A couple of years ago I raised the question in this forum, Why own a gun? Being from the city, guns were for cops and criminals, and seemed dangerous and unpredictable. It was partly this site, and partly moving to a smaller town close to the country where nearly everybody had them, that influenced my decision to try it out. The response to my question was that I didn’t need to own a gun, and that’s the point… You do it because you want to, and it’s one more thing to learn about.
Fast forward to today and I have a small collection of too many handguns plus a rifle, and spend much of my time falling asleep to YouTube gun reviews.
Military surplus firearms so far are my favorite. Probably because I grew up in the eighties, I think of a gun as black, shiny, all steel, and semiautomatic, and military turn-ins fit the bill precisely. And speaking of the bill, they’re usually cheap as far as guns go, which only encourages someone like me to pick up a new caliber or historic piece for a couple hundred bucks (which quickly doubles with shipping, ffl fees, sales tax, and ammo) just to try it out. I tend to be cheap, so between a plastic $900 9mm or a blued steel import from places I’ve visited around the world with a nice patina for $300, I tend to always go the latter route. The rifle was a good example… I don’t really need one but was curious to try one out. Found a beat up lot of reliable rifles that required only a small investment to put me in the game.
Another cool aspect of military surplus is that it forces me to take everything apart to inspect and clean it, and by doing so I really get to know the weapon. Yes, I can do this with a new firearm but its factory condition tends to encourage me to leave it in the box and just give it a thorough cleaning now and then, which is slightly different. Some folks prefer a gun with history to it. The batch of rifles I ordered from had several into whose wooden stock previous carriers had carved their names. I thought it was ghetto, but other collectors thought it was awesome.
Even still, there is no great need for me to own more than my regular carry gun. I think this is turning into collecting, which, while fun, is filed under “distractions” and the cost adds up quickly. In fact I don’t even like shooting more than moderately… It’s loud, involves inhaling lead fumes, and is fairly boring since I’m a good shot. Guns have become the proverbial something to do, in place of time previously spent on females and their drama. Compared to females, I think guns are actually *more expensive*, but definitely more reliable and will be around longer. Plus, you can sell them online which is harder to do with women (though buying is just as easy)… For me, military surplus has often been a good way to go.
"Once you’ve taken care of the basics, there’s very little in this world for which your life is worth deferring." -David Hansson. "It’s not when women are mean or nasty that anything is out of the ordinary. It’s when they are NICE to you that you have to be on high alert..." -Jackinov.
