What to do with a rifle you don't shoot?

[bpurtz]

Shoot it...

Sure, that's the easy answer - but, its not that easy for me.

Several years ago I bought my first custom rifle from MOA Rifles - 7mm Rem Mag. A couple years later for some unknown reason I bought another in .338 Lapua and then another in .300 PRC. A little over a year ago I bought a Seekins Havak Element in 6.5 PRC.

My impractical addiction seems to be flaring and lately I've been thinking about a Seekins 7mm PRC. I've probably put less than 100 rounds down the .338 Lapua and I just don't see myself using this gun much, so my practical side is telling me to sell it, which would really justify the decision to buy the Seekins.

I've got 3 boys and a SIL (and 3 grandsons) that will ultimately inherit the guns so maybe the other easy answer is ignore practicality and let one of my boys deal with the Lapua.

What would you do???

 

[Geewhiz]

If you’re not going to hunt with it use those high bc bullets to shoot rocks at a million billion yards.

 

[wildwilderness]

Sell it… and when your kids/grandkids are ready for a rifle buy them a new one just how they want it.

 

[justinspicher]

I always offload gear I’m not using. I hate having gear just sitting around taking up space.

 

[wapitibob]

I'd sell all of them but the 6.5 prc.

 

[TaperPin]

Kids will never have the same taste as you, no matter how nice a gun is, but they are a good way to get rid of stuff. I give our kids anything that needs to go and they can keep it, sell it, or trade it. I used to cringe when giving them something and having them poo poo it and almost give it away to a friend, but it’s theirs as soon as it leaves my hand and it doesn’t bother me now.

One of our boys would sell any rifle I gave him and buy archery equipment and the other would sell it and buy 223 ammo. Lol

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Sell it… and when your kids/grandkids are ready for a rifle buy them a new one just how they want it.

This

 

[bpurtz]

I'd sell all of them but the 6.5 prc.

Have you been conspiring with my wife?

 

[rayporter]

it dont eat and you dont have to clean up after it so if you dont need the money for the next project-----keep it.

or rebarrel it.

 

[wapitibob]

Have you been conspiring with my wife?

no sir, and I need to take my own advice. I have a safe full of guns from my dad, who thought he was a collector. I'll never shoot any of them and nobody in my family wants them. I need to sell them but it's gotten to be a pain in the a@@; gunbroker works but they're fees expensive as heck.

 

[rickyw]

Sell it

 

[RockAndSage]

If it's honestly about what's best for your kids/grandkids, then sell them and park that cash as silver/gold in your gun safe, or in an investment fund that will actually pay you.

If it's actually more about what you want...sell all of them, and roll it all into one absolute dream of a rifle.

 

[gbflyer]

You could try selling on the forums if you don’t want to cover Gunbroker fees.

 

[DangerRanger]

Given they aren’t heirlooms I would sell them unless I have a legitimate use for them

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I plan to sell any rifle which I don’t want to shoot unless there is a sentimental reason to keep it.

 

[RockAndSage]

I plan to sell any rifle which I don’t want to shoot unless there is a sentimental reason to keep it.

Very similar here. As much as I love guns, collecting them lost its appeal long ago - they're more like premium tools for me, each having a role or job. There are a few doubled-up as backups (ARs, handguns), and a few I've kept because I've got a ton of ammo for them whose value probably exceeds that of the gun they're for (30-06, .40cal & .45ACP handguns, etc). But those guns are high quality, albeit hard-used and modified in most cases, and I know them well.

The satisfaction these days comes in tuning a gun to my needs and upgrading it over time, and just putting a ton of time into it. I don't shoot the .40 or .45 hardly at all anymore, but they're worth keeping between the ammo on-hand and how well I know them from years past. Plus, the modifications I've made or the wear on them would just leave them with little market value. And those were whittled down to a kind of best-fit for category, with others of their chamberings sold off.

But yeah, like you, other than these category-specific guns, the only other ones I've kept are sentimental ones. And most of those were hard-use hunting guns from my grandfather or dad, that they packed around for years, also with little market value. But they're pretty priceless to me.