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Does anyone know of any free software that helps you keep track of your guns?

Also if you keep track of your guns, how do you?

Excel spread sheet......

I use excel to keep my gun records. The file contains dates purchased, traded or sold, as well as serial numbers and purchase price. Just in case my wife ever becomes computer literate the file is password protected!

+1 on the spreadsheet. Easy to modify as you go along, yet the data can still be imported into a stand-alone database if you ever want to set up one of those someday. I also include a good description of the item, as well as any "notes" particular to that gun that I might want to keep track of. One of these days when I finally get a digital camera, I also plan to make a column to keep a picture on file with it as well.

Houston1944 wrote:Just in case my wife ever becomes computer literate the file is password protected!

Sneaky!

I'll probably use Excel - but right now I only own 1 weapon. Not much to keep track of.....

Here's what I use, I created a blank one for you to start with if you like.

• Example_Gun_Inventory.xls

Ryan

While it's not free, Clay Pryor's "NM Gun Collector Software" gets good reviews from crufflers and others with large collections. Lots of features.

It's PC-only, so I don't use it, but you might want to check it out:

http://www.nmcollector.net/nmguncollector/index.htm

Kevin

The beauty of the spreadsheet

You can take pictures of the weapons, and then hyperlink them to the spreadsheet.

Keep the photos in the same file with the spreadsheet.

It is free and it has a lot more functions than most people realize.

That is what I have done, then take that same file and burn it to CD for records and put in the safe.

You can update and burn another CD at the cost of .20

B

I do the Spread Sheet thing. If you don't want to spend money on MS Office you could try Open Office(It's Free).

The other thing I go is email the file to one of my web based email accounts as an attachment. That way I can get to the file from anywhere with an internet conection.

I vote for the spreasheet as well.

I currently use NM Gun Collector Software and have been quite happy with it, but must admit that it's overkill for my small "collection".

A spreadsheet and a bunch of digital pictures work fine. Just be sure to burn a CD or two and keep at least one copy of it offsite.

mschadt wrote:I do the Spread Sheet thing. If you don't want to spend money on MS Office you could try Open Office(It's Free).

+1 on that... have used OpenOffice since early beta days (along with Sun's StarOffice before that) and have seen it come a LONG way. Great application that helps you stand off vendor lock-in, and is available for a wide variety of operating systems.

mschadt wrote:The other thing I go is email the file to one of my web based email accounts as an attachment. That way I can get to the file from anywhere with an internet conection.

Another handy idea, especially since the USB keys have come down in price so much, is to keep a copy of the files on them. That way you always have access to your important files. They can also be easily encrypted with GnuPG (GNU's Privacy Guard) or PGP (Pretty Good Privacy - use the last version put out by MIT for a free copy). GnuPG is great for encryption, and is also free, but I am a little biased on that one (being the FAQ maintainer).

I do have MS Office. I'm very unfamiliar with Excel. I'll just have to play with it. I guess I was looking for the lazy way.

DWS,
Not trying to insult your intelligence, but Excel for Dummies is a good read....it is one of those programs that many people just don't learn at work! Good luck.
Jason

jbirds1210 wrote:DWS,
Not trying to insult your intelligence, but Excel for Dummies is a good read....it is one of those programs that many people just don't learn at work! Good luck.
Jason

Jason, no insult taken. I love those Dummies books. several years ago I bought the HTML dummies book and it really helped.

I have a new credit card that needs breaking in the book might be a good way.

Thanks.

The most useful tool is Microsoft Access.... which is a database.... Excell is not well adapted to database us (of course not designed to be... it is a spread sheet.)

FWIW

Chuck

dws1117 wrote:Does anyone know of any free software that helps you keep track of your guns?

Also if you keep track of your guns, how do you?