Deep thoughts this morning: I work in the oilfield and live in the best state in the world, so naturally I find myself in conversations about guns on a pretty regular basis. Anything from shotguns to pistols to precision rifle, and anything in between. I would have to say that a VAST majority of the folks I talk to have a QUANTITY focus, with little regard to QUALITY. Sure, there are guys with lots of money that buy quality guns, but the primary focus is still on quantity. It's like success is defined by how many guns you can accrue, and happiness is derived from sitting around the house finger-banging them.

Why do so many folks get bit by the Gun Collector Virus? How many people do you know that have a gun safe full of mediocre firearms that they will never become proficient with?

If you find yourself saying "that's me" to the description above, I'd like to advocate for a change in your focus. Pick one gun from each genre that gets the job done. If you've got 2 or 3 mediocre ones, sell them all and get one really nice one. Then get good at it. Let proficiency define success for you.

Guns are just another type of tool that's entrenched in a person's culture. I made the arguement once that wanting to own firearms is in your DNA. Some called that foolishness, but perhaps were those who argue the sky is not blue if I said it was. Some people have no interest at all in owning any firearm, while others can't own enough of them. It's no different than some folks can fix anything, while others can't turn a screwdriver. I come from a long lineage of men with mechanical ability who hunted and owned firearms, even though my dad was not one of them. Yes, I believe such things can and often skip certain individuals. Just like the case with sporting dogs, if the genetics are there, they will surface as the lineage grows, given that traits are practiced over time.

As for quality vs quantity, that too might be in one's DNA, but it might also be a matter of choice. There are guys who will pay out the nose for Snap Ons, while others are completely content buying from Harbor Frieight, even though they can afford more expensive tools. I can also see a person wanting a high quality firearm that's pretty to look at but afraid to use in fear that it somehow become blemished. Others just want a true knockabout gun that can be literally thrown around and beat up and yet still serve its intended purpose. Personally, I'm someone who falls in the middle when it comes to guns and other tools. I want something of decent quality that gets the job done without it having to be a Snap On.

I think the “quantity” come from the fun guys have searching out and trying new guns. In other words (not unlike ladies with 1000 pair of shoes), it’s more about the thrill of the hunt than the actual thing itself.

Even a worldwide hunter only “needs” about 5-6 guns. Most of us have many more than that because it’s fun looking for and trying out new guns.

As quality/proficiency thing, IMO once you move above the $500 range most guns are pretty good quality - so one can be just as proficient (for hunting anyway) with a $500 rifle as a $3000 rifle. Even most “cheap” rifles are pretty accurate, but I think their feel and ergonomics hurt them.

All that said, I have pared down my arsenal a lot over the past few years for the reasons you state. I just wasn’t using them. The nice things about guns is that (unlike ladies’ shoes) you can sell them pretty easily and get at least most of your money back or even make money when you do.

Agreed. My twin daughters were born late last year, and that really motivated me to take a look at how I was spending my spare time and money (significantly reduced, for all the right reasons.) I divested most of my arsenal, and spent that money on one really nice rifle, with one really nice scope. When I go to the range now-a-days, I get so much more enjoyment out of focusing on one thing, and making sure I get really good at it. And my one nice rifle/optic is capable of doing just about anything.

I got out of the quantity game last year. Sold a number of guns, kept all my sentimental hand-me-down firearms, and bought one nice pistol, one nice shotgun, and one nice rifle. The pistol is a Colt 1911, the shotgun is a Beretta AL-2, and the rifle is a Tikka CTR. I enjoy going to the range much more now than I did then.

Yep. 90% of my deer have been taken with the same rifle (Sako .270) I bought with summer job money when I was 15. I have upgraded the scope on it a couple of times.

I can't see myself selling any of my firearms because I want to make sure my three kids and their kids have them when it might not be legal to buy new ones just like them.

Same with the ammo that goes into them. Today when I buy a new box of ammo, I'm really buying it for the kids.

^^^^ Same here. But I do have my favorites.

I'm with ya Crews. Quality is much more enjoyable. I have warned every person I have assisted in building their first custom rifle that they will become spoiled. It will shoot, fit, and handle the best they have ever have. And once you have had that level in your hands, nothing less will do.

The same goes for rifle scopes. And they are damned expensive. I have several really nice rifles, and only 3 scopes. I move the scopes around as needed. Each of my rifles are capable of many tasks, but really specialize in one or two, and that was intentional.

Quantity, Quality. Whatever you enjoy...go for it.

I understand your point about being proficient with a few guns versus shooting many guns but never learning to properly use any of them. However, a guy could own 1000 guns and pick 3 to really learn how to shoot. Just because you own a bunch of guns doesn’t mean you can’t have favorites that you shoot all the time and shoot well.

On another note, if a guy just wants a safe full of guns to look at and never shoot, who are we to judge?

Crews,

I think i have helped you out a few times in reducing your arsenal lol, but I see your point and am starting to move that way myself. I used to be a quantity guy, now i am thinning my herd out so to speak. I have bought many nice guns, only to find that there was something about it that i didn't like. So i either sell it or trade it for something different. I have a select few core guns that i will never get rid of, and they are my go to hunting rifles, or pistols, or shotgun. I have fun taking a new to me rifle and seeing how well i can get it to shoot, and then if it doesn't make the cut to the core group. I sell it or trade it.

Your comment about becoming proficient with one gun is true. when you concentrate your effort and time on one rifle, you become very comfortable and good with that rifle. I love good bolt guns, and i shoot them fairly often. But my go to if the SHTF would always be an AR, i just have much more time behind the trigger.

Their is an old saying, and i don't remember it ver bat im, but it goes something like " don't fear the man with many rifles, fear the man that has only one"

I used to have a large variety of rifles, hand guns and shotguns. About three years ago I decided just to keep what was valuable to me , not just in dollars but sentimental reasons also. I sold all the rest. The gun cabinet I made will hold 20 rifles/ shotguns and I made a decision to only have that many. If I want something else I will need to give up something. Collection ends up with a bow and seven hand guns. I had to do this because my name is Garry and I am a Gun a-holic.

Yep my doctor buddy obsessed over quantity, but he has cool [censored] that's still reasonably price. He has a lot of stuff I would never buy as he's a collector.

I own five bolt action rifles. None are a Ruger American, Axis, 783, Winchester XPR, etc. The least expensive scope mounted on them is a VX-2. Nothing wrong with quantity if that’s what you like but I prefer to have the best quality I can afford. I also understand to some a VX-2 is a cheap scope.

I've done auto repair for 21 years this month. I have everything from true-craft \ harbor freight cheap stuff to SnapOn, Mac, etc. My cheap tools serve a purpose and my quality ones get the job done. This goes for my work tools and home shop both.

My guns are similar. I don't hunt and don't have any intentions to do so at this point aside from pond turtles and varmints. I've got higher end stuff that I felt was a good buy and I've got cheap stuff was bought or traded into worth the money. I also have an issue with getting rid of something salvageable. I've spent the value of something just to fix it and trade or sell it for what I had in it, but at least it lived on.

I am at a point now where I need to do a full inventory. My dad passed in 2015 and I still haven't gone through everything I have. I will be moving along a number or rifles and pistols at some point to reduce my inventory. From $75 stuff to Several thousand $ stuff. My definition of quality varies I'm sure from others.

As far as scopes go, good glass is worth the money hands down. It's just getting the mindset that you're going to drop the coin.

I’m not interested unless there’s some underpaid bloke slaving away on the gun for hundreds of hours.

My stuff from ranges from inexpensive to higher than average. I probably have too many, and some rarely see the sunlight but I have been accumulating them since I was a kid. Each pretty much has a story that isn't worth much to anybody but me. Outside of a couple old shotguns I can't hit much in the air with, I can take every one of them and kill whatever I want to with it.

So, I see the OP's point and it has crossed my mind in the past to do exactly what he is saying. Bottom line is though I like guns, and I like my guns, so don't plan on them going anywhere anytime soon.

I have been selling some guns, stashing cash and buying more.

don't buy a gun (currently)if you think it will go up in value.

I still have quite a few, more than a man needs.

I only have 1 cheap gun left.

but i'm 66, when I was young, if it went bang I had to have it. allot depends on how much disposable income you have.

so, I say, if you can, go for QUALITY, JG is so right about the feel of a custom rifle and high dollar scope that shoots idy-bity groups just makes you smile.....

Here here.

I think most of us have some aspect of the thrill-of-the-hunt acquisitiveness in us. Mine has been dramatically tempered over time by my budget, my time, and a perfectionism that was partially innate, and partially grew out of several extremely frustrating run-ins with various cheap guns. I've found that generally speaking the only guns I find highly motivating are precision rifles. I've owned a decent number at this point, and I feel pretty comfortable saying that the cheap ones are cheap for a reason. They may do some things well, but they won't do *all* things well, and as long as they leave that gap I'm going to keep wanting something else.
Generally speaking the guns I care least for are the ones that I didn't plan out ahead of time: rifles that I built because someone else was building a similar one and we wanted to r&d the same load; factory rifles; cheap ones; etc. The rifles that I love the most are the ones that I have grown with and have changed. I have one rifle that has been evolving since 2016. It's worn 3 different stocks, had 3 different barrels, and 2.5 different scopes. It's been two different colors and used 3 different types of magazines. And it's by far my favorite through all of that. I'll have it back from Manners later this month in a new CF stock, and I'm pretty sure it won't be changing again after that point, except for new barrels as I wear them out. I've got another rifle that's built on a high-end custom action in a high-end chassis, with a high-end trigger, and a world-class barrel in a hotrod caliber that sits as I had it build last year. Honestly don't love it as much as the one I just mentioned.

I'm a total glass nerd. I've bought two $3k scopes in the last two years, and I sold all of my cheap scopes to buy them. I don't need it, but I get a shocking amount of enjoyment out of them every time I use them, and I know that I don't get that from cheaper scopes. Once you see the difference in quality it's truly difficult to go back.

You do realize in most cases you're the underpaid bloke, correct?

I don't care what anyone buys or how they do it...just don't be liberal and attempt to take mine.

I have more guns than necessary but I don't feel I have too many. I don't buy random cheap guns just to fluff my numbers. Every gun I own was bought with a purpose in mind. I have some that are collectables, others are heirlooms, some that are throw-downs and everything in between but I shoot them all.

Truth!

The scope thing gets to me even faster than the gun collector virus. Mostly because I’ve made the same mistakes, learned my lessons, but can’t convince anyone to listen to my logic. Ya’ll may think I’m an idiot, but I think most folks would be waaaay better off having 1 $2k+ scope than having 3 Vortex PST’s.

I going to have a scope for each rifle but agree with your logic. Instead of having eight rifles with inferior scopes I’d rather have four rifles with good scopes.