I always thought I was a metal frame hammer fired gun guy. Then I shot the P320. Now, 2 P320s full size with Wilson grips, M-17 with Wilson grip, P365 and P365XL both with Wilson grips, later I am all in on the polymer striker-fired guns. I am so much better with these guns. I still have a few 1911s but those are fun guns. The serious guns are the P3XX guns.

Well, although I am just about done with collecting now, what I was doing over the course of my gun-buying years was obtaining what interested me. I was not building a system. I don't think younger gun buyers think that way, not if they have a genuine interest in firearms. Besides, one's taste changes over the years.

Frankly, I'm not concerned about it. Just because I'll never carry, say, a PPQ or use one for home defense doesn't stop me from owning a couple of them.

I'm probably considered "anti-redundant" in that I have a P229 40SW as my primary CCW and a P365 9MM as my 'to lazy to put on a belt' CCW. A P226 40SW is the HD in the bedroom. I do practice religiously with both platforms and am comfortable with each/any regardless of the situation.

quote:

Polymer semi-autos aren't really a "fun" thing for me...they're purely practical.

I felt that way for a long time until I started shooting polymer pistols in matches. Something to be admired for a utilitarian and almost boring reliability when compared to some other finicky competition pistols. The more I shoot them the more I really like the way they feel and work. So much so that my new Glock 19 is the one I grab at night to do some dry firing in front of the tv with.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:


Frankly, I'm not concerned about it. Just because I'll never carry, say, a PPQ or use one for home defense doesn't stop me from owning a couple of them.

Right. While I have a couple of specific pistols I prefer to keep for the serious business I still have some CZ's, Sigs, and 1911's I keep because I enjoy shooting them or simply pride of ownership.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:


Frankly, I'm not concerned about it. Just because I'll never carry, say, a PPQ or use one for home defense doesn't stop me from owning a couple of them.

Right. While I have a couple of specific pistols I prefer to keep for the serious business I still have some CZ's, Sigs, and 1911's I keep because I enjoy shooting them or simply pride of ownership.

Definitely. I have some guns I bought knowing I would realistically either never shoot them, or only take them to the range on rare occasions. I have a Beretta 92 Inox Brigadier just for that reason - it’s nice and I wanted it. May shoot it some day, and if I don’t, well, I still enjoy owning it.


I will agree that a lot of younger people, say, 45 and under, tend to have a bit more focused approach to collecting. I grew up in the era of bans. The year I was old enough to own handguns, the federal ban sunset. As a result, a lot of what I buy is stuff with an eye on “what do I want to own for the rest of my life if that happens again?” Practicality and defense takes the front seat with that mindset. Many times with my best friend, I’ve used the term “cover the bases,” and while that’s arguably silly, it is generally the way I’ve purchased.

Most of mine are redundant. Seems like I gotta have one in every caliber. Then customization kicks in...

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Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
I often buy multiple copies or versions of guns I like....

I know a guy exactly like this with the P228. He could spell out P228 on the floor with his P228s. Crazy dude.

Yeah, I think there is some sort of obscene photo floating around in cyberspace...

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:



I will agree that a lot of younger people, say, 45 and under, tend to have a bit more focused approach to collecting. I grew up in the era of bans. The year I was old enough to own handguns, the federal ban sunset. As a result, a lot of what I buy is stuff with an eye on “what do I want to own for the rest of my life if that happens again?” Practicality and defense takes the front seat with that mindset. Many times with my best friend, I’ve used the term “cover the bases,” and while that’s arguably silly, it is generally the way I’ve purchased.

I have the same mentality on my priorities. That's why I adopted Glocks and such. I didn't particularly like them to begin with but you can't argue with their popularity and reputation.
Once those bases were covered and I had plenty of standard capacity mags to last through the zombie outbreak or the next ban I moved on to the Gucci stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

quote:

Polymer semi-autos aren't really a "fun" thing for me...they're purely practical.

I felt that way for a long time until I started shooting polymer pistols in matches. Something to be admired for a utilitarian and almost boring reliability when compared to some other finicky competition pistols. The more I shoot them the more I really like the way they feel and work. So much so that my new Glock 19 is the one I grab at night to do some dry firing in front of the tv with.

My understanding of redundancy from your OP is that we're talking across brands and platforms, not multiple copies of the same gun. I have a bunch of P320s, and even a couple of P250s...so there's some variety in my collection within the platform. But I've purged my all the other polymer stuff because I found that it wasn't getting used and was in some ways even counter-productive for me.

In my situation the P320 is an issued duty gun, so I'm kind of stuck with the platform whether I like it or not (thankfully, I do like the gun). Even if I found something I liked better I wouldn't have the option of just switching to it. As such, I'm trying to dedicate my serious training time and ammo to that specific platform.

I can definitely see the appeal of variety coming from your perspective as a competitive shooter, though. There are certainly some nice polymer guns out there, and they offer some distinct advantages over other stuff in a fast-paced competition environment, and there's a lot of satisfaction in playing with a variety of gear to try to wring out optimum performance.

I'm more of a historical and mechanical geek than a competitor. It's not that I wouldn't like to shoot some matches (I've had a lot of fun when I've been able to do it), but my schedule makes it hard, and there aren't a lot of local opportunities to get involved. A fun day on the range for me usually involves revolvers, milsurps, classic Sigs, Berettas, 1911s, or cowboy stuff, so that's what my "fun" collection has gravitated towards.

Now that I am retired you would think I would be setup & not want any new firearms
BUT still look & buy one but only when the price is right
I have SIG P365XL, Springfield Hellcat, M&P Shield Plus PC, Shield 2.0, M&P 380EZ, Glock 43X & 19X, S&W SD9 FDE & a Taurus 85CH
Sold my three H&Ks a few months back now at a profit...

My 'redundancy' is both Sig P226s and P239s.... I have broken both pistols down completely and believe me it helps a lot to have another gun just like the one you took apart to compare it to when trying to get the damn thing back together. I wish I had had that years ago when I took the trigger group apart on my Sig P230... took me over 8 hours to get that pistol back together.

quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:

Does anyone else keep multiple platforms of the same gun or do you prefer to consolidate on less?

1 is NONE, 2 is ONE, THREE IS BETTER.

I have a few P230 and 232's, I guess that qualifies as redundant.

I think this is great, and that your redundancy has a lot of upsides, especially with Glocks and M&Ps, which are so vetted and proven. From a pragmatic standpoint, the M&P and Glock have flexibility between their respective 9mm models in mags, holsters, and actions that just have a lot to offer.

I was thinking about this very thing earlier today. I'm 52 and it's time to stop buying so many different guns. Lord willing, I'll retire in a few years, and I need to leave the gun collecting to the younger guys. I'm gonna focus on the platforms from my collection that are best for me, and either move the rest or start gifting them to my son and daughters.

I'm going to a counter-ambush instructor course next month, and the instructor said to bring a backup AR & handgun. I'll be taking my issued DD MK18 as primary, backed up by my personal BCM RECCE 14.5, and my issued Glock 45 9mm backed up by a Gen 5 G19. Same holsters. G45 mags fit G19. Same action.

Redundant platforms are good.

A couple of decades ago, variety was the spice of life. I had a lot of different guns. And shot about all of them. These days, I carry one day in and day out. I have a back up just like it handy and a rifle. And I shoot the crap out of them. When they break, I buy a replacement.

I’ve really stopped buying guns, and started training more with what I’ve got.

>".. I just found it strange to have accidentally put together 2 completes sets of the same pistols and since I don't have any kind of brand bias ..."

This is normal, system-building thinking, this is ingrained in some people, even if they do not want it :-).

You are sub-consciously building an ecosystem of related things.

The same kind of thing, happens in photography with cameras.
You get into a specific 'mount' (eg F-mount for nikon, or Z-mount for latest nikon) -- and then you accumulate lenses, and some bodies for that mount.
Why -- because you want the same operating controls, but flexibility to 'tune' the setup to a particular situation/environment.

Back to guns -- you are thinking competition, self-defense-home, self-defense-CCW, may be additional situations. To accommodate those in optimal way, different attributes of the guns are needed, but you want to have same operating controls, same magazines, same repair/reliability experience, and so on.

Different people, have other gifts and desires -- they are looking, for example, for a minimal number of things that can achieve maximum coverage of utilization.
That's another trait, some people have it some do not.

Others, yet, concentrate on being the best (or using the best) tools for one particular area. Again, some people have this trait, some do not.

In the above differences, one is not better than another.
Overall, it is that kind of diversity of skills/traits/gifts that make everything work.

quote:

Originally posted by platform:

Back to guns -- you are thinking competition, self-defense-home, self-defense-CCW, may be additional situations. To accommodate those in optimal way, different attributes of the guns are needed, but you want to have same operating controls, same magazines, same repair/reliability experience, and so on.

Exactly what I wanted but then I also have an exact copy of each from a different brand too. haha

So, if I own 14 AR's, 9 1911's, 7 SiG 55X's or 5 AK's ... does that make me guilty of "Owning Redundant Platforms" even if they're mostly all in different configurations?

For me, I went redundant on a single platform (Glock) after having my previous stuff go obsolete. It was really frustrating for me. Try buying parts for 3rd Gen Smiths these days. The old school metal P series SIGs are probably next for that sunset. For all I know parts for the old, internal extractor West German stuff may already be gone.

I now have 8 Glocks that are mostly Gen 4, 9mm. That helps me breathe easy when it comes to long term ownership. I also really appreciate that I can service almost anything on them at home.

I will concede that there are still a bunch of J frames and 2 P365s in the safe, but the Glocks see the bulk of the carry and range time.