I have had fun building stuff and chasing parts and still have a couple builds left to finish but get to thinking every once in a while about why do I have so many similar rifles?

I still have a DOE build and an XM177E1 to do and was thinking of doing a prototype build since I have handguards and a FSB for it.

I have:

601ish built on my "spare" SP1
1964 SP1
XM16E1
603
604
605ish
XM177E1.5
SP1 Carbine
652
IDF

I'm waiting on my RR XM16 and will probably migrate over everything from my XM build to it to make it correct again.

It's been fun but I just don't shoot them enough and think maybe it's time to move on to something else? Anybody else done it and did you regret it? I know original parts aren't getting any cheaper or easier to find but feel like I could cut back some of the similar models or less correct ones?

I don't know, guess I'm kind of bored and then having to clean out my dads stuff it just makes me think about not wanting it to be a burden to my kids one day.

I don't think I will ever sell a gun.  The wrong environment/politics will come before us again.  Anything I don't need, I will give to my kids.

Every time that I have started to thin out parts, I ended up selling something I needed later

I constantly buy stuff, sell it when I get tired of it or want a few bucks, wish I didn't, then do it again. I sell things I say I never will. It's a vicious cycle. The only things I haven't sold are my 601, 602, 633 and my 3 SBR's.

It's one of those things where it's fun while you're searching and the excitement of a new find or finishing a new build but then it wears off and you search for the next "thing".

I'm kind of getting that way with my 1911s and GI guns in particular. If I could find a decent deal on a US&S I think I would consider it done and perhaps thin them as well.

I just don't know, maybe I'm just in a gun funk.

Everyone thinks differently when it comes to firearms down sizing of personal inventory. I had quite a few Browning Hi-Powers at one time. Now less than 4.

Now is not the time to be selling retro M16 parts. I'm sitting on desirable parts myself I'll never use again.

Lately I've drifted towards wheel guns again. Wish I'd never sold my Colt' and a few smith's 30 years ago. Prices are now outrageous for vintage model's!

yes, I have a few times and really wish I could do it again. I've gotten out of weird calibers so I'm down to 22, 9, 45, 223, 12 gauge for the most part. but I have a few other random things or they are too cheap to sell (AR stuff now) or I just don't need them. Hell I have an SBR build in pieces on my bench for the last 3 weeks, I had trouble with a roll pin so just said screw it and walked away. not in a hurry to finish since I don't "need" it either.

If I lost everything in a fire/flood or could get over sentimental stuff, I would do fine with just these:
Shield  9mm to carry
STI tactical 9mm  for everything else
Baer 45 act 1911 for competition and it's my favorite platform
SBR 300BO or Sig MPX 9mm, suppressed, dot, etc
3 gun AR (good barrel, 1-4x scope)
semi auto shotgun of some flavor.

In all honesty that would get me through every style of competition and shooting that I do. nice to haves would be 22s for plinking and practice, etc. I don't need at least half of the ARs I have, nor do I have much desire to build more, even while they are super cheap!

I have thinned out my AR collection and my overall collection to some extent a few times, but I have no intentions of selling off any of my retros. I will sell off a modern AR before I sell one of my retros. It is different for everyone. It all depends on how attached you are to what you have.

Like I said, I enjoyed building them and the parts hunt but once completed they lose some of their luster I guess.

Like I said, I think some of it has been cleaning out my parents stuff. It's coming to the realization that your box of rare retro parts will likely become a box of "what the hell is this and what do we do with it" one day to your kids.

The collecting is fun but it's also not like it used to be. Back in the day you went to flea markets, garage sales, gun shows and auctions in search of that one elusive thing you needed. Now you just go to GunBroker or eBay and there's three of them and the only thing keeping you from owning it is the price.

Maybe I'm just in a funk and need to get my SBRs and SBS built

I've done it, thinned the hurd of copies or variations, but I've "given" them to family. The reasoning is as you have explained. Box of part equals "how do I get rid of this" for the kids if I pass. The whole rifles allow me to teach them, make a memory and hopefully get to shoot with them. I still had all the fun of collecting and building them. For me this has worked out great. Each of my loved ones now has at least a little bit of interest in my hobby. A couple are more into it and I have explained what I have in my bigger collection, what is real, correct or what is a clone part. I have been thinking about putting a more detailed log together on each build to help them out when I am gone.

I'm keeping my collection of M16 clones because I shoot every week:
Prototype (waiting to be assembled)
601 Brown
601 Green
603 (started my hobby)
603 Coltguard (clone)
604
605
607 (full parts in a box)
608 (in a box)
629
701 A2
711 C7
727 (Magpul hardware, but can be switched back)

I have also taken rifles apart and reused parts on a different model. My 606 is an example. I never shot it and only I knew it was a 606. That one became my Coltguard clone with a different barrel.

I did talk to my Dad before his passing and suggested he sell certain guns out of his collection that I had no real interest or attachment to. We agreed it felt better for both of us to do it this way.

Just selling them off? That I don't do. One of my best friends does this and all most always regrets it. We have spent 30 years looking for a replacement of a revolver he sold when we were young. Then again, maybe that has been part of our fun. Always gives you a reason to look.

Once I hit 60, it was time to decide if I owned them or they owned me.
Lots of stuff went out the door. Down from 12 AR15's to two + an AR pistol that I'm going to SBR. Got several uppers for the pistol to keep it interesting.
Got a Glock 19, a Kimber 1911 .45ACP, and a Browning BuckMark .22LR. Got the Glenfield Model 60 .22LR that I bought on my 18th birthday & a Marlin 917V for a crow zapper on the farm.
And that's it for me.

Got a couple of 'project guns' that I'll recycle once I complete the testing on them. These are two inexpensive .mil surp previously Bubbaized Spanish Mausers or some Saturday Night Specials with no attachment to them.

Have been thinking about it, too, for pretty much the same reasons.  When I shoot, I more frequently shoot a modern rifle--but I still love the old ones!
...Just let me know when you're ready to dump those boring 1911s of yours!

All the time. I am a full fledged member of the "assault rifle of the month club"...

Eventually though, at what point is it worth keeping 15-20 clones, when you could sell them and get a real NFA Colt?

Well Rob if you help me find a good deal on a US&S I will consider my collection complete(ish) and then maybe I'll be more tempted to thin it out

Though I still need a Remington UMC and a Savage too

I've thinned the herd. Sold off a ton of Milsurps. Carcanos, Arisakas, Mosins, etc....

If I find a good deal on a US&S, I'll buy it for myself!  That's what I was issued back in the day (well, at least it had a US&S slide) and I'd love to have one now.
There again, though, I've really lost the drive to expand the 1911 collection, too.  ...Although I did make an offer on a 1917 the other day, so maybe it never really ends.

I was talking to my Lovely Young Bride a few days ago about some of the things I own and she wanted to know what to do with it all if I kick off. She doesn't know anything about old guns except that I spend too much money on them.
I told her just to fly brother Morg back here to clean out my office.  I figure he'll know the value of everything.

Really, we should all maintain an updated inventory list with market values.  To do much good, unfortunately, the values have to be updated periodically and I hate doing paperwork!

I'll tell you what, find me a good deal on a correct US&S and I'll sell you my arsenal rebuild with a US&S slide and it will be just like the one you were issued

I keep a list but it unfortunately isn't the most up to date. I went through GunBroker looking at actual selling prices and then throwing out the low and the high as outliers and then averaging the actual sales. I figure that they never go down in value and it will at least give her a good starting point to know the bottom line minimum price.

Of course there's something to be said about convenience if guns aren't your thing. In going through my dad's stuff he had book values on each of them but they were years old but like I said, at least a starting point.

My sister has been dealing with many of the rifles and shotguns since I'm half the country away. A local shop has been giving 75% of the blue book value based on condition. It's not perfect but not bad I guess.

Another issue is the box of extra mags and parts that unless the people taking care of your collection once you are gone know what they go to become problematic as well. I have tried to organize extra mags by putting them in plastic bags and labeling them. Some things like retro AR parts, 1911 parts and mags can range a lot in value and a $10 part looks an aweful lot like the $500 part if you don't know better.

I think I need to be better organized and clean out some of my stuff that I know I'll never use and my boys will probably not be interested in.

I started in 2004 on the down sizing. (I am in my 70's now)
The first few batches went well in shipping, then it got to be an hassle with shipping.
People (buyers) just cannot follow instruction.............
That is when I slowed down on it.

I started giving my family guns for the Christmas, Birthdays, etc. (Grandsons and Sons).
Still doing this.

Then I started using a couple of FFL dealers to sell them on consignment.
I still get what I was selling them for and none of the hassle.
I started them off with two dozen and as they sell them off I take them some more.
I even gave some of the safes away so I would not refill them, Mistake.

This was doing well until I got to the boxes of AR/M16 parts.
This is when I joined this site. Here I am now.
Now, I am digging in boxes for parts or buying parts.
I did sell off 6 really nice complete Colt Retro Upper's a couple years ago.
They had been in boxes in storage for 40 years. (I am still sorry I sold them)
I don't think I will be selling any more of the AR/M16 parts anytime soon.

I am still using one of the FFL's on the surplus rifles.
My plan is to dig out the early surplus Kits and sell them later.
If I am gone before I get this done it will not matter to me then.
Someone may get some real deals on parts.

I started making a spread sheet on the parts, but I finally just gave up on that idea.
It is way too much like work.............

Ron

Wow! This post s really depressing. It kinda brings home the fact that none of us will live forever. I too have had thoughts about "Thinning the herd" from time to time,  but just cant seem to let anything go.  Banshee, if you do decide to let some go,,,I,d be interested in that IDF clone (as it is the only one of your herd that i dont have). Sometimes i think of selling off some of my "Wooden Guns/Curio and relics", so that i might more able  finish all of the AR builds that i want, (damn, they take up so much space). I have made a list as to approx values, so that my siblings can divy the weapons amongst themselves, and then sell off the rest so that the proceeds can go to my son. I guess that should all be spelled out in my will. I sooooo enjoy our hobbie, have made a lot of really good freinds though it. I feel as though i know many of you; without even having met . This really is the best forum a guy could ask for. I think we should try to have some kind of annual meeting for the members on here. We could all bring our favorite ARs, do some shooting, swap parts, and share war stories. Maybe, if one of us has some land we might even be able to have a BIG campout, and make it a week long event?

I guess it is kind of depressing but at the same time it's reality.

I have a friend that has a bunch of military vehicles, class 3 stuff and generally cool things. I told him the same thing and it's very eyeopening when you are forced to deal with it.

I told him that that the piece of bent metal that's some halftrack part that's worth $200 is going to get thrown away unless he lets somebody know what it is and how much it's worth. Luckily my parents had an "estate sale" while my dad was still alive and they moved closer to my sister or else we would be dealing with a lot more stuff and further from me and my sister.

Do your family and heirs a favor and let them know where things are, what they are and what they are worth or give them things you want them to have now.

Been awhile. Im down to just a few parts and a 80% lower.  
kids n 408w taking a toll

I guess I am alot like you guys.  I initially bought a complete lower, and then a complete upper.  Both from different people.  It was my first CAR.  I liked it, but did not have much luck finding somewhere to shoot it.  Well the family broke up after kids headed off to college and adult life, so the wife and I moved to a small town in Central Florida.  We have not one, but two outdoor shooting ranges available.  Once that started, it seemed I needed to have an A2 rifle like I had in the Corps, along with an A1 that I had while at Parris Island.  They the wife wanted a carbine, and hers was designed to be light weight and painted in pink and white MarPat.  She wanted a regular rifle like mine, so another carbine was born.  Her old rifle became a scoped rifle.  I was pretty good at keeping things at a steady level, until I found a pic of an XM177.  I put together one of those but with an A2 carry handle upper, I consider it kind of a tribute build to the older models.

Now that I see there is more than one place to get an acetate covered stock, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for them.  I may wind up picking up one from Tony over at Tony's customs.  His go for $100, and I am not sure what the other company sells them for.

I guess it all comes down to a Hemingway quote " One cat soon leads to many others".  Substitute AR for cat and that is the problem I have currently.

Now I am torn about which butt stock to get.  Thanks for reading, or skimming, or tldr.

Ron

I'm never going to sell a gun, or gun parts. I know too many of my dad's friends who have told me stories of I wish I still had blaw blaw blaw. Also living in the shadow of Komifornia I want to amass as much as I can before some shitty law gets through.

This jamoke has submitted an AWB bill for the last two years, luckily it has never gotten traction.
If I ever sell a gun its going to be after they are grandfathered in and I'm looking to retire off it.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/ag-bob-ferguson-unveils-assault-weapons-ban-and-a-backup-plan/

Do my divorces an deployments (Bitch cleaned me out) count?

Sorry for your loss but no, that doesn't count if it wasn't voluntary.

Of course after posting this I get the call that I need to come pick up my Mexico DF 6920 and while I'm there I spot a Colt Defender 45 with the plastic Colt box, looks new and $500 so I put money down on it

I already have 2! One in 45 and one in 9mm and though I love them and that's a great price do I really need another one?

Damn it, I have a problem.

I have 60 acres in Weatherly,PA with an old mobile home on it if anybody wants to really try and do this. It doesn't have a proper range setup on it but my neighbor does and has said I can use it in the past.

Sound advice.

It's a struggle keeping all that organized.  I thought there'd be time to get all that straightened out after retirement.

Do not ask me how's that workin' out so far.

I've slowly been getting rid of some guns. I just don't really care to have a bunch of shit laying around.  Plus shooting just doesn't happen a lot for me anymore. So I've been getting rid of machine guns, bolt guns, guns I have multiples of etc.

If you have enough guns where you can shoot one a day and not repeat for the entire year, you are winning.  

I can see no reason to ever sell a gun, unless you are upgrading.  That said, I sold 4 guns this year to upgrade, replacing them with 6 or 7 guns.   Thinking I am getting more room in my safe is the fail boat. 

I have thought of parting out a few of my Retros (601,602) that I have never shot, for cash to buy other guns that I will. That is about as far as it has went though.

Well, I find this an intriguing possibility!
Think your neighbors would object to a little full-auto fire? 

I,d def make the drive up to Pa. 60 acres huh? Would there be the possibility of having a camper parked on it? I,m doing the camping thing now, as it affords me lots of traveling opportunities. Plus, toting my retros comes in really handy.

They haven't yet

Not sure about full auto on my neighbors range though and we do use it as a hunting property so timing would be key.

My friend has some fun stuff to include 1919, M60, and some other stuff. Maybe I could talk him into bringing them out to play.

Camper probably wouldn't be a problem. It's a circular gravel driveway with some pull offs so really would depend on the size. There's also an old railbed that is now a dirt road that may accommodate as well.

I have 162 acres in southern Indiana, complete with a range & a local sheriff that doesn't mind full auto fire OR tannerite, if anybody wants to come play sometime.

Six ARs seems to be the limit for me, although we'll see what happens when all of them have world-class optics, suppressors, thermal for my SPR, all the right accessories for the clones, etc. and I'm satisfied with their performance on the range.  Five 5.56 and one .22LR AR pistol...will probably get a chassis precision rifle if I want anything heavier.  I already have a lot of intermediate range larger caliber rifles for deer hunting.  

So yeah, I'm in refining mode now.