Why do you collect?

[botsdots]

Felt like I'd get a better response here than under general discussion...

I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I'm curious what generally drives your collecting?

I've tried to enumerate the reasons why one would want to collect anything.... what's funny is it seems like a lot of folks here "collect" ARs. My (relatively recent) collection started as a collection of engineering and aesthetics. I'm an engineer so am enamored by the physical function of most weapons. But lately I've been really getting into the stories behind the guns. What they are and why they exist.

So that's it, what drives you? The hunt? The story? The aesthetics? The engineering? The investment?

[ECG_88]

Felt like I'd get a better response here than under general discussion...

I'm sure this has been asked and answered, but I'm curious what generally drives your collecting?

I've tried to enumerate the reasons why one would want to collect anything.... what's funny is it seems like a lot of folks here "collect" ARs. My (relatively recent) collection started as a collection of engineering and aesthetics. I'm an engineer so am enamored by the physical function of most weapons. But lately I've been really getting into the stories behind the guns. What they are and why they exist.

So that's it, what drives you? The hunt? The story? The aesthetics? The engineering? The investment?

I would say all of those things drive my collection. History I guess falls under "the story" even if that gun doesn't have a real story. For example, a Sharps 1865 Cavalry Carbine is cool because they were made for the civil war, but then were converted to single shot cartridge instead of muzzle loaded. I don't know if the particular rifle was used by any famous person or battle, but the general history as just as cool as the specific history.

One other category would be "The Rarity." Maybe its special because of how uncommon it is.

[Donkeypunch0420]

I love guns and history. C&R's are a natural progression for someone with those interests. Doesn't hurt to have a vivid imagination too.

[Spaffo]

I like to collect and shoot the old milsurp stuff.

[Romeo_alpha01]

I’m also about the history and technological significance of the firearms I collect. What influence did it have in firearms? Why is it so well received despite being a niche design? Sometimes the pistols I have develop a sense of cache or novelty, and I would collect based on that too. I also really enjoy seeing firearm design language of different countries.

My collection is pretty scrambled, so let’s see how you interpret me as a collector:

HK USP Compact
HK USP
HK MK23
HK P7M13
HK HK45C
Walther P88
Walther P99
Walther Q5 Match
IMI Jericho 941
IMI Desert Eagle
FN Five Seven MKIi
Beretta 92D
Benelli M3

[SlowDrifter]

I didn't intend to, but I wound up collecting Belgian A5's. I had a spell where I just kept tripping over them for cheap. My "collection" ranges from 1913 at the oldest to 1969 being the newest. Case in point, a guy was selling the 1913 as broken because it wouldn't cycle shells. Bought it for $150.00 for parts. It's a 2.5" chamber, not 2.75". Duh... The 1969 L-12 has exactly one shot fired through it. I took it out, killed one dove with it, and put it back in the box. The kid who'd inherited it made me some low-ball offer. Once I saw it I upped his offer a couple hundo just so I could sleep at night and marched it home. Yeah....kinda' tripped over my "collection". Got about 20 of them now.

[81turbota]

Quick interpretation- you favor foreign guns.

[sbo80]

I like the history, and imagining the story of a rifle. I won't pay for "documented xyz" cause I'm not a museum, but it's the mystery I like. I also have no interest in never-fired, never-issued old rifles, I want something that's been used. Knowing that at some time, some soldier had to carry this very rifle around. Whether he fired it in battle or walked back and forth guarding a truck depot is irrelevant, I feel like it connects me back to that time. My first C&R was a mosin, made in france, sent to Russia, went who-knows-where, ended up in Finland, and rebuilt into a nice M39. Pretty cool.

[ARFrog]

History - to chase the bunny trail of providence of a M1 carbine or evolution of a Winchester lever gun or 22 pump

Sentimentality - to pick up a rifle "like" my dad or grandfather had once upon a time

Wonder - at the fine craftsmanship and/or beautiful wood on an old rifle

Mysticism - sometimes they just "call to you"

[Unsilenced]

A lot of it for me is just the feel of a previous time and place. Unusual aesthetics and unique mechanical elements are two of the biggest selling points to me, but I also like guns with some interesting fact about how they came to be. Shootability is a must. Even if they're not exactly high performers, I have to be able to make it go boom. More than once, ideally.

Special provenance is less interesting, and far more expensive besides. I don't really care for guns that are "bubba'd" or altered by collectors to resemble a different model, but I don't mind if a gun of mine has the wrong cleaning rod or such on it. Probably the only reason I could afford it anyways.

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I have so many interests in the C&R realm, that it is easier to list what I do NOT have any interest in collecting. I have dabbled in some of these, but they did not stick around:

Muskets / Black Powder
Mausers other than 8mm
Japanese milsurps
Old West / Cowboy Stuff
Any oddball caliber that requires reloading or $$ ammo
Pocket / Hideout Guns
Bayonets / Knives Unless Paired to a specific rifle

[The Gleam]

I collect cosmoline; if I happen to find a gun in all that goop, well that's just a plus. Like finding the prize in a box of Cracker-Jack.

[botsdots]

What a diverse group of responses. I think the stories are a common thread as well as the joy of shooting them. Thanks for the insight!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[highpower]

I love history and for me the guns I collect embody that history. While I primarily hoard collect US arms, lately I have been dipping my toes in acquiring more foreign guns. Currently the collection has out grown my safe and then a vault I built in the house. I am starting to think that I may have a bit of a problem here.

[loademup]

I like history too, but collecting Mil Surps and Curio & Relic guns was an offshoot growing out of having guns around anyway for personal protection and recreation. You buy one Mil Surp or Curio & Relic...then see another....and another and pretty soon you get hooked...you've got the gun collecting bug...a disease that can waste away your wallet,bank account or retirement fund these days.

Now, I have no more storage room left and no room to add more storage, so my gun buying days are probably over unless I sell some of the ones I have...which I can't find myself doing right now because I never would be able to have the same collection for the price I paid for them yesteryear and if I could find the same guns today.


It also seems to me it was a lot easier to be a gun collector years ago and further back (if you had the money) than it is today price-wise, supply and demand-wise and regulatory-wise (especially if you live in California).