# Have you ever



## series70guy (Jan 16, 2008)

Have you ever bought something just because you thought you had to have it? Well here is my story. 
I bought a Marlin 17hmr with the laminated stock and heavy ss fluted barrel. Then I bought a 6x18 Nikon target scope for it. Now I have about $650.00 down on the counter. Well the rifle shoots great but what do I shoot it at? PAPER!!!! So I decide to sell it. Then here comes my 13 year old granddaughter who has me WRAPPED around her little finger. She fell in love with it. That is an expensive trip to the range every other weekend 100-150 rounds of something I can't reload. Anyway lets here youy stories.

Tim


----------



## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

I try to be pretty analytical and harshly minimalistic with my gun purchases now. I've bought lots of guns for the reasons you've mentioned, guns for which I had no real use, like SMLEs and AKs and SKSs and big revolvers. I had an M4gery for predeployment training, but it became useless. I have since sold all these guns, though.

I still have an M1 Garand with no earthly use besides "power plinking." There's just something about the feel of the Garand. It's the only gun I own purely for casual, irrelevant fun shooting. I drag it out on Memorial Day along with Old Glory and blast away.

I still have to divest myself of a couple of useless (to me) or redundant guns.


----------



## MLB (Oct 4, 2006)

I bought a Marlin 883 (I think it is) for my wife just after we got married. She liked my old J.C.Higgins .22 bolt action and I wanted to get another so we could shoot together. Just a bolt action rifle, but chambered in .22wmr. It was the .17hmr of the time when I bought it years ago. It's a fine rifle, but pretty goofy to be shooting tin cans with. I'm sure the cans don't know the difference between the .22lr and .22wmr, but my wallet does.

I was young and full of testosterone when the counter guy asked "do you want that chambered in .22, or .22 Magnum?" I did what any dumb 20 something would do.


----------



## Ram Rod (Jan 16, 2008)

> Have you ever bought something just because you thought you had to have it?


Guilty---trying to limit that now though.


----------



## James NM (Jan 4, 2007)

Hell, I've got a whole safe full of guns I don't really need, guns I thought I just had to have.


How many handguns does one really need? How many rifles, shotguns? The trick is being able to come up with an excuse (any excuse), however flimsy. "My granddaughter likes to shoot this one": Now that actually is a good reason. "When I have a granddaughter, she might like to shoot this one": This one's good enough for me. 

I like guns, all kinds. So I buy them, just because I think I have to have them.
What's need got to do with it?


----------



## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

James NM said:


> What's need got to do with it?


I hate having safe queens. Someone else could actually be enjoying a gun that is just sitting in my safe, unused and unshot. If I never shoot a gun, there's no point in me keeping it, and mainly I confine my shooting to a few select guns.

Nothing wrong with having a lot of guns, but I prefer to have just a few that I shoot well and have practical uses for. If a reasonable need arises, I'll buy a gun to fill it, but I don't buy guns for "anticipated" needs anymore. I'd rather spend that money on ammo, training, wine, traveling or eating out with my wife.


----------



## Liko81 (Nov 21, 2007)

For once, Mike and I are in agreement. I'm a practical kinda guy, and if something doesn't have a good purpose I tend not to buy. I'm also a pack-rat though; I don't tend to sell possessions I once used but don't anymore. That's actually an advantage as long as I don't spend money on frivolous impulse. My hockey gear is waiting patiently for me to get back into the sport, as is my golf bag. I do fully intend to return to those sports. My guitars and basses are more often used even if still infrequently: I have 6 instruments, each with a unique sound, look and purpose, and agonized over every purchase. I have many hobbies and drift around them as they gain and lose my interest.

That means however that I simply cannot justify buying something I'll only use a few times and lose interest. If I honestly think I will buy a gun just to own it and seldom if ever use it, I don't bother in the first place. So, I have a 9mm and a .22 pistol. I don't get the chance to shoot rifles often enough to own one myself (even a .22, which I'd love to have for when I do have the chance, or a 9mm carbine which would be a great range toy), and though a shotgun would be useful for HD, I have nowhere that is practical to go to attain and maintain proficiency with a 12-gauge. I don't yet carry concealed; if I did I'd be looking at a .45 for a bit more muscle and a slimmer package. And that would probably be it.


----------

