Consolidation? Is it really possible?

[Leadmelter]

I am also t that crossroads. I went mold crazy once I got back into it (Thanks to this website).
Now, I am 63, under going Chemo for colon cancer, retired and time on my hands. I am just starting to enjoy the guns I worked for 39 yrs.
I am giving myself, health willing , to sort out and thin the herd. Very few young people are out there as buyers or know the history of the firearms. Glock Glock Glock
Leadmelter
MI

[HangFireW8]

I'm about a decade past that crossroads. I decided on a mantra of "own fewer, nicer things, and enjoy them more." I started by selling a couple beaters and a nice but problematic rifle (with full disclosure) and bought myself a really nice new Kimber 84. It was expensive, but that was a really good move. It is really accurate, reliable, and the ergonomics are perfect for me. I can always grab it, or a Marlin lever, some favorite handloads and go hunting with zero thought about load development, feed reliability, or what is broken. That has been really important, because much of the intervening decade my hobbies have been sidelined by family issues, but at least I get to go hunting with my best rifles and handloads.

Next, I stopped buying beater surplus rifles. Since I sporterize them myself, each one represented a huge potential investment in time and parts money. Even though I bend bolts and finish and checker stocks myself, quality wood stocks aren't cheap, even the uninletted and unfinished ones. Rebarrelling is another big expense. Bluing is cheap enough as I do all the prep, but it's still a lot of work.

For a while I got a few more surplus rifles in great shape with good headspace (I have all the most common HS gages). That was a better plan, would have been even better if I started with that plan, but I quickly stopped buying even nice surplus rifles. I already have "enough" to keep me busy sporterizing for the rest of my life. If I ever do buy another one, it has be 1.) a fabulous deal, 2.) the same bore size as something I already own, and 3.) I'll get rid of 1 or 2 in the current herd. Since the surplus market has dried up, I've been held up at 1.), and that's OK.

So just a couple years into my fewer/nicer/enjoy goal, I was left with my current eclectic collection. I had to figure out the "enjoy" part. Some are simple. If it's collectible, the answer is easy, shoot it occasionally with a standard load, clean it really well, and put it away. Home defense, easy. Check functionality occasionally with standard factory loads, clean and keep ready.

For the rest, I needed clear goals. All my rifles are primarily hunting first and target second. My old load development goal was something like "highest velocity with good accuracy." Along the way I'd find problems with the guns themselves and fix or get them fixed, but it was just a distraction. But I did get somewhere before my crossroads. I found the stock comb height, L.O.P and pad configuration that worked best for me for Marlins, and another for bolt actions. Some of my rifles are already well sorted in that regard. I was overly proud of the progress made there.

A several year forced break from my hobby due to family issues gave me a new perspective. I had a real mess. I've never been concerned about the collector's value or missing examples in my "collection". I simply wanted a range of calibers and cartridges for all kinds of hunting. What I had was a bunch of unfinished sporter projects, and a few nice factory rifles that were still in dire need of load development. Some had one "OK for hunting" load and that was about it. Going over my old notes, I spent way too much time hopping from rifle to rifle and never really nailed down consistent results.

Now, I have focused goals. A couple of years ago I chose a small set of rifles (was 4, now 5) and the rest of the herd will just wait. They are a real mix of factory rifles, unfinished, and "finished" (they're never really finished) sporterized surplus rifles. I develop loads with just two at a time until I'm satisfied. On the rest I am completing long-delayed gunsmithing. It's been slow. I still have a lot of family commitments and interruptions. I haven't made weekly trips to the shooting range since my single days, but I'm "shooting for" at least monthly. I'm not there yet, but I'm improving. I went today.

Besides fixing gun issues, I am working on more wholistic load development. That means (to me, anyway) having a set of loads for each rifle, and knowing their trajectory at different ranges, and how the POI's differ from load to load. That means more time shooting and compiling data. As a result I've had to up my game from paper based note keeping to computer based. The transition was eased by scanning in all my old notes. Now I can pull them up from any computer (via ownCloud sharing). I have also photographed most of my old targets. (Targets from sold and rebarreled rifles may never get digitized).

I have a long way to go, but that's part of the fun. I still get overwhelmed when I think about all the rifles I have and all the time it would take to do everything I want to do. But when I look at the progress I've made over the past year, I've done a lot. The rifles that I've focused on are more reliable, more accurate, more comfortable, and better looking. I could go on and on about each one, but I've written enough already.

-HF

[mold maker]

This thread does give me reason to consider consolidation, but I've looked at the same face in the mirror every morning, sat at the same table with the same wife , drove a new 73 Suburban for 30 years and the current 03 Dodge ever since.
What fun would it be to open the safe and see only one rifle, one pistol and one shotgun?
If I had only one mold for each, it would limit the fun of trying to improve.
Nope.
I may leave virgin molds and even a never fired gun, but when I die it won't be from boredom.

[alamogunr]

This thread has prompted me to examine the "stuff" in the shop/reloading/casting shed. I've gotten started by selling some type-metal that had sat undisturbed for over 6 years. I'm going to be getting rid of more as I slowly reconcile myself to not having it any more. In a way I guess that labels me as a hoarder.

[ghh3rd]

.22, .357 & 45-70

[rmark]

'drove a new 73 Suburban for 30 years'

73 must have been a good year for Suburbans, ours was the family trailer tow vehicle for 20 years (454 cubic inches, 8 mpg). Took my driving rest in it.

[Elkins45]

I keep talking about consolidating, but I guess it will probably only happen when I die.

[arlon]

I keep talking about consolidating, but I guess it will probably only happen when I die.

It's a lot easier to talk about than to actually accomplish. I have just in the past few weeks sold almost $k worth of stuff on FB and Craigslist. I sold a few big items that really helped me sort and straighten my garage. Now if I could just get my son's broken car out of there I could actually use it for work space again.

The double win for me has been getting rid of some things and doing a lot of organizing in the process. I still have tons of stuff but it is much better organized. I have piles to sell, donate and then some just made it to the trash can.

Some of the consolidation has just been getting poorly packed things out of cardboard boxes and into clear plastic storage tubs. No I can at least see most of it. I've found that space consolidation using the storage tubs, I'm using about half the space for the same stuff. I also built a shelf just to fit double stacked storage containers (holds 30 large storage tubs). Consolidate, organize, sell, donate, trash.. I have now got three open work benches.