Guns you "need", guns you want, guns you'll use

[Willie D]

When buying guns or making mental lists of guns I want, I find myself drawn in different directions: Guns that fill a void in my collection or serve a specific purpose vs. guns that are just too fun or sexy to pass by vs. guns that will see the most use.


I could really use a pocket pistol. I would carry it a lot, especially in warmer weather. I'd rather buy yet another full size 9mm; because...why not? I like shooting them at the range and the new one would be ever so slightly different than the old ones.

Or, I "need" something for hunting in bad weather (a mostly theoretical situation for me) but I'd rather get a FAL for no other reason than they look and feel awesome.

Or, I think I need something that will take me to 800yds but maybe I should just get another .22 bolt gun.




Anyone else experience something similar? I suppose one can amass a varied collection over the years but when buying stuff now I sometimes kick myself for getting something unnecessary but also don't get as much use from the niche guns that I "needed".

[shaunpain]

I hardly get to shoot the guns I own, so I never kick myself for buying anything. I have it for the day that I want to shoot it and that's good enough for me!

Impractical guns, though? Not really my cup of tea. Not into BBQ guns either. I'm a utilitarian kind of guy!

[BumbleBug]

Well, don't laugh...but I would love to buy a Ruger #1 Tropical in .458 win. I love #1's & ever since I handled a tropical, I've wanted one. Something about that rifle that calls me...LOL

Come to think of it, hunting really dangerous game with a single shot would have to be the height of lunacy!!!

...bug

[cvc944]

When I started buying, it was only the guns that I needed. Then I started filling in the holes with guns that I sort of needed. Then I started to buy the guns I wanted, but didn't really need.

[doofus47]

Just what I need. It didn't occur to me initially that need was a 4 letter word....

[kraigwy]

I NEED ALL my guns, I WANT ALL my guns, and I SHOOT All my guns.

[RickB]

When I was shooting USPSA and IDPA competition twice a week, I didn't see any reason to buy a gun that couldn't be used in those matches, as I sure wasn't going to the range a third time, just to shoot the guns that weren't match legal.
What I ended up doing was finding competitions for which all my guns were legal, and also occasionally justifying a purchase because it would allow me to try a new form of competition. It was all a lot of mental gymnastics, to justify gun purchases and range trips!
I do have a secret list of guns that I just want, with no greater justification necessary.

[dstryr]

I need a hunting rifle. I want a Savage 111LRH in .338LM. I'll use whatever I decide to buy next.

[sir_n0thing]

I have all the "basics" of a well rounded firearms selection covered with the glaring exception of a 12ga shotgun. I need a 12ga.
Yet I find myself shopping for, and sometimes spending money on, things I want for one reason or another, such as black powder revolvers, derringers, old surplus pistols, etc. I don't need any of these th8ngs, but they sure make me happy to have them!

[Kreyzhorse]

I need a carry handgun, a hunting rifle, a 12ga and a .22lr. That is 4 guns to cover all my needs.

Everything beyond that is a want. I want, and have bought, a lot of wants.

[MikeRussell]

taking this a little out of order, but bear with me...

All of my guns (except family heirlooms) get shot rather regularly. Family heirlooms get cleaned, shown to family members and close friends that visit, but mostly stay in the safe. Everything else gets shot at least a couple of times a year.

Guns that I want, yep I have a few of those and there are a few I want to get. Nope, they don't fit a specific billet, I just thought they'd be cool and they're on the list. Unless it's something like an Automag in .44AMP (a big one on the want list, but can't justify the $$$ for it yet), it'll get shot regularly because I believe in shooting what you've got and cross-training on multiple platforms.

Guns that I need, this is definitely a list of mine and I only "need" one more to make it complete (which will be filled with Ruger's new Redhawk 45 convertible, because I "need" a good hunting revolver). I've got self & home defense, hunting, and training/competition all covered.

However, my wife has finally learned not to ask why we need to buy XYZ, because I'll have a good excuse or say "because I can and there's room in the safe." She joked the other night when I was talking to a friend about the Hennessy GT350, looked dead at me and said "I'm not going to ask, because every time I do, you say 'what is this word need?' and then start laughing."

[TailGator]

I have several more handguns than I need. None are available for sale. Might yet get more. My most frequently used range is an indoor range attached to the LGS where I know everyone. I always have to browse through the cases when I finish shooting.

[kilimanjaro]

Face up to it, we need guns the way Imelda Marcos needed shoes.

I needed the first few I bought, the rest I wanted.

[44 AMP]

I needed this one!

[MikeRussell]

That's just mean LOL

[johnwilliamson062]

I don't NEED any guns. I need the knowledge of how to operate them, but I don't NEED the physical possession.

I want almost everything I see.

I compromised on things I can use regularly. It turns out I can use almost any 22lr regularly.

[kilimanjaro]

Upon reflection, I need one of those 44 Automags, too. Wanted one when they first came out, now I need one.

[rickyrick]

most guns that I have were wants that I fabricated some need for.

[Kennydale]

As much as I love my Glocks.... I really want an FNX 45 Tactical

[claydoctor]

I have always wanted to have a Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in 375 H&H . I dont hunt and I rarely shoot my rifles but it's just cool and I want one .

[db4570]

I know we all joke around about "needing" every gun we ever flirt with, but I am really trying to get a handle on this.

I like the old saying that said something to the effect of: "Beware the man with only one gun because chances are he knows how to use it." I fantasize about living a minimalist existence, where every possession fits an immediate need as a tool, necessity, or major quality-of-life enhancer.

My old college friend who got me into guns tried to practice this, but he still said that everyone needs one center fire rifle, one rimfire, and one shotgun. We didn't agonize over the perfect example of each category; we got what was cheap and reliable. So I had my Enfield I traded a fishing pole for, my $45 single shot Iver 12 gauge, and a Savage 23A bolt 22.

We then got into handguns, and selected our single guns in that category. The problem is, there is no perfect handgun, so you end up trying a lot of them before you find the perfect one. Well, if you then decide to convert from revolver to auto, you have to do that cycle again, as I am doing now.

With handguns I started large. Ruger 357 when I was into revolvers, and then Beretta 92 when I switched to pistols. Immediately in both cycles I realized these giant handguns were never going to be carried, so I started the quest for the perfect carry gun. So I have all these guns in small, medium, and large. Although I am not particularly attached to more than a couple of my handguns, I still am hanging on to the ones I've accumulated over the years either because I got it so cheap I can't afford to get rid of it, or I might need it for a specific purpose. Like the 357 because I may need to put down a rogue bear sometime here in Upstate NY.

And then I figured it was time to modernize the three long guns with an 870, 223 AR, 10-22. But that 223 is too small for big game, and the Enfield is a bit old and the round is good but not great and I'd really like a really beautiful walnut/blue bolt action magnum with a Leopold clamped on the top, even though I haven't hunted in probably 20 years...

So I kid myself and pat myself on the back because I never bought a gun just because it looked like it might be fun to shoot. Except those semi-auto rifles really are. And if I ever get that big game rifle it would be nice to just go visit it in the safe now and then and maybe show it to a friend now and then who will say something like "why don't you get one in black and stainless?"

David

[Water-Man]

I don't need any. I'm selling, not buying.

[mellow_c]

For me what it comes down to, is this...

Regardless of the idea of me needing it, or wanting it, and whatever those reasons may entail. I will be shooting it.

However if I were to buy a gun that I wont be shooting because it's some sort of unfired investment type gun, then I'd still be using it in a way, because I get enjoyment out of my ownership, and I expect that I can at least get my money back from it if not make a profit.


Although I think we all have a pretty easy time coming up with some sort of "use" for every gun we own. But every now and then, you'll get a lemon, that has issues of some sort that are beyond repair, and selling it to free up some cash to put towards something else is likely the right decision.

Also, if you have a gun that works just fine, but you really don't have any interest in it what so ever, and you don't shoot it, and don't have any kind of even remotely justifiable use for it, or you would just prefer something better or different, there again, it might be time to sell.

But to clear things up. I think that there are a very few number of guns that I realistically need. But a lot that I want. And I get some kind of use out of all of them.

[kozak6]

I don't really "need" guns, I suppose. I'm just awful fond of 'em.

I want an LCP just because they are cheap and decent. Although, money is tight and I can't quite justify it. Especially when I already have a sweet Kahr MK9.

A local pawnshop has a Winchester Model 12 in good shape for $250. It's hard to stay away. If I didn't have an Ithaca 37 and a Remington 870 project gun, I'd have bitten by now. Still might.

Another pawnshop has a a couple Iver Johnson and High Standard .22 revolvers for super cheap. If I wouldn't have to order .22 online for more than $.10 a round, I'd have picked one up by now. It's hard driving past that pawn shop, though.

And then I think about that $875 .50 BMG that debuted at the Shot Show. And I still want an AK. And I still want a Colt 6920, like those cheap police trades I saw the other week. And I still want a hi-cap 9mm service pistol. And a .357 revolver. And a hi-cap 9mm carbine because the .22 situation is still dumb. And one of those cheap Russian .22 Olympic target pistols.

Except the worst part is that I'd never use any of them because I don't have the time or energy to go to the range these days.

Oh well. Maybe someday.

[44 AMP]

I've been fortunate in that for my entire life I have had access to all the guns I "needed". My family's guns for a start, and from age 14 on, my own. I had a .22 and a deer rifle, and a good shotgun. My needs were met. Since then, its been wants, somewhat extensive ones.

I have, or have had about every kind of gun I was ever seriously interested in. I see want lists here, mostly from folks a decade or three behind me and think, got that..got that, had that , never cared about that, had that, got that, etc.

Nowdays, the "never cared about that" seems to be taking over. I do have to admit that there are a number of guns in my collection that haven't been used in far too long, but unlike some things, they keep well.



I suppose it was mean, but its not meant to be a tease, only to share the joy.
This want began when the first got advertised in Guns & Ammo in 1970. Took me 13 years to find one that was both for sale AND that I could come up with the money. Cost more than the car I was driving at the time. The next came along about 10 years later and the third a decade after that.

Cover your needs, then look to your wants. Dreams can come true, sometimes.