When Do I Start Selling My Guns ?

[Boaz]

My prayer is for you . I hope the treatment is completely successful . JonB in Glenco's suggestion would be the simplest way to go .

[johniv]

So sorry to hear of your health problems sir. Good advice here on the gun issue, so I'll just say God bless you and prayers sent.
John

[osteodoc08]

First of all, prayers and best of luck in your health issues.

I would fully document via picture and SN your firearms and designate someone you trust as an executor. Allow them to sell them or pass them along as you desired.

Another option would be to pare back to what you enjoy the most, sell what is left and go do something on the ole bucket list with the spouse. Assign an executor for the remaining firearms.

[buckwheatpaul]

I am so very sorry to hear of your health issues - And do wish you complete restoration. Regarding your guns - Do you have any family or friends who you would like to leave them to? And have you asked your wife if they truly would be a burden to her? Very Difficult questions that I have contemplated many times in the wee hours of the night. I am going to look for folk in and around my life that I know will enjoy and appreciate them. I am making a list for my wife as to who should receive them. Some I will give away before I am gone - If I have time. I have friends who will help my wife with them when she decides when and how to proceede. God Bless You and Your Wife

I am truly sorry for your cancer issues.....I have the pasty Irish skin and have already had a melanoma......I will pray for you and have prayed for you. With that said I agree with square butte......a trusted friend is a good way to go as is a good gun shop to liquidate if and when you and your wife decide the time has come......

[scarry scarney]

Two Cancer survivor here. My last Cancer, I ended up doing Clinical Trials. With Gods smile, I was able to survive, I pray the same for you. If they offer you Clinical Trials, I suggest you check it out. I was lucky, I live about 3 hours away from a Medical teaching hospital (Stanford University).

[pjames32]

Bonz
Sorry to hear your diagnosis. Will say prayers for you and your family.
I can tell you what I have done. I'm 68 with some serious heart issues so I have mde some plans.We have no surviving children, but do have 6 nephews. Two nephews hunt so they were the recipient of a shotgun each. I've told all 6 and their spouses.........get a CCW and Uncle Paul will provide a pistol. So far no activity there altho 2 have ccw's.
The trustee on our trust who takes over when both wife and I are gone is sort of a gun guy, but not really. I have a neighbor of 25+ years who I trust implicitly (and is younger than me) who has agreed to dispose of whatever my wife and family do not wish to keep. I think the guns will be fairly easy of not in a hurry. The reloading stuff will no be so easy.
I have a simple computer program that lists the guns, when they were purchased, what I actually paid (not what I told my wife), serial numbers, scope info and any modifications I made.
Hope this works!
Right now my neighbor and I are trying to help a widow next door. So far we have not even found the combination to his safe! Don't do that to your family, please.
YMMV
PJ

[Duckiller]

Don't give up! I have a form of non-hogden lymphoma. Was at stage 4 when I was diagnosed, five years ago. My hemotologist says she can't cure me but she won't let me die of it. Cardiologist says he won't let die of a heart attack ,5 so far. Have sincere discussions with your wife and your Drs. Drs have no long term cyrstal ball but can advise you about short term things. Do you have children that are interested in shooting? If so talk to them. Find out if they want something that you or your wife wants to keep. Do the same with your brother. Main thing is what do you and your wife want to do with the guns you have accumulated. If you have guns that you don't think you will be using in the future you may want to sell them now. I am not a conspiracy person but don't let too many people know that you have guns that you may want to sell until selling time is at hand. Good luck We all get old and have problems. May your problem respond well to treatment and you have many more years of enjoyable shooting.

[lightman]

I'll be another to say that I'm sorry to hear of your health problems. You'll be in our thoughts and prayers. Dealing with your guns and reloading equipment is a tough thing to make a decision about. If you decide to keep all of it at least make a list for your wife listing what you have, its value and where it is stored. I also suggest limiting the number of people who know about this. Your home may be vacant more than normal while you are at the Dr's and traveling to and from treatments. Good Luck with this and hang in there.

[AK Caster]

My suggestion is to do a complete inventory of what you own and a realistic value for each firearm. Keep these records in one of your gun safes and update it as time goes on. This should give you a sense of relief that your wife will not be taken advantage of after you pass.
We all have guns we no longer like or use and these I would suggest you list on gunbrokers.
Good luck.

[500MAG]

Very sorry to hear such news. Don't start preparing to die. Pray for healing and expect it. You have 15% for 5 more years but there are also a percentage that live much longer. I had a family friend that was diagnosed and treated for metastatic aggressive breast cancer at the age of 65. She lived to 86. I have another friend that was diagnosed 15 years ago with terminal colon cancer. They did a resection and he decided to forgo chemo. He is still alive today. God Bless and you will be in my prayers.

[dverna]

Bonz

Sad to hear your situation. Hoping for the best. I know you will fight a good fight!!

Name a person you trust in your will to help your family dispose of your gun stuff. This person should be introduced to your executor so he understands the gun stuff will be handled separately.

My friend named me to handle his gun stuff. He offered me a $9,000 gun as compensation but I will not take it. You should pay for reasonable expenses that may be incurred

[Blackwater]

I wouldn't ever sell them. I'd give them to family and good friends who've meant something to me in life, if it ever got to the point of hospice. I'd think about it ahead of time, and execute when hospice was called for. That'd be the way I'd deal with it, anyway.

[country gent]

So sorry to hear about your news, you are in my thoughts and prayers also. An good aution house is not a bad idea as they really draw the crowds and know where to advertise. The local guns shops are okay but commisions and fees can eat up as much or more of the income at times.One thing to help is to sit down over a few days and make a 3x5 idex card for each individual firearm On this list make model and serial number as the heading. Next where and when purchased any modifications mde to firearm round count and custom work done and by whom. These can be set out with the firearms when displayed for the auction ( most have 1-2 days to view look over inspect before the actual auction) This lets potential buyers know what the firearm actually is and a good idea of its condition. This can be set up ahead of time and when needed the Auction house will handle it all including background checks and paperwork. Another plus to the auction house is they may combine 2-3 firearms estates together makeing for a bigger draw come auction day. The local aution house here when doing a firearms auction like this has a full parking lot and people parking up and down the sides of the road. If there are collectables or special firearms it just gets better. Also consider tools machines and other epuipment, Hobbies and or collectabales in this.

[shooter93]

Best of luck to you and keep in mind you may respond to the treatment very well. I know several people who were given short periods to live 20 years ago and they are still with us. I'm going through a similar thing but my wife isn't a shooter. I have a very close friend though who is a gun maker. I left everything to him with the provision that he keep certain ones and handles the sale of everything else for my wife. He will see she isn't taken advantage of. Perhaps you have such a friend should the need arise.

[shooterg]

Redneck prayers going upstairs for you now. In my area auctions always bring more than most sane people should pay for the firearms ! Find someone you trust and make a list of the minimum you'll take. Some may not sell first time(I doubt that !). Amazing how much the "extras" bring(loose scopes/reloading stuff/gun books/etc.) bring too. Obviously your wife is a strong person - she's dealing now and if she's clear on what is to be sold and the values, she could maximize the income derived.
I'm hoping for both of you that time is years away. May God bless you .

[MtGun44]

Very sorry to hear this sad news.

If you don't need the money from sales, just let them stay as long as you can shoot them,
let the wife deal with it later. Let's hope a WHOLE LOT later.

Make sure you have designated any special guns be given to the correct people in your
will if you want them to go to particular family members or even friends.

You may want to give some of them to family while you can enjoy their reaction and perhaps
pass on some stories about the particular gun, maybe what loads it likes, any special features
or needs.

Best wishes.

Bill

[MT Gianni]

Best of luck with the cancer. My wife knows which guns I have willed to relatives and which to sell. I have a brother who knows enough to counsel her regarding mold #'s and dealing with the lead and misc reloading gear. This is in case I fall victim to the unexpected. Regions differ greatly, I could expect my wife to offer a guns for sale ad in our local town paper [town has a population of 1200] and have them all gone in two weeks. If I had a 15% chance of seeing five years I would take a hard look at the collection, decide what goes and rent a table at a local gun show in the next 18 months or as soon as chemo leaves you able to do so. Then I would hope I was wrong but be happy knowing if things went rapidly that it was out of her hair.

[fivegunner]

Bonz, your in my prayers . GodBless.

[fatelk]

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. Cancer stinks; I hate it. I'm a survivor myself, coming up on ten years. Mine was caught early and I'm fine, but I still worry. I've been told several times that those survival stats are just a number, that your actual odds can vary depending on how hard you fight and your will to beat it. I have an acquaintance who been fighting some scary stuff for a long time using both traditional and alternative "medicine", including chemo and some crazy dietary stuff. I don't know about all that stuff but he's doing pretty good right now.

Ultimately of course it's in God's hands, and I pray that He gives you a reprieve for a few more years, or decades. I recently lost a very good friend. He was kind of a health and fitness nut, literally the most fit and healthy 57 year old guy you'd ever meet, but taken in an instant from a massive heart attack. No one knows their time, that's for sure.

As far as the whens and hows of selling off a collection, I don't have anything better than the good advice others have given, but I sure admire your attitude and calmness. I hope and pray that treatment goes well for you.

[Just Duke]

Thank you for your response. My wife and I have discussed the guns in detail since the bad news from the Dr. My youngest brother may be interested in a few, my wife wants to keep her favorites, but some will need to be sold. She asked me to get something in place or some type of arrangement. With my paycheck gone, she will obviously need the money from the sale to I need to get a fair price for the guns. We enjoy our time together at the range and I want to continue that as long as possible.

If you need help hosting pics or anything like that, feel free to give me a jingle. I helped a former member here host pics to sell off all his hand built black powder rifles.