MW Reynolds to allow the owner to deal with some personnel matters. It was fun to be back in the gunroom and using the tools I'd used for many years to measure-up a bunch of guns that had come into the shop. When Mark's business started, it was a gunshop that sold a few cloths. Over time things have evolved into it becoming a clothing store that sells a few guns. Oh well, things change, right? What triggered this post is a large number of guns that came out of the estate of a local gentleman we've known and dealt with for many years that time has finally caught-up with. His daughter had stopped at the shop to drop off the last of the rifles she'd removed from the house before it was to be disposed of. This individual (an old school gentleman) was into all types of firearms but rifles were clearly his passion and I found myself measuring Super Grade Winchesters and pre-war Model 70s the like of which I haven't seen in years. There were/are also a number of custom rifles by some makers that I'd only heard of (Jerry Fisher, Keith Stegall, etc.). Really got me to thinking about what will happen to my little assortment of implements and how treasured they were at the time of my acquisition of each. As society evolves (for better or for worse) the tokens of wealth and success seem to change as well. Values also change, both societal and personal, and the result is that once-treasured items (i.e. a Super Grade Winchester) become just another old item that needs to be moved along. When places to hunt diminish, less people participate and the need (and appreciation) for the tools used in that pursuit diminish as well. Wood-stocked firearms will always be beautiful to me but if you ask a 20-something male about his desired firearm treasures these days the answer inevitably will be something far-more modern and military-based. All this makes me a bit sad normally but somehow this time it just made me wonder at it all. Just where do I fit in this passage of time and how will my toys be disbursed upon my passing? Clearly I'm in no hurry to find this out, but for really....the first time I'm considering it dispassionately, and hopefully pragmatically. Those with children will have a course of action in mind, and if their children hunt (or even shoot) then that course is even clearer. But so-many of our clients over the years have either not had children or had children that simply weren't interested in their pursuits and thus those guns inevitably come back to us after their owners move-on. Going forward, this thought process will likely shape many of my decisions.

They gave him great pleasure during his life, which is all there is to be thankful for. The fact that they may not give pleasure to his heirs is sad for the heirs, but doesnt take away the owner's pleasure at his collection. I will try not to be disappointed if my heirs dont see things my way--it's their life to use as they want. Im just glad I got to live mine and enjoy it. Somebody will end up with bits and pieces of all our collections and make them his own collection, which he will enjoy. So, collections are reborn out of the rubble, like the phoenix. JMHO.

I've been doing the mental gymnastics of looking at the treasured possessions I've accumulated over the years myself.

Having never been married & not having any children or extended family that are into hunting or guns. I made the big decision to sell off a major portion of my gun gatherings this year. Many factors came into this decision with the overriding one that I didn't want to leave the headache of leaving a bunch of guns to someone in the family who would need to find a way to dispose of them. My thinking was; I've had my fun & enjoyment out of them and have a bunch of money wrapped up in these material items sitting in a safe 99.9% of the time and I might as well get my money out of them and use it for other things which I have more interest in at present.

I took a good hard look at my guns and decided which ones I really like and use on a regular basis. I kept those guns & the rest have gone down the road to new caretakers. I'm at the stage in life in early retirement that my hunting & travel adventures mean more to me than a bunch of guns sitting in a safe. I'm now going to use some of the funds from my guns to pay for doing adventures on my check-off list. I might as well use my money to do the things that enrichen my life rather than leave a major headache to the family member I've named to dispose of my estate when I'm gone.

I'm not out of the gun game completely-I've just modified the rules of how the game is played for me. I still have the guns I truly like to hunt with and can shoot clays, hunt any bird or game animal in north America & am very comfortable with my decisions at this point.