Never sell your Daddy's gun or your first gun.

So, how much you askin' for that .700 Thunderf***er?

Decent observations Dave, but I haven't yet reached the point where I can think about selling a gun without regret. I don't have a huge collection (yet), but each was acquired through careful thought as I built a collection on sturdy and dependable firearms that will carry me through the hunting pursuits I enjoy. There are a few in my safe that fall into the category of not having been used for a year or more, but I still couldn't part with them. In fact, the more pressing concern for me are all of the firearms I feel I must have, fed in large measure by your great posts on the latest and greatest stuff to come down the pike. It's an addiction I guess...

As I have mentioned here before am in the process of "culling the herd". When I inventoried my collection was startled to come upon firearms I had forgotten I owned.
I am no spring chicken and it would not be fair to leave this task up to my wife. Guns am keeping have written instructions on how to dispose of them

I once knew a man who said, " there are two things I'll never get rid of, one is my dog and the other are my guns, and then he commented I all ready got rid of my wife!

Well, my collection still fits into a single safe, barely, but its all in one. But I dream of having to buy the second safe (my wife would probably consider that dream a nightmare). But I have yet to fulfill all my big game dreams (strangely, wife more accepting to that one) and hope/know that I will have to buy more bigger more powerful guns to accomplish those goals. My pulse is quickening just thinking about it.

I would love to spend a few hours looking at just a fraction of Happy's collection, especially if he were to tell the stories behind each one.

Longbeard, thank you for your kind words. I am very proud of my collection and they all have good stories to tell. They were acquired steadily over more than 65 years and used on a wide variety of game around the world over the decades.

Mr Warner, I tip my hat to you for thinking of less fortunate friends, I have a hunch we have both been lucky, it is important to remember others who have not been so fortunate.

I keep pretty detailed loading data plus results on game, this information goes with the firearm when it leaves my care. Sort of like a departing puppy's diet menu. Folks seem to appreciate that. Have donated firearms to hunting/conservation organizations auctions. Including the handwritten data seems to increase the price they receive, although if the truth be known, the bump in price is probably due to the free cocktails at those swanky affairs

Happy,

An auction without adequate lubrication is generally a pretty drab and unprofitable affair!

WAM

I believe it was Jeff Cooper who said" Beware the man with one gun, he likely knows how to use it."

I guess I'm the odd man out. I have been able to not buy vast quantities of guns that I lusted after. The one I most miss not buying several times is the Model 12 20gauge. I own two 12s and a 16. I love the way the twenty feels and points. I inherited a 20 Ruger Red Label, and can't justify another twenty, although I do sigh as I put them back in the rack, what a beautiful gun.

Should have written "Barnes Triple Shock",sorry

Have also successfully used on buffalo 375 H&H, 470 Nitro Express, and 500 Jeffery, so do have other comparisons with the two 416's. Oh, took one with a 338 Win Mag, which today would be illegal most places in Africa.

Happy,

I assure you my post was meant only compliment the .416 Rem., not counter anything you said. You must have forgotten more about cartridges, shooting and hunting than I will ever learn. There is no doubt in my mind that when you said they are all fine calibers, that it is true. That the ballistically twin .416's, whether the classic Rigby or the newer Remington, are good things. Excellent things.

My praise for the .416 Remington stems from the fact that of all of Remington's introductions, whether originals or tamed wildcats, the .416 is the one that never felt watered down. Some old fans of the .22-250 (the wildcat meant to be named .220 Swift, until Winchester introduced a FACTORY cartridge with that name, but one based on the 6mm Lee-Navy case), the .25-06 (another tamed wildcat) and even the 7mm Mashburn Magnum and .35 Whelen feel that Remington's factory offerings are underloaded.

Not so with the .416. It's always shot to spec, sometimes even faster than spec in tropical Africa.

Dave and Happy have too many guns. This is a circumstance that I can never see myself being in. Open your veins, bad blood, slit your wrists... I think I detect a pattern here, and it is not pretty. For now I will rejoice in the fact that most of my guns will fit in two safes.

Dave,
I have a bunch of firearms that meet the "Sell" criteria: Henry .22, two Savage 99's, an 870, Remington Scoremaster .22, Tikka T-3 270WSM, Stevens 94 20 gauge, Savage 24 .22/20 ga, Stevens pump .410, Stevens 20 ga SxS, and others. Those are looking a whole lot like a trip to Africa to me.

I would add if you know the gun is reliable if possible: Do sell to someone who is starting out or who is teaching a youth to hunt instead of a dealer. You might take a loss on it monetarily but that gun that has sat in your safe for years ignored will be treasured by it's new owner.

R/R, All respect, I tend to agree with DP. It would seem you and I (and DP)approach the same issue from 180 degrees. I,like Dave, am looking hard at guns I will not use, and by selling them, I can use that money to do something I want to do - like another hunt or the like.
Example: I have a Weatherby Mark V Custom in .378 mag. It was a gift from a client who, after taking an 11' brown bear with it, presented it to me. This was in 1979. I have never shot it. Don't want to shoot it, and have other guns, like a .416 Rem.Mag, that I prefer. I have someone who may want it and it is for sale. I have other guns on both sides of the discussion and, DP, so many of them have not been used in too many years. I agree that fine tuning the collection is due and timely.
Is that (also) a matter of, shall we say, maturity?

Man and gun have a peculiar relationship. What other tools do sons discuss inheriting decades before the are pried from cold hands? Although I'm not in dire need of new guns, I imagine myself in the woods pleased with alternative versions of the same steel killing sticks, and the image sometimes possesses me on Summer evenings to walk away from the fishing section towards the gun counter where VXR scopes and Beretta's call to me like flies to light. Cheers.

Fell into the Reality Hole four-years ago, culled the herd. Willed my Beretta EELL and my big game rifles to my son when he separated from active duty, entered college. My days hunting the mountains are over as are my serious shotgun competition days.

Still, couldn't part with my 458. ..Too much history. Do shoot skeet with a Frankenstein 1100. Have my black powder .58 cal muzzle loader as a forage gun. That's it.

Good advice, but hard to follow. In my life I've given up a total of four of various makes and uses. I replaced 2 with identical firearms becuase I realized they really filled a practical niche that thier replacements filled better in some circumstances, but not all. I'm eying up replacing a third in kind as well, but jury is out on that.
Only one I don't miss is one that I bought used for a steal. NE Pardner in 12 gauge. I still have one in 20 that is my favorite small game piece, but have better 12s. I don't miss it becuase it had no real use in my cabinet and I gave it to someone who had a use.

Guns are...complicated. In some ways I think of them much like a child. You carry them everywhere, clean them, feed them what they need, worry about them when they get wet.

Then, you have to ask yourself, would you sell any of your children? I must admit, there have been times I've considered it..but with divorce proceedings being what they are and that nagging voice of conscience...probably not.

Pretty good guidelines by DP and I must admit I have several guns which fit into one or more of his categories. Applying them, though, would be like using similar criteria to cull my children. Fact is I've never been able to turn loose of any gun once I've acquired it, even if I do no more with it than take it out once every few months to cradle it in my lap and snap off a some dry shots at the heads on the wall. My wife views this as somewhat of a harmless aberration on my part although she has made occasional pointed reference to the space my various long guns take up (we're at about two-dozen and counting). My rejoinder is that one never has enough guns, and that in my own case I would redden in embarrassment and have to come up with a flimsy excuse if I was to receive an unexpected invitation to go elephant hunting. She still doesn't see this as a valid reason for me to buy a .416 Rigby, but it does convince her that I'm a hopeless case not worth arguing with...

Happy Myles,
Thanks for the admonition. Now, should that unexpected elephant hunting invitation arise, I will not only have the perfect excuse to acquire a .416 Rigby but an eloquent argument against selling it afterwards as well...

If you think you have to many guns please feel free to send them to my house and I will put good use to them.

Really I do have a few rifles I don't need or want. I have a Remington 570 single shot that was supposed to be semi-auto but is not. Should I just sell it to a stranger at a gun show?

I could put it in the paper for $20 more than I paid for it, that seems to be the norm but then they can find me. It is not even mine although it is in my name. I bought it for my son but he gave up on it the first weekend and uses my 10/22 or Browning BLR 22 when he wants one that will shoot.

Does anyone feel guilty when they pass on a gun that does not do what it is supposed to do? I guess you just tell the buyer this thing is a piece of crap will you give me the $40 I have spent on replacement clips to make it go away???

Happy Myles,
Wise observations all. Given the chance of coming face-to-face in thick cover with something of nasty disposition weighing six tons or so, a .416 Rigby would be comforting even if the object of actual pursuit was something on the order of a blue duiker.
In fact, like Capstick, I would not go to the convenience store without a .45 Colt, a sawed off shotgun and a pocketful of hand grenades if the option was available; being by nature a cautious sort. Unfortunately, where I do most of my hunting here in the South Texas brush country, rattlesnakes and cacti pose more hazards than any of our mammals. However, there has been a time or two when rooting through thick brush in fading light, tracking a big, toothy hog that I BELIEVED to be hit well, that the '06 or .270 in my hand did feel a tad puny.
Maybe with sufficient embellishment I can make a case for the .416 on that basis. Right now, I'm still trying to explain why I simply could not go another day without the Lee Enfield sporter that I picked up last month. One of my selling points was that Bell used a .303 on elephants and Patterson used one on his famous lions, so of course I had to have one for historic purposes. It may be a little too soon to tell my wife that both men were woefully undergunned...

I have been considering doing something like Tom Warner suggested. Passing on the useful ones to people who would appreciate them and use them and don't have the means to buy it themselves.
I too don't want to burden my wife and kids with that job. My kids may want one or two but they aren't into hunting as much as I am (or was, I do still go when I can). You sure as heck can't take them with you :-).

Why in the world would you want to sell ANY firearm?
With the state of America I would be buying (and am) more guns now than ever before!
If you have something that "kicks, wiggles or hurts" GIVE it to a family member that does not have these afflictions! At least you would know where it is when you need it, and you will!

I just gave my grandfathers H&R .22 "suicide special" to my nephew, My grandfather carried it before there was concealed carry laws. It is over 100 years old and in great shape. Warned him never to shoot it, as it was (probably) designed for black powder. Hopefully he will give it to his son and so on.

A former user of the site who called himself 'blackdawgz,' once said that he had to sell all of his guns to cover veterinarian bills for his dogs. I'm sure that was money well spent.

My newest gun is a Christmas gift from my oldest boy, he bought me an M1 Carbine figuring he's get it back after I die. Smart kid :-)

Had to sell a Winchester 30-30 many years ago to pay bills.
Had to part with many more a few years after that, a nice military surplus SKS (not one of the cheap crap ones thrown together for export), A detachable mag SKS that takes AK mags, a 10" barreled Dan Wesson 44 mag (I still miss that one), an Ithica X-15 lightening which was the most accurate 22 autoloader I ever saw, a 50 cal Hawken Muzzleloader that was given to me by a friend, and a Ruger 10-22 with a Bingham-Squires 30 rd mag conversion.

I've let enuff go.

One thing I am considering getting rid of is a Llama IX-C. I cannot get it to feed reliably, even tried ramping the barrel and it still jams feeding from the mag, as it's not a "true" 1911 it is only partly compatible parts wise. I would not sell it as a shooter, as it only fires 2 or 3 rounds between jams, but it's (due to alot of other work) very accurate, especially with cast bullets, probably not match grade accurate, but very good.

Any thoughts on how to sell it? As you said, I visit my local gunshops fairly regular and don't want to burn them or short myself on what it's worth. Anybody know if there's a market for Llama "parts guns"???

I've sold many guns, to pay for my daughters medical bills and my dogs vet bills. I don't regret it all, I would do it again if I needed to.

Happy Myles,

Sounds like you are a fan of the .416 Rigby. Not planning a trip now, but someday I will hunt buffalo (not bison, mind you.

I guess I had always planned on getting a 458 Lott set-up for such, but my local dealer has a 416 Rigby (CZ550) that keeps getting lower, and lower in price.

Any experience between the two?

I have loaded the A-frames in my .375. Truth be told, they impress the hell out of me. Mostly because every time I pull the trigger, two-weeks of my 9-year old self's allowance gets pushed out the muzzle. Fine bullets though.

Recoil scares me most when I have a scope mounted, no matter how good the eye relief. I plan on affixing a peep sight to the rear scope ring cut to take care of that issue, regardless if the rifle is a .416, a .458 or a 700 T.F'er of DEP lore.

DP,
I think the .416 Rem. is one of the best cartridges to ever bear the Remington name.

Got rid of a marlin 336w to my brother in law for helping me do some work.I thought I would regret it like I did before whenever I would sell or trade a gun.He kept it for about a year or 2 and then traded it for some expensive chickens---got tired of them and then gave them to me.Its gonna be hard to miss that gun if I'm successful at creating a new breed of chicken by crossbreeding.

Is that there even such thing as "to many guns" my guns all have meaning to me and I'd as much sell one as i would a good hound, or bird dog. they are my prized possessions, and something that lasts for years on years,

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