Ammo, guns, and Old Age

[MOUNTAINORACLE]

When I was a youngen [in the late '50s] I can remember walking to the local hardware store and buying a box of 22 LR hollowpoints to go groundhog hunting for 49 cents per box; if I was flush from the last trapping season I would buy it by the brick for $4.90 for 500 rounds. After I few years the price of a brick of 22s climbed to $9.99 a brick or 99 cents a box. I stocked up on 22 ammo at the $9.99 price as I watched the price of this ammo go up every so often until it hit a high of $19.99 a brick or $1.89 a box. Through this time frame my kids grew up and shot up countless bricks of ammunition; grand kids came along grand dad bought each of them their first 22 rifle and supplyed the ammo for the grand babies to shoot up.

From the early '60s until the late '90 I started buying a brick or more of 22 ammo anytime I would see it on sale and in that 40 year period I amassed a nice stash of 22 ammo for the kids to shoot up. I haven't bought a 22 round since '98 or '99 and during this time of overpriced 22 caliber ammo the kids have shot up all but one brick of my $4.90 brick stash & have went through all the $9.99 a brick ammo. I am now into the $19.99 a brick ammo.

Wednesday night an old hunting buddy of mine called and asked if I could stop by his house as had something I might be interested in. Luther is an old timer [88 or so] and had to give up shooting/hunting due to health reasons. After BSing a while he offered to sell me a several guns and some ammo. The guns were like NIB and he wanted exactly what paid them in the 50s and his ammo price was what was marked on the box or brick. I bought all the guns and ammo he wanted to sell. I argued with him about the price as I felt I should pay at least DOUBLE and then some to make this a fair deal; but he said no way, his wife had died and he had no one to will his collection to so he divided up what he had and decided to sell a few pieces to each of his good friends. He didn't want the state to get a dime.

I now have an even nicer stash of 22, 38 Super, 41 Mag, & .416 Rigby and some firearms I will never sell. This was nice of him but I rather have Luther healthy and out in woods hunting with us just like in '58 or '59. Damn this hit close to home Wednesday, out of our group of 10 hunters that were at the camp in '57 there are only 3 of us left. At only 65 years old Sammy is now our dog.

[c45man]

Nice gain for you from a dear friend. Sooner or later we all will be faced with the decision as to the liquidation of our stuff. No one has figured out how to take it with you.

[wanneroo]

Nope you can't take it with you, but my feeling is that if it can be passed on to someone who wants it and can use it, it's all good.

[IronButt]

Nope you can't take it with you, but my feeling is that if it can be passed on to someone who wants it and can use it, it's all good.

Bullpoop! Have you ever seen a hearse with a luggage rack & pulling a trailer? I'm taking it all with me. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a mobile home to use as a casket.

Seriously though, my neighbor, who is a couple years younger than me, died last year. His wife died a few months before him. The kids decided to put the house, tools, household goods, etc up at auction. My wife & I watched in silence as box after box, after box of mixed goods were hauled out of the house & sold for $1-2. A whole house full of furniture was sitting in the yard & selling for $5-7. The house didn't even sell.

You spend your whole life collecting your favorite things around you, & stuff that's important to you; then when you die, it's hardly worth $1 for a box full to somebody else.

Makes 'ya think.

[JAKIII]

The cliché is soooo true that "one man's junk is another man's treasure".

This AM there was a neighborhood yard sale in our sub-division from 8:00-12:00. Cars started circling the neighborhood at 7. People couldn't wait get at it (junk/treasure).

[polishprince]

When I was a youngen [in the late '50s] I can remember walking to the local hardware store and buying a box of 22 LR hollowpoints to go groundhog hunting for 49 cents per box; if I was flush from the last trapping season I would buy it by the brick for $4.90 for 500 rounds. After I few years the price of a brick of 22s climbed to $9.99 a brick or 99 cents a box. I stocked up on 22 ammo at the $9.99 price as I watched the price of this ammo go up every so often until it hit a high of $19.99 a brick or $1.89 a box. Through this time frame my kids grew up and shot up countless bricks of ammunition; grand kids came along grand dad bought each of them their first 22 rifle and supplyed the ammo for the grand babies to shoot up.

From the early '60s until the late '90 I started buying a brick or more of 22 ammo anytime I would see it on sale and in that 40 year period I amassed a nice stash of 22 ammo for the kids to shoot up. I haven't bought a 22 round since '98 or '99 and during this time of overpriced 22 caliber ammo the kids have shot up all but one brick of my $4.90 brick stash & have went through all the $9.99 a brick ammo. I am now into the $19.99 a brick ammo.

Wednesday night an old hunting buddy of mine called and asked if I could stop by his house as had something I might be interested in. Luther is an old timer [88 or so] and had to give up shooting/hunting due to health reasons. After BSing a while he offered to sell me a several guns and some ammo. The guns were like NIB and he wanted exactly what paid them in the 50s and his ammo price was what was marked on the box or brick. I bought all the guns and ammo he wanted to sell. I argued with him about the price as I felt I should pay at least DOUBLE and then some to make this a fair deal; but he said no way, his wife had died and he had no one to will his collection to so he divided up what he had and decided to sell a few pieces to each of his good friends. He didn't want the state to get a dime.

I now have an even nicer stash of 22, 38 Super, 41 Mag, & .416 Rigby and some firearms I will never sell. This was nice of him but I rather have Luther healthy and out in woods hunting with us just like in '58 or '59. Damn this hit close to home Wednesday, out of our group of 10 hunters that were at the camp in '57 there are only 3 of us left. At only 65 years old Sammy is now our dog.

Yeah, I remember stopping at the local hardware for a box of $.79 .22's and a roll of masking tape to hold up the targets,and strap together my shot-up target frame. Then stopping at the gas station to pick up a bucket of discarded wheel weights for free. With those,and some primers and a can of Bullseye bought from Esmans in Pitcairn,I could load up some .38 Special ammo almost as cheap as those .22's.
Never did stockpile any ammo then,couldn't afford it. Now there's enough hoarded away to keep me blazing well into my dotage,scary as that may be. With no kids or close relative to bequeath the arsenal to,I'm hoping the Reaper will give me enough time so I can liquidate most of the boomsticks at a fair price. Gonna happen to all of us sooner or later,might as well plan ahead.

[c45man]

Yeah, I remember stopping at the local hardware for a box of $.79 .22's and a roll of masking tape to hold up the targets,and strap together my shot-up target frame. Then stopping at the gas station to pick up a bucket of discarded wheel weights for free. With those,and some primers and a can of Bullseye bought from Esmans in Pitcairn,I could load up some .38 Special ammo almost as cheap as those .22's.
Never did stockpile any ammo then,couldn't afford it. Now there's enough hoarded away to keep me blazing well into my dotage,scary as that may be. With no kids or close relative to bequeath the arsenal to,I'm hoping the Reaper will give me enough time so I can liquidate most of the boomsticks at a fair price. Gonna happen to all of us sooner or later,might as well plan ahead.

Very wise. The auction houses are making great commissions on selling off once prize gun collections of deceased shooters only because such prior arrangements were not made by their former owners.

[wanneroo]

Bullpoop! Have you ever seen a hearse with a luggage rack & pulling a trailer? I'm taking it all with me. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a mobile home to use as a casket.

Seriously though, my neighbor, who is a couple years younger than me, died last year. His wife died a few months before him. The kids decided to put the house, tools, household goods, etc up at auction. My wife & I watched in silence as box after box, after box of mixed goods were hauled out of the house & sold for $1-2. A whole house full of furniture was sitting in the yard & selling for $5-7. The house didn't even sell.

You spend your whole life collecting your favorite things around you, & stuff that's important to you; then when you die, it's hardly worth $1 for a box full to somebody else.

Makes 'ya think.

Everything eventually becomes landfill and time and the earth grind everything very finely. I think it's just one of those things I accept that everything I own and all the mementos I have will end up tossed in the trash can someday. It is said within 40 years of your death you will have mostly been forgotten or a vague memory of people still alive. Maybe people a generation or two will remember you well and preserve some of your keepsakes but mostly after that, I doubt it.

So until that happens I think all you can do is enjoy it all while you can and not worry too much about it since there is nothing that really can be done about it.

[knight0334]

I don't have the seniority on this planet as some of you guy do - but I do remember paying $.89 for 50rnd boxes of .22LR at the very beginning of my buying abilities(18yo). They went to $.99 not long after, but the occasional sale would have it back around the $.89 price range.

The last .22's I bought were $15.99 for 525rds a few years ago. Which, I didn't think was all that bad considering inflation. $.03 a round isn't all that bad to me. But from what I see today, $6 for a 50rd box is just nutz! I can buy 9mm for nearly double that price(and reload it for less than .22LR prices).

I do miss the days of cheap ammo. ...and cheap guns too. SKS's for $139. Mosin's for $49. AK's for $189. My favorite, H&R/NEF shotguns were $69 - now, $179 at Grices. Mossberg 500's were $159. Ring-of-Fire handguns - I bought scores of them from $20 to $50 each. ...now, $100-$150 for a 20-30yo RoF gun.

However - AR's. They are cheaper now than they were back in the 1980's. There are just so many people making them now that supply has pushed prices down. Back in the late 80's and early 90's(before the AWB) the cheapest ones were $600-$800. But you can buy an AR for $549 today.

[Gunowner99]

Bullpoop! Have you ever seen a hearse with a luggage rack & pulling a trailer? I'm taking it all with me. In fact, I'm thinking of buying a mobile home to use as a casket.

Seriously though, my neighbor, who is a couple years younger than me, died last year. His wife died a few months before him. The kids decided to put the house, tools, household goods, etc up at auction. My wife & I watched in silence as box after box, after box of mixed goods were hauled out of the house & sold for $1-2. A whole house full of furniture was sitting in the yard & selling for $5-7. The house didn't even sell.

You spend your whole life collecting your favorite things around you, & stuff that's important to you; then when you die, it's hardly worth $1 for a box full to somebody else.

Makes 'ya think.

Sad but true. Guns and ammo will have value and won't ever sell for pennies on the dollar. Other "collectibles" That's a different story (coins, comics, etc)