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To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:22 pm
by Sir Henry
In the past I put off thinning my herd because I couldn’t part with some firearms. Once I made the decision to take action it was easier to make choices.

First nothing is sacred. Not even the No 5 Enfield which I’ve had since a teenager. My friend in Texas claimed it. I told him he could choose two rifles and two pistols. A shotgun could be either a rifle or a pistol. He picked the 9410, No 5, Walter P-38 and an Eddystone P17 (Pattern of 1917).

So now my criteria is I must have shot it in the last four years although shooting it doesn’t mean I’ll keep it. I want to reduce my collection to no more than 20 and I have 18 Henry’s so I need to make some tough choices. I might sell a few Henry H001’s.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:29 pm
by Grunt67
I went thru the herd thinning a couple of years ago. Hated it at the time, but haven't missed them.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:33 pm
by Sir Henry
Grunt67 wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:29 pm
I went thru the herd thinning a couple of years ago. Hated it at the time, but haven't missed them.
Thanks for saying that.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:47 pm
by North Country Gal
With prices being what they are, you picked a good time to sell. That's one of the reasons we sold off over half of our cartridge guns, but not the only reason. We took a hard look at our shooting needs and how our shooting has changed. That done, we could no longer justify so many guns sitting in the safe collecting dust with very little chance of getting little, if any, use down the road. We're shooters, not collectors.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:12 pm
by Sir Henry
North Country Gal wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 5:47 pm
With prices being what they are, you picked a good time to sell. That's one of the reasons we sold off over half of our cartridge guns, but not the only reason. We took a hard look at our shooting needs and how our shooting has changed. That done, we could no longer justify so many guns sitting in the safe collecting dust with very little chance of getting little, if any, use down the road. We're shooters, not collectors.
I was a collector and shooter but I collected battle worn WWII rifle and pistols so all got shot. Now my safes are overflowing and just to dig one out means moving six to get to that one.

I wanted to move four years ago when Donna passed away but had too many firearms to deal with. Having far less firearms gives me more freedom.

Maybe one day I’ll sell the house and move to Wyoming.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:24 pm
by bandit1250
[quote="Sir Henry"

Maybe one day I’ll sell the house and move to Wyoming.
[/quote]

It would be hard to move to a better place than Wyoming. I love it around the Black Hills area or the western part of the state. Either one I would be happy. I hate to come home when I am out there. Only problem I have is the almost endless winds. But Wyoming is about wind and extreme weather changes.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:33 pm
by Sir Henry
bandit1250 wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:24 pm
[quote="Sir Henry"

Maybe one day I’ll sell the house and move to Wyoming.
It would be hard to move to a better place than Wyoming. I love it around the Black Hills area or the western part of the state. Either one I would be happy. I hate to come home when I am out there. Only problem I have is the almost endless winds. But Wyoming is about wind and extreme weather changes.
[/quote]

Seattle alone has half again as many people as the entire state of Wyoming. That is the big draw to me.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:03 pm
by North Country Gal
I love Wyoming. Spent a lot of time traveling that state, given that I spent much of my life in neighboring Nebraska. Love it up here in my north woods lake country, but I greatly miss the wide open spaces. Nebraska, by the way has some amazing country if you know where to look. Don't judge it by just driving down I-80.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:29 pm
by BigAl52
I have a saying I have been living by even more recently. If you haven’t used it in a year you don’t need it. Ive also as you know let go of some guns I didn’t think I would sell. Im not at all sorry there gone. Some of them were Henry’s. I have a couple more Henry’s that are going to be gone. I haven’t missed any of them.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 8:39 pm
by BigAl52
Wyoming is a beautiful state and my mother and grandmother were both born there. Like NCG said about Nebraska dont judge Wyoming by I-80

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:04 pm
by RanchRoper
Love Wyoming. In around Cody would be my choice. Medicine Bow park in the south is spectacular. Tough winters though.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:05 pm
by RanchRoper
bandit1250 wrote:
Fri Mar 19, 2021 6:24 pm
[quote="Sir Henry"

Maybe one day I’ll sell the house and move to Wyoming.
It would be hard to move to a better place than Wyoming. I love it around the Black Hills area or the western part of the state. Either one I would be happy. I hate to come home when I am out there. Only problem I have is the almost endless winds. But Wyoming is about wind and extreme weather changes.
[/quote]

Call me and I'll come down. We can go shooting in the wind. :D

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2021 9:08 pm
by BigAl52
Basin and Greybull area is one of my favs

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:24 am
by North Country Gal
Laramie, Saratoga and the Snowy Range, MedicineBow or the Buffalo/Sheridan Bighorns country. So many wonderful places in that state.

As for the wind, a 30 mph wind is a big deal, up here, but in Nebraska, a day with 30 mph winds is the day after when the wind calms down.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:53 am
by JEBar
North Country Gal wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:24 am
Laramie, Saratoga and the Snowy Range, MedicineBow or the Buffalo/Sheridan Bighorns country. So many wonderful places in that state.

As for the wind, a 30 mph wind is a big deal, up here, but in Nebraska, a day with 30 mph winds is the day after when the wind calms down.

beautiful indeed .... in our home area on the east cost many think Denver (Mile High City) is about as high as they come .... when we tell them that its down hill from Laramie to Denver, they find it hard to believe .. :? .. we thoroughly enjoyed the Snowy Mountain Range .... we spend our summers in eastern South Dakota where the wind is an almost constant companion .... we thoroughly enjoy the area but want no part of their winters

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:08 am
by North Country Gal
The winters are longer and much snowier, up here, but, yeah, nothing compares to an all out prairie blizzard. Scares me more than the tornadoes we had to live with, every year, in Nebraska.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:37 am
by Sir Henry
JEBar wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:53 am
North Country Gal wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 10:24 am
Laramie, Saratoga and the Snowy Range, MedicineBow or the Buffalo/Sheridan Bighorns country. So many wonderful places in that state.

As for the wind, a 30 mph wind is a big deal, up here, but in Nebraska, a day with 30 mph winds is the day after when the wind calms down.

beautiful indeed .... in our home area on the east cost many think Denver (Mile High City) is about as high as they come .... when we tell them that its down hill from Laramie to Denver, they find it hard to believe .. :? .. we thoroughly enjoyed the Snowy Mountain Range .... we spend our summers in eastern South Dakota where the wind is an almost constant companion .... we thoroughly enjoy the area but want no part of their winters
Laramie is more than 7000’.

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:50 am
by JEBar
Sir Henry wrote:
Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:37 am
beautiful indeed .... in our home area on the east cost many think Denver (Mile High City) is about as high as they come .... when we tell them that its down hill from Laramie to Denver, they find it hard to believe .. :? .. we thoroughly enjoyed the Snowy Mountain Range .... we spend our summers in eastern South Dakota where the wind is an almost constant companion .... we thoroughly enjoy the area but want no part of their winters

Laramie is more than 7000’.
it certainly is .... standing in Laramie looking west at the Snowy Mountain Range, the highest peaks reach just over 12,000'

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 11:59 am
by JEBar
speaking of wind, Texas has its share .... a few days ago the camper shown below came very close to losing its awning ;)

Re: To keep or not to keep, that is the question.

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 3:06 pm
by Sir Henry
I have cleaned and put the rifles back in original configuration and am ready to load the ten firearms for tomorrow.

I’ve also separated most of my remaining firearms into three more groups. Some lots are approaching the limit of what I want to load up. It’s possible I might ask him to come to my residence to appraise them. It all depends on how it goes tomorrow.

I spend half the night on the phone with my friend in Texas talking about what I should expect to receive. With the fist ten I have appraised I’ve come up with a low number I would accept, a high number that could be reasonable expected and a mid-range I really expect to receive.