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Posted: 4/21/2008 1:48:37 PM EDT
| It just occurred to me that if I had taken all the bucks I've spent on SBR's and retro builds, I could have had a decent M16 conversion and a couple of MAC's. It's not like I haven't thought of this before, I even know why I did it. It's one thing if I get an upper here and a barrel there, but if I blew upwards of $10K at once and my wife found out about it, my estate would be handing my collection instead of me. Anyone else? |
That was cool..601 I got you on the Fals and AKs. You could really go too far with all this "collecting" sh^t. 
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I've got some buddies who regularly drop several hundred on golf weekends. Also, some who figure a way to justify a new boat or car every couple of years. I enjoy this stuff as much if not more than the golf/boat/car guys. If I croaked this morning and the collection was sold this afternoon, I'll bet my estate would be "up money". Those golf/boat/car guys would have a hard time matching that. Another thing that helps me sleep at night is that if something really extrordinary turns up, I sacrifice some of the collection in order to make it work. Speaking of, I'm about to make some sacrifices. Also, Congrats on the 601 post! |
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I'm getting a little goofy about this stuff too. Every time some of my budds asks me to go to the golf course I think, It's going to cost me $50 to $100 to spend the day golfing, gee I could buy a bolt carrier or 5 mags or something else. Same thing with going uptown on a Friday night, gee I could buy another stripped upper or something else. Instead of putting a new fence around the yard(the old one is shot)I bought a new NDM86. It's getting harder and harder to spend money on anything that's not firearms related. I have already been through the AK thing and now I'm nut's for the Black Rifle! Here's the AK collection. I have a ways to go to catch up with the AR's. 
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If I sold these two shorties:  I could probably buy a nice MAC 10.... Not that I'd ever sell either of them, though.  Just think if I sold my 607 lower/stock. 
Me wants your Type III...mmmm.. Hmm..Should I get a Vector RPK74 or a Vector Type III with my tax refund..? And if I do get a T3, should I get a fixed stock or an underfolder? So many decisions! 
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It's a balancing act. You have to balance work and play, bills and disposable income. I could easily pay off my house if I sold just part of my collection, but common sense tells me that as long as I can pay my mortgage every month there is no need to sell anything. There's always a reason to buy something though!  Oh, and I bought most of my collection before I bought my own house. I used to have a LOT more disposable income. Oh, I knew I overlooked some more guns! |
I think I'm going to tag this thread so when my wife says that I'm spending too much on my gun I just hope you never give the "law" any reason to "enter" your house or we'll all be watching news reports about you on CNN and the evening news. Some people just might understand the hobby of gun collecting. Doc |
+1 |
Doc, I've had plenty of "law" at my house but they are usually co-workers or other LE that are obsessed with my toys. They love it when I bring toys out on range day. I brought the newest 607 upper on my shorty M16 lower out to training today. Did some drills with it and found it to be very quick and handy. Everyone else found it to be LOUD! But, they all enjoyed watching it spit out brass and a few even got to shoot it.
Pavy is sooooooo right. Got to spend money on the better half. If I had all the money I've spent on my girlfriend of five years I could buy another transferable M2 .50 BMG and enough ammo to keep it warm for days. She's worth it though because she puts up with me and my mayhem. Sometimes she complains that you guys take up too much of my time but it's easy enough to make her understand. She bought me a really nice 8cm digital camcorder for my birthday. I hope to be able to put up some videos of me shooting my toys in the near future. We have another machine gun shoot coming up on June 14. Life is good. |
45Bravo, It's good to know that you are one of the good guys. I'm always afraid that someday there will be a news report on CNN that goes something like this: Today, while responding to a barking dog call local police uncovered a weapons stash in the basement of a local citizen. It is unknown if Mr. XYZ belongs to any extremist group but, there is evidence of connections to a well organized Internet group dedicated to a pro-AR15 gun agenda. yadda, yadda, yadda......... Maybe we should all start collecting antique sale and pepper shakers........Nahhhh Doc  |
Correction...That should read "dedicated to a pro-assault rifle gun agenda..." Much more connotative power...Conjures images of pimply youths killing teenagers in schools...Drug gangs taking over neighborhoods...terrorists hijacking ocean liners and executing tourists... AR-15??? What soccer mom knows what those are??? "Assault rifles"...Ah! The tools of Satan!!!  There was some assh*le on CNN yesterday saying AK-47's were only designed to kill people and should be banned...Well, excuse me, assh*le, but what about women in SUV's talking on cell phones??? How about we ban *them*???  |
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Statistically, or so I've heard, alcohol related fatalities in the US are far higher than firearm related fatalities. But, remember the mayhem that ensued in the 1920's after alcohol was banned. I also remember reading somewhere else a staggering number of fatalities caused by doctors that either misdiagnose or misprescribe medication. I think firearms are the least of our worries. |
Well, I might as well tell both stories. The Japanese Type 38 Arisaka caliber 6.5mm was procured by my grandfather while serving in Guam during WWII. He gave it to me for Christmas in 1986. I thought then as I still do that this is one of the coolest things that anyone ever gave me. It was one thing to pass on his issue 1911A1 and M1 carbine but this was a rifle taken from an enemy soldier and he gave it to me. Now, the SKS is a unique piece as well. This is a genuine papered war trophy. I acquired it from a retired Major who works with us on a part time basis. He's fluent in about six languages including Vietnamese. He decided that he wanted to thin out his collection and asked several of us if we were interested in what he had. When I found out about this piece I told him to mark it as mine. We agreed on a price and he delivered the rifle with the papers. I don't know the full background on the papers, only that they were required to be able to bring the rifle from the country of Vietnam back to the United States. They describe the weapon in detail and had to be signed by a number of officials. The rifle is in good condition but has nicks and dings in the wood as well as some stains. I can't really say what the stains are from. Could have been water in a rusty bucket or used oil. Could have been something else. I do know that, according to his accounts, during a battle he had a bayonet from an AK47 stuck through one of his forearms. I've seen the scar and the purple heart. He doesn't brag of his exploits and is a very modest fellow and is as nice as mom's apple pie. |
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45Bravo: Now that is very neat stuff and lovely stories. Thanks very much for sharing those with us, including the story about the Jap rifle. The DD Form 603 with the SKS was required to register a war trophy firearm and was often used for bayonets and other equipment as well. Part of the hoop you had to jump thru was to make sure Military Intelligence wasn't interested in the weapon, and of course a whole slough of stuff was "confiscated" or in other words flat out stolen from field troops via that loophole. The bastards.... The full sized sheet half hidden behind the DD 603 was an army form stating that the Vietnamese export license had been applied for. You see the "Cleared for CONUS" stamp? This document temporarily took the place of the Vietnamese export license, and the soldier could not exit the country with his war trophy without it. The Vietnamese language form was the actual export license issued by the Vietnamese gummint stating their authorization to leave the country with the weapon. Those took a long time to get, and most weren't completed before the soldier had completed his tour and returned home, and so ended up getting mailed to the soldier. Hence the need for the temporary document half hidden behind the DD603. My cousin brought a rifle home in 1970, and it was over a year before the Vietnamese export license arrived. I was there a bit later, and it so happened that the country changed management before they got around to sending mine, so the bastards still owe me one.... I'm very pissed off that war trophies are no longer authorized for the current batch of Veterans. As I understand it, they aren't even allowed to bring home a rusty bayonet. That's just plain wrong. I feel they've been cheated out of something due them for honest and faithful service. A different bunch of bastards owe them, too.... |
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