A reminder to all of us...

[Burnt Fingers]

Some of us, and I'm one, tend to accumulate lots of "stuff" related to our hobbies.

I've been helping a widow go through and convert to cash all of her late husband's reloading gear and firearms.

I can't begin to tell you how much work is involved here. He owned well over 1000 boxes of factory bullets. We're at 52 die sets and counting. Primers, powders, brass, reloading accessories of all kinds. We haven't gotten to the firearms yet. There's well over 40k rounds of factory ammo and close to that of reloads.

Please do yourself and your survivors a BIG favor by at least organizing and labeling all your "stuff". If you've got "stuff" you haven't used in a couple of years find it a new home.


When I got into this as a favor to a friend of a friend it really opened my eyes to what a mess we can leave behind for others to clean up.

[TNsailorman]

Amen brother, I started labeling and organizing "stuff" more than a year ago and I am still working on it. I think I will end of selling most of it. james

[fredj338]

Yes! After my father died I had to sort thru his stuff & he didn't have a lot compared to me. I plan on getting rid of most of it before I hit the wall but **** happens. A good reminder to at least do a prelim inventory of what things are worth & keep it with the life ins & other such things.

[Petander]

We tend to think that "stuff" keeps its value but it doesn't. Especially when we're dead.

[buckwheatpaul]

We are doing the same thing....we have stuff and it is time to keep what we need and get rid of the rest.......good luck brothers and sisters!

[bedbugbilly]

Sage advice . . if you can get folks to realize they have too much and need to do their spouses/SO a favor.

I'm in the process of doing just that this summer. I have always been an accumulator". I'm no where as bad as the situation you are i, in terms of the quantities . . . but still too much stuff. I'm downsizing on guns, calibers and stuff the has been sitting around waaaay too long.

I cast and all I shoot is cast . . this afternoon and this evening I went through all o fly boolits. I had way too many peanut jars and coffee cans full of boolits that I've cast but maybe only used a few times. I'm limiting myself to a few cartridges and after cleaning the boolit shelves, I have a bunch to melt down, poor ingots and have on hand for when I need it. My shelf looks much neater now, every container is labeled with the contents and the gun it's used in and what took up a large 2 X 4' shelf is now downsized to a 1/3 of the space. And the best part is that it "feels good" to know it's all organized, labeled, neat and tidy and I still have more than enough boolits to load up and shoot.

I have "passed on" some things to those that I know will get some use out of them, I have sold some things and I'm still sorting. Today, I got a "tote" out and as I sorted, I was able to put in a spare RCBS 505 scale, a bag of 38 special brass, a good set of 38/357 dies and a decent Lyman 55 powder measure that I am going to give to a young fellow - well he's 50 but that's a ways under what I am. He's like a son to my wife and I and he's expressed some interest in re-loading as well as shooting a revolver - currently he has a 40 cal Sig. By the time I'm done sorting,I will have him equipped with what he needs to reload 38 Special - including a good supply of boolits - and he'll be all set when I give him my Combat Masterpiece that I want him to have. I have enough 38/357 to shoot and he's going to get the CM when my time comes so he might as well have it now and enjoy it.

While wee may "like" having all this stuff . . . it's no pleasure for a widow to have to deal with. I've got die sets and brass for guns I don't even own but I "accumulated" it because "I might need it some day". If I haven't used something in the last two years, it's going.

Good luck with your job of helping with the liquidation - not an easy task. I have done similar things several times over the years in helping wives of friends deal with it. I have also settled several estates as the Administrator/Trustee and it all comes back with posts like yours as to how we need to keep things "simple". With no kids, I want it so whoever Administrates our estate has it simple and with the minimum amount of work. An inventory of what a person "keeps" after "getting rid of", along with an approximate value is also a big help to those who have to come in and "tidy up".

Best of luck to you - I'm sure you help is greatly appreciated!

[Hairy Dawg]

I don't have to worry about it. Both of my boys reload, and will have no problem knowing what I've got and putting it to use after I'm gone. I do have everything labeled, however, just so I can locate what I need, when I need it. Sometimes small parts that go with different tools, presses, etc. are not easily identifiable if not separated and labeled.

[FerricOxide]

I can't imagine hording 40K rounds of loaded ammo.

[Conditor22]

Face it, when (IF) you go through, sort. organize and inventory your stuff you'll find lots of stuff you didn't know you had.
I have my guns, powder, primers, sizing dies inventoried, my dies are labeled and most of my brass is sorted and labeled. I need to do another inventory after I get the shelf unit (bookcase) completed and a shelf for all my turrets and I can do a good clean of my loading bench.


**spell check doesn't work if the misspelled word is another actual word **

[Tom W.]

Two of my boys handload and all three fish, so Lori will give them a key to the shed and tell them to have at it. She'll probably find handguns and a few rifles stashed around the house, but the boys won't hesitate to collect them......

At the range the other day I and another guy unloaded about well over 100 rounds of 9mm that I didn't think shot well. The other guy was having a ball. I let him use my Ruger LC9S Pro as that was what the rounds were loaded for, but I didn't like the way they printed.

All of my loaded ammo is labeled with a label on the inside of the box, and some have a label on the outside as well. My boolits are in containers, the ones that are sized and lubed have labels on the inside. The others are in military ammo cans with the contents written on the lid with a magic marker, as is my cleaned and sized brass.

[Petander]

Face it, when (IF) you go through, sort. organize and inventory your stuff you'll find lots of stuff you didn't know you had.

This is so true. I recently checked a "to-be-sorted" box and found a Lyman 4cav 45 acp mold,well oiled and in the original box. I have no idea where it came from or when... never used it.

Anyway,most of my "stuff" has very little re-sale value. Many presses,yes but not expensive. Guns keep better but still they go cheap. Quality scopes hold some value. I have a few decades relationship with a local dealer,if I go first my wife knows to take all my guns there to get a reasonable price.

"Stuff" can go to whoever friend wants it. Well, maybe my ton of lead could be sold. But I'm not going anywhere yet.

[6bg6ga]

I can't imagine hording 40K rounds of loaded ammo.

Hording 40K of loaded ammo? Heck son that's just a start for some of the folk here. We don't call it hording either its just having a few rounds on hand.

[lightman]

I started thinning out my stuff a few years ago when I retired. I sold almost all of the electrical inventory out of my shop along with several tools. I cleaned out my closet and drawers and sold or gave away a bunch of knives and belt buckles. I sold a bunch of reloading equipment that I didn't use or that were duplicates. I sold or gave away several guns that didn't mean anything to me anymore. I organized my ammo, brass and lead stashes. I've made an effort to be better at labeling my reloads.

Not just material things but one should have a will and do at least a little work on estate planning. Several years ago the Wife and I started getting separate credit cards and I had Her finance Her last couple of vehicles, trying to establish Her some credit independent from me. One should verify the beneficiaries on their savings plans, life insurance, retirement accounts, ect.

We are all going to be gone someday. I started thinking ahead and trying to make it easier for my survivors.

[6bg6ga]

I've seen extensive record and inventory keeping only to have it go up it a puff of smoke when a widow simply sells it for 10 cents on the dollar after her husband has passed away. Some simply want it to go and go quickly some simply because they hated their husbands hobby or hated guns.

While I agree with inventory and record keeping in some instances its just a waste of time in that either the widow doesn't care or one of the late husbands "Good Friends" convinces the widow that the equipment and firearms aren't worth much.

[Land Owner]

Burnt Fingers - I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH. I purchased my boss' father's reloading/casting equipment, guns, and factory and reloaded ammo after he passed in order to keep his grieving mother from putting it all out at the curb for the garbage man! First though, I estimated the "street value" of the estate for the son (my boss at the time). He had my values verified by independent sources. Then I made him an offer for the lot of it, which he accepted.

I spent the next year in retail sales of used firearms, ammunition, and casting and reloading equipment out of a rented storage unit. I lucked out at a garage sale finding twelve (12), metal, 3-shelf, library bookshelves, 100 psf load rating per shelf, each four feet long and four feet tall, for $10.00 total (take it away or the Junk Man commeth!)!!! The storage unit was well organized after purchasing the bookshelves, which I resold for $120.00.

In the middle of that year my good-time buddy and reloading Mentor of 25-years passed. Thereafter, I inherited all of his reloading estate and guns. I currently have SO MUCH on hand (including my own) that the floors of my two story house groan from the load in the bank of five (5) 4-drawer filing cabinets, one for each caliber.

I had 10 unopened cases/5,000 rounds per case of just 22LR Factory Ammo! I sold bricks of 500 rounds to shooters for less than Wal Mart when their supply was limited in the Obama era.

I got BURNED OUT in retail sales, but still have a heap to sell (including a heap of my own!) but no motivation. It is important to remember, BUY LOW, SELL HIGH, and DON'T FORGET WHAT YOU ARE DOING IN THE MEANTIME. There is too much flea market mentality and too many shooters bargaining with nothing at $0.10 on the dollar for clean, well oiled, and completely functional equipment that cost $100.00's of dollars new. If they meet me at or about 60% of new, I am good with that on some things - or they walk away empty handed.

Well maintained and popular guns GAIN value over time. I sold many firearms for their original purchase price that cost a lot more now . Some firearms I let go at WHOLESALE prices and the purchasers went home with a smile on their faces as I turned to the bank with a smile on mine.

Retail sales will teach you a lot about your self restraint in not shooting many sorry individuals you will have to deal with along the way. On the other hand, I offered my hand in friendship after each sale to many great shooters, reloaders, and casters.

[Burnt Fingers]

A buddy and I were talking at our match yesterday, btw he took 2nd and I took 3rd, about this very thing.

He's an accumulator too. He's got one son and he really wants to keep his firearms out of the hands of the kid as the kid will just take them to the pawnshop for the quick dollar.

What we've decided to do is help out younger guys who are into the hobby but really don't have the money to enjoy it to it's fullest.

We're writing down the story of the significant firearms that we own and will gift them to those young bucks, with the understanding that these firearms are NOT to be sold. They can only be passed along and the story goes with them. My buddy has firearms from three generations of Texas lawmen, all of them have stories attached to them that should be remembered.

40,000 rounds of ammo isn't all that much, I've got that and more in .22 LR, and I hardly shoot it since I started casting 9mm boolits.

[mdi]

I have given my wife some "loose" instructions on what to do with my stuff when I leave, sell give away, whatever. My firearms will be taken care of by two close friends who are gun nuts and shoot a lot. My reloading tools and equipment will be handled by one friend who is a long time reloader. I have a list, sorta, of "give aways", like my Pastor gets my S&W 629, one feller gets my Garand and AK, etc. I already spoke, casually, about this to the men involved and there's no problems so far. If my son wants them, he can have my tools (30+ years accumulation of mechanic's tools). Not overly concerned with selling or getting money out of the stuff, that's why I have life insurance.

[376Steyr]

On more than one occasion, I've been approached by friends and relatives who've inherited firearms and have absolutely no idea what they have. My good deed is to take "hang tags" and write down my identification of make, caliber, and my best guess as to value, then tie them onto the guns. This is at least a first step in avoiding them being cheated by the unscrupulous. Now I just need to do that with my collection!

[Drew P]

If any of you old farts want to start donating equipment I’m only 44 and will accept all donations, labeled or otherwise.

[Shuz]

If any of you old farts want to start donating equipment I’m only 44 and will accept all donations, labeled or otherwise.

Contact Waksupi--I bet he has a whole passel of lube grooves he could donate!