What to do with my guns, Sell or keep/ plan for the future

Dibs on your 308 belt fed! ;-)

Actually I know what your going through. I just got done selling off a bunch of guns that I haven’t been using to take down some debt. Thing is I’m not missing them at all as they were not my favorite. I have a few others that might end up on the block if needed. You do what you feel is best.
 
Do what you have to do to keep yourself in a good place. There are many on here who chirp "I will never sell a gun" but often first ones to cow tail to the BS laws. Life happens we aren't all well off and guns are not everything. I have cut back on what I have to the essentials, As much as Id love to have every gun I want I know I would not use most of them and money would be best used else where.

Good luck to you
 
Being debt free is very important. As mentioned above, a budget will help reveal how to best move forward. For example, buying lunch everyday is a huge waste of money, but you knew that.

I struggled with getting rid of some guns this past year. There was a rifle that got in the way every time I opened my safe. I never shot it. This was the first to go. I then worked to identify several other guns which fit the same mold. Some I even had duplicates of. It felt good to get rid of them, I don't miss them and I appreciate the extra room in my safe. That being said, I just treated myself to a new rifle which better aligns with my current shooting and collecting needs. I still have a few more guns to get rid of this spring.
 
It sounds like we need an intervention here. Its for the guns. We can give them good homes.
 
I think a lot of it has to do with how your collection has been built. If you tend to be an impulse buyer, there are likely a few things in your safe that hold little to no attachment.
I am very picky about my purchases and have taken a pass on many "good deals" because they were not guns that I planned on adding. I don't but junk. No Rugers , Mossberg rifles, Maverick shotguns etc. The one exception was a Mosin my son wanted that I bought on a Saturday, shot on a Sunday and sold on a Monday.
I tend to be very methodical about acquisitions, research it to death and generally put a bunch of effort into the process, so I tend to feel an attachment to every firearm. Then I almost always take them to the range with my son, so many have memories attached to them that will be relived just by handling them.
For example, my 686. The very first time my son pulled the trigger, he was 8 years old and put a single round through the dead center of a paper plate at 50 feet. I stopped him immediately, brought the target in and kept it, then sent another target down range. I still have that target, and I wrote the date on it. Years later, he told me that he actually had his eyes closed when he pulled the trigger. We laugh about it all the time.
I could never sell it.

That having been said, I have come to realize that "things" no matter how cherished, are meaningless when compared to people. I would sell every gun if I had to, for my kids. And a couple of them for my wife. [wink]
 
I have been selling off the stuff i dont shoot or at least love to help pay off debt.
Im no expert on the subject but have been pretty good at keeping debt free over the years. Hard part is cost increases have far out paced income.
Now depending on your debt type and amount. This has worked for me over the years.
1. Take advantage of any interest free Credit Card offers.
I just transferred some un expected debt to a 15 month interest free CC with a 2% transfer fee.
2. Medical bills, ugh currently we just send in chunks of payments depending on funds on hand. Theres no interest so set amount we need to pay so that helps.
3. This is where I get to thinking.
Lets say you sell off your guns and gets you debt free.
Whats to keep you from getting caught up in debt again. Then your back in the same place with out your guns. You wont replace any of those guns.

Another thing you can consider is take all the guns you have not shot in 10 plus years.
Sort those guns into groups of "why" you have not shot them. You should find at least 2 groups. Group one will be guns you find value in and dont shoot because you think it will de value them. Group Two will be, well guns you just dont shoot because they are old, inaccurate, dont function well and you have guns you rather shoot vs those.

I have been selling down my stuff for 2 reasons.
One I do use some of the funds to pay down debt the other is to de clutter my small space and focus on buying nicer guns.
In the past i bought guns that where "cheap,inexpensive,deals" as have many guns was cool. Some of those turned out to be good purchases but most are still inexpensive guns that are hard to sell. Most of which I am seeing I will have to either sell as parts to make some money or just let them go cheap.

So a few things. If your in the hole for $50k or more and your gun sales can dig you out . It might be viable option.
If you can get some sort of financial help and roll your debt into one payment you can handle thats good also.

My friend got into some serious financial problems. In the end he basically had to just toss in towel and claim bankruptcy. It hurt him for a while and he felt like he was handcuffed for many years with bad credit. In the end it worked for him. Got back on his feet and is staying debt free.

In the end it wont matter if you cant keep yourself out of the hole once your out.
 
dw617 said:
Being debt free is very important. As mentioned above, a budget will help reveal how to best move forward. For example, buying lunch everyday is a huge waste of money, but you knew that.

I struggled with getting rid of some guns this past year. There was a rifle that got in the way every time I opened my safe. I never shot it. This was the first to go. I then worked to identify several other guns which fit the same mold. Some I even had duplicates of. It felt good to get rid of them, I don't miss them and I appreciate the extra room in my safe. That being said, I just treated myself to a new rifle which better aligns with my current shooting and collecting needs. I still have a few more guns to get rid of this spring.
Click to expand...
Funny you mention "lunch" most folks I know who openly bitch about "money" do so with a Xlarge DD coffee and 2 packs of smokes in hand telling you about how much they drank at the bar last night.
Took me a bit of getting my shit together to see where my money went as a kid. Only after getting into big CC debt in early 20s did i wake up. My bank helped me with a loan. Although first the lady at the bank handed me a small note book and said write down every penny you spend for next month and come back. EVERY CENT and What you spent it on. It clearly showed i could easily pay off this debt just by not buying things i did not need or i could get cheaper or make at home. The bar, coffee and cigarettes where huge drain in my early years. Along with buying out for food.
Fast forward 25 years and 3 kids. Eating out is a huge drain so we look for deals. Use high cash back CC and pay it off every month. Coupons add up to about $175 a trip.
Only thing we have going for us is our mortgage is almost paid off. So that will free up a little cash flow.
Medical bills are a pita. Especially when you find out what they really cover or dont.
 
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Don't know your particular situation but if you are like many I do know. Most of them live beyond their means. I will tell you what my dear departed mother used to tell me. "son you can not borrow your way to prosperity" If I want something and I don't have cash I don't get to have it. We have needs and wants and wants are always more fun but in my house no cash = no fun. BTW not much fun at my house :( Sell them and lighten the load they're just things.
 
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Good luck sorting it all out. Unrelated topic, I wish could find a really nice Marlin lever in 44 mag, anyway, take care. :)
 
I would ask the question, Will selling the guns eliminate my debt for good, or is it short term and other habits you have (e.g., as some have posted - DD coffee, cigs, lunches, etc.) will bring the debt back. If it is the latter, I would work more on eliminating some of your discretionary expenses vs. selling guns. This may even mean taking a break from buying ammo for a while. Obviously, if selling the guns will eliminate the debt for good, then you need to assess which will give you the most bang for the buck without regret. When this happened to me many years ago, I tracked my spending diligently, changed my spending habits, and was able to get my head above water fairly quickly.
 
If they make you happy, keep them. If they make you less happy than your debt makes you unhappy, sell them.

Or. sell one of the cars in your collection.

Or. divide what you love from what you like, from what you don't care about, and sell what you don't care about first, then what you like second and see how it goes.

It seems there would be interest in the belt-fed stuff. If you sell a few of them and knock a couple of cards to zero, then take what you were paying on those 2 cards and put it towards the rest, you can get a grip.
 
Well do what you need to do to get out of debt. I was thinking of taking all my stuff with me when I go! We can do that, right????
 
There's a bare minimum I have to have. On top of that, I make decisions based on how hard it would be to replace the item.

The question I ask myself is...........could this be easily replaced?
 
MaxStravinsky said:
There's a bare minimum I have to have. On top of that, I make decisions based on how hard it would be to replace the item.

The question I ask myself is...........could this be easily replaced?
Click to expand...

This and this, and how sentimental is it. I have guns from my father and uncle that I will hold on to with dear life and pass down. I have other guns that I bought and can't or would be very hard to replace. I have commodity shxt that I can replace anytime.

Sell the commodity shxt first. It won't bring you a lot of money. But it won't bring you pain either.

However, getting out of debt usually requires some pain.....

Im not perfect, and Ive been extremely lucky as we've both kept our jobs and have had good yearly increases. Ive saved a lot of money doing the following...

Live below your means. To save a decent amount of money, I've lived in a smaller house, in a lower tax town, and driven used cars (cars are a horrible waste) , gone on modest vacations every year, dont drink coffee, done my own house and car work, used extras to pay down my mortgage.

Resist keeping up with the Joneses.... The Joneses may drive the nice new car or truck every 3 years, but they are paying an ass load in excise and sales tax to the government to do that. Stupid. Their cars also depreciate 10K after a year. Drive used stuff, take the savings and invest or bank it. You don't need fancy new cars to drive from here to there. If you have no kids or need little space, drive fuel efficient small car.

You can always rent trucks and large SUV's for long trips that happen once or twice a year. Your savings on monthly payment, excise and gas for the small car instead of the larger SUV or Truck will more than pay for it.

Take a look at your cell or cable....dump it...if I was in debt, those would be the first things to go and I'd get a pay as you go cell phone. I rarely used either of these things but pay a lot a year towards them.

And #1 golden rule........never, ever, ever pay interest on a credit card. I have never in my life, ever paid interest on a card. Ive been very blessed to pay all credit cards in full every month.

Credit card interest is fully throwing money in trash. If the money isn't in the bank, don't buy it. Its not worth it. There are emergencies, on say the house or your transportation....but limit it to that, and pay as much down as you can every month til its paid off.

Good luck!
 
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I have stuff I would sell in a heartbeat if I needed the cash

I had stuff I sold because I knew I'd never use it

I have a few that I would only sell as a last resort.

As long as I have enough to defend myself, family, and home, the rest is surplus.

People have mentioned Dave Ramsey, who gives great advice, but as Bruce Williams ( another radio advice guy) once said "never fall in love with something that can not love you back".

I sleep a lot better, and life around the house is much better when there is not the stress from financial worry.

sell off a couple and pay off the highest interest debt with it, repeat as needed until you are not worrying about debt
 
I’ve sold guns to relive debt and never regretted it. I once dropped down to one AR and one pistol.

Get rid of that stress!
 
Welder1 said:
No one has asked for a list in 28 posts?
Click to expand...
No one asked if his wife was hot yet either. Not sure what's going on tonight.


Back on point: getting our of a car payment and in a debt consolidation program were the two best steps I made. We haven't been great for sure... Yet... But we absorbed some major medical drama this year without concerns and are on track to buy a house in the fall.

I sold off all a tuba that I will regret, but I don't have an option to play it much right now. Other things went as they were toys. It didn't make a dent. What did was doing a real budget and getting a Trello board setup to track things. Just not leaving money on the table was a huge problem. Shit takes time.

Give yourself the time and PAY yourself for that time by tracking what you spend to sort things.

Cut the cable and go prepaid cell phones only. Buy off swappa or Amazon prime unlocked.
 
Just keep what you need..I convinced myself years ago that having 10 AK's,6 AR's and a bunch of other stuff was what I needed. Ended up shooting them once after I bought them , and 75% of them never shot again,so I sold everything but my favorite weapons.
 
Here's a suggestion: Sort your guns into 3 groups. The first group is the ones you'll never sell (I have a Winchester M94 given to me by dad when I was 14 that will probably go into the casket with me, for example.) The next group is what you'd LIKE to keep, and the third group is what you never shoot, have no sentimental attachment to, collectors that have appreciated in value, etc. Place reasonable and realistic values on these and sell them.

After you do that, go back through the second group and reevaluate the guns that you would like to keep. Be honest with yourself and if you decide that you can part with some of those in group two sell those as well. Eventually you can downsize to what you shoot regularly and/or what has personal meaning to you.

Remember that if you sell guns to turn them into cash on hand do something positive with the money. Reducing and/or eliminating debt is a worthwhile thing, just remember to have the discipline to make sure that's where the money goes. I know several friends who sold guns, spent the cash and then realized that they no longer had the gun(s) or the cash.

Good luck, this will take some time to do properly.
 
Sell enough to buy carriage returns. Yikes! Tough post to read! LOL

Personally, I don't know what I'd keep and let go. Well, much of the leg-go would be easy. But getting down to the nitty-gritty??? That would be tough. Some pieces I'd never own again b/c I'd never pay current prices for them. Thankfully, nothing is "passed down sentimental" in my collection. Best I have is a .22short falling block and a Win 94 in 32WS owned by my wife's grandfather. I never knew the man.

I hate debt. If I had about 8 pages or 25 min and a white-board, I'd show you why I believe that debt is truly from Satan himself. There is no other way for you to profusely thank people at the exact moment they completely and totally F you in the B-hole. (Which in this "don't offend me, I'm offendable" new world could be Butt-hole, Back-hole or just B-hole, like A and B.). It's an amazing thing. No other time do you THANK someone for screwing you over. That's debt.

So I hate debt. Sell what you can to get out. You're better off in teh long run. Hard to eat a belt-fed in retirement. ;)
 
RedLeaf19 said:
Listen to Dave Ramsey. He’ll change your life. On YouTube or Podcasts.
Click to expand...

Dave on YoutUbe is just relentless good advice,
3075+ videos available 24x7.

If OP's in southern NH,
he can probably hear Dave weeknights 6PM-10PM
on WGIR-AM 610KHz Manchester.


Here's the sequence of steps -
the things one should do to get out of debt and save money for retirement,
in the order one should do them.

But the first real thing one's got to do is to prepare a budget,
and then live by it.

bullseye said:
Listening to Dave Ramsey turned me into an alcoholic!
Click to expand...

Sure you just didn't mean "he made me solvent"?
Heh.

FiremanBob said:
Debt is slavery. Free yourself and you will be able to rebuild your collection. Remain a slave and you risk losing everything including yourself.
Click to expand...

Masterful summary.

People who are living hand-to-mouth
haven't quantified the risk they've assumed,
and don't see the connection to the pain they undeniably feel.
 

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