Saturday, August 23, 2014

Gun Room Housecleaning

I started digging through the closets in my gun room last night, the idea being to figure out what I have and what I might need, and to see what I can get rid of, because frankly, there's just too much stuff here these days.

First of all, I discovered that I have a lot more rifle magazines than I thought that I did. I've been shooting semi-auto rifles since the 1980s, and the decades have seen guns come and guns go, and all too often, their accessories have remained behind. A good example is FAL gear. At one time, I had four FAL rifles. I like the FAL, but there came a time when I needed money, so I declared three of those FALS to be redundant and sold them when people were worried about another ban and prices were high. I chose to keep one, but that one turned out to be a bad shooter, so come the last big gun panic, I let it go, too. I still have a fair stock of FAL repair parts and tools though, and even though I sold most of my FAL magazines during the last scare, I just found a milk crate with two dozen more in it.

I got lax on my inventory procedures over the years, often buying a magazine or two here or there if the price was right and just tossing them into the storage bins. After a while, I forgot how many were in those bins. Case-in-point #2, I just stumbled across ten new, in-the-wrap AK-47 magazines that I forgot that I bought once. I do still have an AK, so that's not a bad thing, but I'm over-stocked on mags for it. Good thing I figured this out, because I was just about to order a few more since I thought that I didn't have enough. I'm fat on M-14 magazines too, but I may one day talk myself into a National Match M-1A so it'll need some of these if I get it.

We won't even talk about aluminum M-16 magazines. I'm still finding the odd one or two of these lying around, and I don't even use them any more, having switched to P-Mags.

And then there's the field gear. I honestly had no idea how many M-16 and M-14 mag pouches I have, and I've got a lot more ALICE LBE gear than I ever remember buying. I don't use this any more either, having switched to commercial modular MOLLE gear. Plastic canteens, canteen covers, canteen cups, mess kits...I've got enough to field an army, or at least a squad. Where did this stuff all come from? A lot of it has been in storage for decades and seldom been used. I think that my next project is going to be to gather all of this excess gear up and try to find a way to get rid of it, ideally either by giving it to a charity that can use it or selling it to try to recoup a bit of the money spent on it back. Any suggestions? The FAL gear I have a solution for, but the belts, suspenders, pouches, canteens, ponchos, etc.,--they need to get tallied and get gone. I swear I feel like one of those crazy hoarder people on TV right about now. And I'm still finding stuff down in the basement...sigh.

22 comments:

  1. Crazy Hoarder Person:

    We (your loyal readers) are pleased you FINALLY are dealing with this problem (we were considering an "intervention").

    Good luck clearing it out. Luckily, here in Texas, we have a site to sell firearms and related gear, called "Texas Gun Trader". Maybe you have something similar?

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  2. LOL, I don't think you've even FOUND all the guns yet, much less all the spare pieces/parts...

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    1. Now that's not entirely accurate. I can usually locate most of them pretty quickly. Granted a few of the little pocket pistols have been known to hide pretty good if I'm not diligent on getting them back into their slots in the safe right away, but I rarely misplace any of the other ones.

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    2. Sure, sure... I've watched you searching... :-)

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    3. Yes, but you'll note that I found them all eventually...even that one that was hiding down in the couch cushions.

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  3. I'll warn you, holding a yard sale via a table at a gun show is likely to have you coming home with more stuff than you left with. Granted, it'll all be new stuff, but...

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    1. Yeah, I've fallen for that one before. A lot.

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  4. Gun Broker is another good site to sell "stuff".

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  5. If some of those FAL mags are looking for a new home...

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    1. Offer appreciated, but that problem has been remedied.

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  6. I had the same problem some years ago when my sons were in Cub/Boy Scouts - I could outfit a good sized patrol with packs, cookware, first aid kits, poly rope and the like.

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  7. drjim is right! You can get Pythons there =)

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  8. Anonymous9:46 AM

    Selling a gun is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.
    I'm just saying.

    gfa

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  9. Your AR magazines: If you find any of them are Undated and/or NOT Stamped "Law Enforcement use only", you might have a Sale or Two for those who are "Stuck behind Enemy Lines" with "Pre-Ban Magazines" in a VolksRepublik. say, like Maryland or Massachusetts. Sold the two I had with me to Someone who shall remain Nameless at the N.E. Blogshoot. And we did it 50 feet from the Mass. State Line in N.H. "Capitalism at Work."

    Think of it as "Supplying the Resistance."

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  10. Now there's an idea. Quite a few were purchased in the early 90's as I bought the first AR when Clinton won the election. (I lost a bet.) I suspect that most of them will stay in reserve though, seeing as how I have fair number of ARs in the stable at present. And Come The Day, extras can always be handed out to AR-equipped friends who make it here to the Lair.

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    1. If you feel like donating a halfway decent AR or two to disabled shooters, let me know. Many of them can't afford one.

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  11. You're...cleaning? Wow!

    Have you gone in the space next to the basement stairs yet?

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    1. Naw, I figure that stuff can just stay there until I move out of this house.

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  12. Over the years, gun people do collect bits and pieces. I'm constantly finding things I forgot I had while looking for something entirely different.

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  13. Came across a Herter's trigger shoe in a small kraft envelope awhile back in the drawer of the gun cabinet - no idea what it fits. QD sling swivels seem to accumulate, too. And holsters...

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  14. Hey Murphy;

    Finding stuff is cool...Now Like Donald said, with the cub/boy scouts is very true...I find myself with extra uniforms, camping equipment, tents, ete,ete. On a different note...idea....post your excess to inventory stuff on your website and let the loyal readers either bid on it or you put a price on it. Just an idea........

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