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My father left me an extremely nice Colt Python that I rarely if ever shoot because not only is it beautiful and in perfect condition but also because it is worth a lot of money and I would hate to see it drop in value just because I feel that I have to shoot it. I actually bought a S&W 19-4 when I have that urge to shoot .357 or 38 special. The S&W is an excellent revolver and almost as nice as the Python. In this case though it is purely for the money portion, I keep the Python as a safe queen and will leave it for my children (I have the box it came in too). Everything else that I own I shoot and I own many firearms. I buy and have never sold anything. My Python is not a paperweight. It is a thing of beauty (in my eyes) and an investment.

I shoot all of my pistols, rifles and shotguns when I get a chance. I have two "wall hangers" that I will never shoot. One is a early 1800s flintlock and the other is an early 1900 Smith and Wesson pistol. Both of these belonged to my Great Grandfathers.

Shoot everything I have. Some more often than others. I shoot my Great Grandpa's .22lr pump Remington. It shoots better than the semi-auto .22lr Marlin my dad got for me some 30+ years ago. There are some guns that are too expensive for me to buy, but if I could afford them I would shoot them.

I do have one handgun in my collection that I won't shoot. I see it as an investment, but I probably wouldn't sell it either. This is the Beretta Billenium 92FS edition. There were only 1000 imported in to the US and only 2000 produced worldwide. Like others she get's cleaned and I show her off but I haven't shot her. I understand all the others who call it a paperweight, but this one is different to me. I also have a 25th anniversary edition of the M9 military addition. I haven't shot that but I will get around to that sooner or later.

Buying a gun and not shooting it seems like getting married and not consumating the union.

Unless a gun was purchased specifically as a collectors item or for a collection of some sort, I'd shoot them all. I don't abuse them and would take special care of the pretty blued ones (say an S&W M29), but they are made to shoot.

clarionite wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

RPBrown wrote:I also shoot all but 1 gun. That gun happens to be my grandfathers 1911 that was issued to him in WW2. How he came home with it I'll never know since he's been gone since 1968. Although I am sure it will shoot and I clean it every time I clean one of my guns, I just haven't been able to bring myself to shoot it. Last time it was shot was 1967 when he took me "out back" to shoot at some cans. 4 months later he passed. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but not gonna shoot it.

I also have my dad's WW2 1911. I don't shoot it very often, but I do shoot it. It runs like a champ. But I do understand what you're saying.

I can understand the sentiment. I have the Browning 12ga A5 my Grandma bought my Grandpa for their first anniversary. She worked at a department store up north. She asked her manager if they had any used guns, as she couldn't afford a new one. He told her to try out the Browning, he even let her shoot it. She liked it but she couldn't afford one of the new guns. He told her she could afford the one she was holding, it's been shot, it's used now. I heard my Grandmother tell that story several times. They're both gone now. That Browning is my most treasured gun.

That's a great story!

I've heard this conversation with knives. I see some buddies of mine who carry $150-$200 knives and don't use em because they're scared of losing it.

I love great steel on knives and that's why I buy em. They work well and their steel is worth paying what I use em for.

gljjt wrote:

clarionite wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:

RPBrown wrote:I also shoot all but 1 gun. That gun happens to be my grandfathers 1911 that was issued to him in WW2. How he came home with it I'll never know since he's been gone since 1968. Although I am sure it will shoot and I clean it every time I clean one of my guns, I just haven't been able to bring myself to shoot it. Last time it was shot was 1967 when he took me "out back" to shoot at some cans. 4 months later he passed. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but not gonna shoot it.

I also have my dad's WW2 1911. I don't shoot it very often, but I do shoot it. It runs like a champ. But I do understand what you're saying.

I can understand the sentiment. I have the Browning 12ga A5 my Grandma bought my Grandpa for their first anniversary. She worked at a department store up north. She asked her manager if they had any used guns, as she couldn't afford a new one. He told her to try out the Browning, he even let her shoot it. She liked it but she couldn't afford one of the new guns. He told her she could afford the one she was holding, it's been shot, it's used now. I heard my Grandmother tell that story several times. They're both gone now. That Browning is my most treasured gun.

That's a great story!

That is awesome. Shows you how different things are these days.

I shoot everything I have expensive or not and every once in awhile I shoot my dads old bolt action 410

I shoot all of mine, if I have something that has been sitting for a year or more it most likely will end up being sold off to make room in the safe for new ones.

I think there are guns that are too nice NOT to shoot.

If you hand me a hi point... meh...not saying anything against them as practical tools but I'm not going to go out of my way to swing a $3 made-in-china hammer either. If I owned one I doubt it would come to the range with me very often. I'd probably stash it somewhere "just in case" and forget it was even there.

If you hand me a $5500 custom 1911...I want to take it to the range. Now. I want to make a special trip to the range just for that gun. A $30,000 double rifle? If that was even close to something I could afford to touch I think I'd take a day off work just to try it out.

My Colt Texas Sesquicentennial .45 hasn't been shot since the factory, nor will I shoot it: