When do you know it's time to start getting rid of stuff????

[abunaitoo]

Getting old and slowing down.
Same with friends.
Either mover away, or just slowing down.
Used to be seven to ten of us at the range on Sundays.
Stay after closing to talk and stuff.
Then go out to dinner after.
Now there might be one or two others shooting on Sunday.
Not much interest in old firearms from other shooters
I'd say 90% black guns on the line.
Five or six regulars still stop by after the range closes.
Four or five go for dinner.
Things really slowing down.
So when would you know it's just time to start getting rid of stuff????

[richhodg66]

I really need to start now, got too much stuff. Seems a common problem amongst Americans to have too much stuff.

[dverna]

I am in my late sixties and started selling things about 10 years ago. I have less than half of what I used to own in guns and reloading stuff.

No regrets at all.

More downsizing expected. I still own guns I rarely if ever shoot so rather silly to hold on to them. Some you will keep for the memories or attachment you have even if they will not get used a lot.

BTW, by asking the question, you are already at that point. One way to start is to list all the guns you have not used in the last 3 years.

[MR45]

It’s going to be a hell of a yard sale

[bikerbeans]

I will have a table at a local gunshow next month.

BB

[Peregrine]

And here I was thinking that whoever dies with the largest pile of guns wins...

[26Charlie]

You can start giving guns to family now, but hold on to most of the collection until 2021 in case you have to start providing for local youngsters in political turmoil situations.

[FISH4BUGS]

I know you guys are not this bad, but my sister and I are in the process of clearing out my 93 year old mother's house.
She is a hoarder.
Yesterday we filled one dumpster and easily could have done another.
Lighten your load now....imagine having your kids having to do this.
It isn't fun.....but think what it would be like to do the guns, reloading equipment and all the "stuff".
Thin the herd while you have the time and the energy to do so.

[Lloyd Smale]

they probably have an app for that on there phone so they can tap keys instead of squeezing triggers.

[rl69]

Funy you bring this up.. Yesterday I passed on my 410. It was my dads and both of his younger brothers started out with it. By the time it got to me it was well worn out. I mowed yards and saved my money tell I could get it fixed up now forty some odd years later it's worn plum out again. I also gave brother in law instructions of where I wanted the rest of my stuff to go. But for the most part I'll hold on to everything seeing how I still use them.

[Pressman]

And here I was thinking that whoever dies with the largest pile of guns wins...

Whoever dies with the most reloading presses wins. And the collection continues to grow.
At 71, and having taken on three friends estates, I do think about it. Reading that 71 I just typed sounds really old, Ugh.
My daughter has been warned, it's going to land in her lap, so she needs to learn everything about the tools she can. After all she insisted that I move to Minnesota so she could keep an eye on me.
My insurance agent says I need a detailed inventory, should have started that 20 years ago.

Ken

[frkelly74]

I have been going through some boxes af tools and Components. Everything I own seems to be heavy , by the way. I have boolits that I cast 10/12 years ago and have long since passed the molds on to other casters, Last week I heated up the pot that I have left and cast a big bunch of the old Lyman 45 round nose bullets and then I found a few hundred that I had PC'd harbor freight red when I first heard that you could do that. Now I have lots and need to go shoot them up. I really can't be lugging all this stuff around the country side too much longer. I have been using up part cans of different powders that I have been dragging around with me. A lot of it has been moved to Florida and then back to Michigan already. I gotta go shoot it up! If I can get away from the range without digging up 10 lbs of lead I will be doing good I think.

[nueces5]

A friend of the range has had a good time buying weapons and things to recharge. He has many more weapons in his house than he can use in a year. His wife has been gone for years and none of his children likes to shoot. Now just use a 357 mag ruger. His heart is seriously ill, and he will not be 10 years older. I told him to start putting a price on his weapons, because otherwise, another was going to set the price. He got mad at me. Two weeks later, he started selling the weapons he didn't like first. Recently I turned 45, I think I prefer to use few weapons firing a lot, than having many weapons firing little. If a new weapon enters the closet, one must leave.

[Shepherd2]

I started to downsize about 5 years ago. We auctioned the farm and most of the contents. I sold 16 firearms then and at the prices they were bringing I would have sold more if they had been readily available. I'm almost 80 now and while I do shoot a lot more now that I have time I realize I have too many guns and related gear. My son and I got a table at a small semi annual show a year ago and in the 2 shows I've sold a lot of guns, scopes, presses etc.. I still buy the occasional gun but like nueces5 if a new one comes in an old one must go.

[Tripplebeards]

The only way I would get rid of stuff is to replace it with a new and bigger toy!

[abunaitoo]

I have two tables at our only Gunshow.
Buyers here just don't want to pay what things are worth.
Selling/shipping firearms from here is a PITA.
Shipping anything that doesn't fit into a flat rate box is pricey.
Good friend just mover to Tennessee and took almost everything with him.
Ammo, primers, powder gifted and some sold.
I just hate selling stuff.
I always seem to need it again later.
No family into shooting/collecting.

[lightman]

I started when I retired at 57. Knives, belt buckles, reloading equipment that I no longer needed, brass that I no longer had guns for, brass that was surplus to my needs and guns that I bought as investments or that I didn't shoot anymore. I also sold all on my electrical inventory and my tools that were unique to doing electrical work.

My remaining guns are in my will along with suggestions on what to do with my lead and remaining brass stash. I'm still thinning stuff out. Camping gear, beer mugs and glasses, ect.

I got a table at a local gunshow for everything except the electrical stuff, beer mugs and beer glasses. It was interesting and worked out well.

[Froogal]

I am in my late 60s. I didn't get into this gun thing until some time before the last election, when it looked like Hillary might win. I applied for and received my concealed carry permit, bought a snub-nosed Smith, and then was introduced to cowboy action shooting. Needless to say, I am still building my collection. I will let our kids deal with it when the time comes, but I doubt if any of the collection will ever come up for sale.

[bedbugbilly]

I have had to dispose of "things" for several estates that I was the Administrator for . . . and it is not an easy job. In my case, we don't have kids and I have been collecting "stuff" my entire life. Stop and think of what you have and who is going to have to dispose of it in one way or another and the burden it places on them, usually a loved one, especially if they know nothing about your possessions or the value of them. That will be a good motivator to get you started. I started a few years ago and am "pugging away" at it. I have given a couple of treasured guns to those that know will appreciate and treasure them as well and use them. I have downsized to just a couple of calibers which means thinning out dies, brass. etc. as well as those "extras" that you already have "one of" that are kept "just in case".

Sometimes it[s hard to do but in the end, you'll feel much better that you have made things easier for those that wold be faced with the task of clearing your things out if you "cross the river". Take the money you make from it and you and your loved one do some nice things together - even if it's just a movie or a nice dinner out once in a while. Those memories will help our loved one more than the memory of having to unload things that is a burden to do. They say "less is more" and I can tell you that I sleep much better at night knowing that I am not leaving a burden to others should I breath my last tomorrow.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I started in this shooting hobby in the 1980s.
Sadly it had turned into a collecting hobby in the late 90s and 2000s.
In 2015, I finally pulled the trigger on having a live & local auction and sold the major portion of my firearms collection and everything else gun related, that I felt was in the "Too much" category. It was one of the best decisions I have made.