S&W 44 Special

I'm still selling guns from the estate of one of my friends - more than two years later. I'm down to less than a dozen, and started with over a hundred. It's been a lot better, monetarily, for his wife, but it does require a bit of work and patience!

I have seen devastation from leaving firearms with no records. This is the same for reloading and accessories. I am doing a "death cleaning" also. The hard to get, as in the 624, stuff goes last.

In an disorganized estate the sharks will show up in droves. It goes like this. He was going sell me that 6" stainless Python for $300.00. On and on. The males relatives here do not care and/or are stuck on games and cell phones. If I do it right it will all my stuff will be gone when I go.

Boy oh boy, I vacillate between selling off all but a few, and keeping them all and Sue can throw them in a dumpster for all I'll care. Sue says she's going first so she doesn't have to deal with all of this crap.

On the other hand, think of all the fun the circling vultures could have and the post sale bragging. Who doesn't like a good bargain? I dunno, having just watched a good friend pass and he used his accumulation less than I do mine. Maybe a good culling and shifting the proceeds into something else would be satisfying. After all, I really enjoyed that Gulf Coast fishing.

I did my first culling in about 2010 planning for retiring the third time. That got me almost enough to buy my last 5th wheel trailer. My son only wants a couple of my guns, no reloading equipment, and my daughter maybe one pistol. Only have two grand daughters and neither are ever likely to be interested in shooting.

I’ve seen the distribution of an estate go smoothly, I’ve seen it go horribly and just about everything in between those extremes.

Some human beings are civilized and possess good character, but many fit neither of those categories. And the status of the relationship, whether it be friend or family, has nothing to do with one’s character.

So, if you have property that you wish to bequeath to a particular person, make your wishes VERY, VERY clear. Do that in writing, in a will, and make sure other people know where that will is located.

There is a tremendous amount of myth, misinformation and false lore about wills and estates.

When it comes to personal property, like firearms, take the time to adequately describe the property. Serial numbers and photographs will make the duty of the executor easier AND go a long way to eliminating disputes.

The old proverb that good fences make good neighbors is true on many levels. One of those levels is that clear boundaries reduce disputes. Clear intentions about the distribution of property reduce disputes.

Wish I would have bought one of the cimarron birdshead 3 1/2 " in 44 sp. when they were avalible & less costly. they even had one with a oct. barell @#&$
Jeff

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462 said:

I'm happy with my 3" 24-3 and a 6 1/2" 624, but a .44 Special Blackhawk would be icing on the cake.

Sad as it will be, in the coming months the 24-3 will be on consignment sale.

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I've been working on paring down for over ten years now, and for some of the same, and for some different reasons, but the one thing t hat I can say about it is that it is very liberating to not have ad dozen undone projects, guns with no brass, brass with no gun, three rifles scoped but not zeroed, four with no scopes at all, another several in need of an extractor, ejector or some other crucial, but small part.

I had my fun, "played the field," had my time being a fickle infidel about which was my "best" or my "favorite" and I experienced a lot of stuff, upon which I could finally base my decision on what few I'd keep for my own small personal battery. I've pared it down significantly and there's a lot of brutally pragmatic decision-making reflected in most of my choices, but there was still a little "wiggle room" for a couple superfluous items, which I could very easily sell off if I wanted to or needed to later, one of which is, of course, the 44 Special, my all-time favorite, but the 357 won out for practical reasons for revolver/carbine duty - considering my personal situation, location, etc.

Maybe I say too little with too many words, because I have found myself in the past few days having to go back and say "THE POINT IS...."

So, THE POINT IS, that this culling, paring or thinning, however one describes it, is not, or doesn't have to be painful. I've found a lot of enjoyment and distraction in thoroughly kicking around what stays and what goes. The rifle I'd dreamed of all my life, which I finally started building actually WENT. It took ten years to get to the point where I realized it was more of a burden (unfinished project) than a pleasure and it went away too.

I now thoroughly enjoy the few things I've kept, enjoy casting, loading and shooting more than before and have a smaller range of "inventory items" to keep up with, which allows me to focus a limited budget (allows me to limit my budget) on more of fewer options. I've even narrowed it down to two moulds for each of four calibers I intend to get by with from here on. I've settled on a handful of powders, which introduces limitations, but exercises one's creative abilities.

I know others will see this a lot differently, because we all have different perspectives - my best friend and I are polar opposites on this matter, yet we still have plenty to talk about.

I'm having a lot of fun with it and have enjoyed having less to worry about and never wondering "which rifle" or "which handgun" to take out to shoot, or worse - work on. Had my fun with that and don't feel like working on them like I used to. I'd hate to think of anyone letting their stuff go and not want to. Nothing wrong with hanging onto it until you're dead either - just don't kid yourself about it being an "investment." I have to make decisions on an estate, into which many tens of thousands of dollars have been "invested," but most of it is worth a quarter of what it would have been if it were unaltered. This fella rechambered everything to odd wildcats, many of which don't even have dies. He had his fun, so that was what he got out of it - pretty much zip as far as monetary returns, but he had his fun.

If this all sounds like heresy, then don't get rid of your stuff. For me, it's been very liberating, I have less to worry about, less to spend money on and less hassles all the way 'round. Never had time for all of them anyway.

JWG said:

Wish I would have bought one of the cimarron birdshead 3 1/2 " in 44 sp. when they were avalible & less costly. they even had one with a oct. barell @#&$
Jeff

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So, THIS dummy (me) let a 4 5/8" 44 Special New Vaquero, at Kentucky Gun, for $400 get away from me when they closed them out, so don't feel too badly. The proverbial "one that got away."

Having recently works to sell a bunch of moulds and such for Paul makes me look at it a bit different.

There we’re not many rifles or handguns Paul had that fit a niche in my shooting world. I have no interest in milsurps so those could go. I got most of what I really wanted, a nice 94 Win in 357 mag got away.

I kept few of the 75+ moulds as many didn’t fit my needs or desires. Dies all got sold off at the estate sale.

In the end it came down to me not wanting to make someone else’s stuff mine. I didn’t have room for it. I would use much of it. I don’t have interest in it. Lyman 310 tools? Not in my house! How many presses and measures does a guy need?

I kept a few guns that had a history that meant something to ME.

I own a second model Smith & Wesson 6 1/2" , a stainless Target Bulldog 4" , a Ruger Flattop 5 1/2" , and a 4 3/4" Cimarron black powder frame SA in .44 Special . My grail gun is the Triple Lock in .44 Special .

if nobody in the family shows interest, or the aptitude, i'll give it to the kid down the street that does.
i could care less about the monetary value, i just want it used by someone that appreciates it.

that goes for everything, not just the guns and reloading stuff.
my goal is to die completely broke.

I've been trying to get my boy (28) into reloading and casting so I'll have someone to take all my stuff when I'm gone.

fiver said:

if nobody in the family shows interest, or the aptitude, i'll give it to the kid down the street that does.
i could care less about the monetary value, i just want it used by someone that appreciates it.

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I keep complete reloading sets to give away to any young person who will use it. Think I have done about 5 in the last ten years. I really don't "need" all the reloading stuff I have, nor do I want to keep it all.

yep.
i done the same thing for a number of years.
as i found older presses for 40-50$ that still had good life in them or beam scales etc. i'd pick them up and put a simple box together for people that showed an interest.

the hardest part for most people is to actually open the box and set their stuff up.
if i went over to their place and got them going, almost all of them would get involved and start putting their own ammo together.
if i just gave them the stuff and asked about it later, almost all of them would simply say they hadn't done anything with it.

i got about 6-7 people up and going enough to at least be able to put 1-200 rounds of safe and accurate hunting ammo together that was good enough to shoot as good as or better than factory ammo and that's really all they wanted.

JWG said:

Wish I would have bought one of the cimarron birdshead 3 1/2 " in 44 sp. when they were avalible & less costly. they even had one with a oct. barell @#&$
Jeff

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I won one at the last EOT at Raahauges. My Daughter likes it. And it fits right in with all the SA's in .44Spl. Colt's, Uberti's, Armi Sam Marco's and even a Pietta I think. Still offer hard rubber grips for it back then.

I won't say my goal is to die broke, my goal is more not to be broke while still breathing! I've thought about "thinning the herd", but honestly, it's taken me so long and so much work to acquire what I have that it really rankles me to even consider it. Doesn't matter what it is- guns, reloading or casting gear, tools, chainsaws, tractors, books, etc., if I get rid of it I will invariably need it 3 days after it's gone. That rule never varies. I'd like my boys to get into reloading and casting, but finding the time to get them trained is the problem. Plus, I stockpiled so much stuff that I can go years between sessions. If I kick off, well, I won't be worried about what happens to it all anyway!

For me it is not so much how many but what.

I would have no problem selling off 3-4 that I just don’t use in order to buy one that fits my desires right now.

I'm almost at the point where downsizing a lot of stuff and simplifying my life in general is looking pretty good. I really do need to shoot more, seems like for several years now, my thoughts have been "I'll be retired for good eventually, and then I'll need things to do" but I have a lot of projects I probably won't get to then either.

Both sons are somewhat into guns and shooting, but neither as avidly as I am and neither is really as into the reloading as I am. Seems like the past few years, I've become almost as interested in collecting neat old reloading stuff as guns. That stuff will be harder to liquidate when I'm gone.

At 70 1/2 years old, I'm not downsizing but rather upsizing........to a degree. Crossing one off my bucket list, soon. No heirs that show any interest and none living closer than 13 driving hours away. Cindy will have to deal with all my stuff. Probably, just leave it in the walk in vault, rather than deal with it..............financially she's set. Let the buzzards sort it out. We do have a trust.

richhodg66 said:

"I'll be retired for good eventually, and then I'll need things to do" but I have a lot of projects I probably won't get to then either.
Seems like the past few years, I've become almost as interested in collecting neat old reloading stuff as guns. That stuff will be harder to liquidate when I'm gone.

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One, be glad you will never get all your projects done, boredom is boring. Two, reloading tool are interesting, historical and cheap to collect.