you should pick a theme for your collection and collect accordingly

milsurp
us milsurp
antique guns
hunting guns
guns that make me look bad a**

 

Jus turned 19 bought 6 gun while I was 18 I didn't really have a theme started out with an ar went to mossberg 535 tactical mosin nagant mossberg ar look alike and a marlin 30-30 10/22

 

OK, so you're obviously not a cheapskate. Good. My personal opinion? Get what you enjoy. Be it a $2000+ AR-15 or a $350 Ruger pistol. It isn't about how much you spend, it's about enjoying yourself. My collection is nothing special compared to some, but it consists of guns that cover the cost spectrum.
FWIW, I suggest you start with .22s of varying types. You can't beat them for fun per round. I enjoy my $280 Ruger MK3 as much as any of my pricier 1911s.
Then move along to your other options.
I will also add, don't settle. If your really like the $1100 pistol more than the $700 alternative, spring for what you really want the first time. You will be happier in the long run. Coulda woulda shoulda wastes time and money.

 

Start out with a well rounded collection of 'must haves' then go from there...

http://nrvoutdoors.com/WHAT TO HAVE/WHAT EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE.htm

 

Jus turned 19 bought 6 gun while I was 18 I didn't really have a theme started out with an ar went to mossberg 535 tactical mosin nagant mossberg ar look alike and a marlin 30-30 10/22

30-30 and 10-22 good practical, multi-use weapons
mosin, absolutely practically worthless (yet cheap deadly weapon)
all others probaboy "make me look bad a** weapons"

 

Is get your AK, mossberg, glock, sks, an mosin, could probably find em all for 2500, not totally break the bank. I feel the best collection are the ones you like to shoot. There's no right or wrong for the most part.

 

IMO there is a difference between a collector and a accumulator. A true collector will have a focus, like maybe Peacmakers or 1911's or WWII milsurps. These guys will seek out the very rare, usually high dollar firearms and it may take a lifetime to get their collection where they want it and may or may not shoot most of the collection. I am a accumulator and there is nothing wrong with it. I buy what I like and what I want to shoot. I buy everything from black powder to milsurps, whatever I find interesting. If I were in your shoes I would start out with what I call the must haves. A .22 semi auto rifle, a 12ga pump and a good pistol. At your age you will have many years to get the other firearms. Plus you never know what time will bring, I had to sell of a great deal of my firearms so I could pay some college bills and move across the country, life happens. I am now 37 and have rebuilt my "collection". Get what you like to shoot and leave some money for ammo.

 

i collect 20th century us military individual issued weapons (non-full auto) i have them all with the exception of the johnson, and the 1903a4, the m40 m24, m107 and the m110 sws's

some are exact replicas.....i.e. ar15/m16, m1a1/m14/m21, khar arms 1928 thompson/m1 thompson, etc.

30 years of collecting.

 

JD gives some good advice. Personally, I would make sure something in .22 is near the top of the list. Affordable to shoot and you can keep buying more guns because you aren't sinking your whole budget into ammo. A couple hours at the range with an AR in .223 and you could buy most of the Ruger 10/22 you had on your list.

 

In order of importance! This is my opinion about importance, but if you are not open to/able to/willing to/allowed to carry concealed, skip the ones with a star:

1) Shotgun

*1.5) Start process for getting CCW permit in your state

2) Full-size 9mm or 45acp
3) .22lr pistol or rifle
*4) Carry sized pistol of same caliber as #2 (9mm or 45acp)
5) AR-15 carbine or midlength (I don't believe you need to spend any more than $1000 PLUS an optic)
*6) Second carry gun of a different size (and caliber?) to give you options
7) 30-30 lever-action rifle
8) .22lr rifle or pistol (whichever you didn't get before)

After that, you can go any direction you want. This isn't the exact route that I took, but I didn't feel comfortable until I got to this level. Then, once you get here, you'll want to keep going, trust me.

 

Best advice I can give from someone who's collected for over 50 years is to buy what you like and what you can afford at the time. A gun collection is something personal and there are no bad choices if you like it.

 

i say a .22, a shotgun, and an AR would be my top choices. after that just buy what you like to shoot. or like to look at. buy the first three.. load up on ammo.. and have some fun. then get others as you see fit... with the ar you never know when a ban may or may not take place. thus its one of my top choices

 

go for the good deals, and getem fast before obama takes em all away!!!!

 

Great advice here!!!

Buy what you like to shoot!

A good reliable .22 is the first "must have" IMHO.

if you spend $1000 on an AR you prolly got robbed, IMHO, but i would get one of those on the heels of the .22. Why? One never knows when they will be "scarce" thanks to Govt. meddling.

A quality scatter gun is needed.

A good quality wheel gun and pistol are needed as well.

Basically, you know what you want, you know what you like. Get 'em as you see fit. sittin' on $3000 thats a 10/22, pistol and AR +some ammo. Depending of course upon local.

Either way, enjoy 'em as you get 'em!

 

First and fore most don't be in a hurry. You've got money in the bank and this is a buyers market for many guns so take your time and find a good deal on whatever you want.

Now as for whether to start with a couple of more expensive ones or several of the least expensive? Well that's a good question.

Personally I would go ahead and get the AR and AK out of the way. You'll be able to pickup more basic guns anytime and the money for them will be easier to come by because they are less expensive. With the AR and AK there's really no telling if they will be available in a few more years, or what they'll look like if they are. Also, I would expect the price on both to go up if Obama gets reelected, and I'm guessing he will. I started to pick up a couple of AK's myself just as an investment. I'm guessing Obama's speech drove the price of them up by 5%?

 

I'm a firearms "enjoyer", not a firearms "collector". I buy what i will enjoy shooting when i can afford to buy it, and then wait until i can afford something else i've been eyeing.

I would advise you not to get in a hurry.

 

I'd def consider a SKS as well cheap ammo good food rifle for med size game and they have a decent barrel length for 100yard shots

 

Only advice ill give you is think really hard before you get rid of any of your guns you do get. i have some regrets on the guns that ive gotten rid of In my life

 

Only advice ill give you is think really hard before you get rid of any of your guns you do get. i have some regrets on the guns that ive gotten rid of In my life

+100 to this!!!

 

By definition a collector would only seek or keep items of specific value. I have about 30+ myself that I wont ever sell but I only go for what I or my kids can/will shoot. My dad on the other hand has an unknown amount but I have seen him drop $10,000+ of a shot gun or riffle that he has no intent or real desire to ever shoot.
I am a hoarder, my dad is a collector.

 

When I buy any gun if it's a $100 mosin or my ar I ju get a rush outta it an have to run to my buddy's house and shoot the hell outta it

 

I'm 18 too and my list is almost exactly the same just minus the handguns, haven't really found an interest in them as of yet....then again I still haven't ever used one....

 

first off, i am not a collector. i have a collection of firearms, not a firearms collection. this means, all my firearms are shooters or have a distinct purpose when they were bought. some have almost a single purpose and are more for defence rather than pleasure. some get shot more than others. some people are eclectic in their buying of firearms, some buy them with a particular theme involved. but remember this when you look at buying one, is it something you really want to own and shoot or just to say you have one? then there are those firearms that are just moments of opportunity, such as at the right time and the right price. many of us make lists of those firearms that we want to own and shoot.

if or when there is a wife or girlfriend, you need to remember this important answer to the question they will at some point ask you, "don't you have enough guns?" and this is the answer you must use, "i am always two guns shy of enough!"

but get what makes you happy and don't just buy one just to own it. and above all else, enjoy them!

 

To me, the purpose of collecting is the pure joy and pride of ownership that comes with owning and mastering quality guns.

Notice I said "quality" not "expensive". Though some quality guns are expensive, the terms are not mutually exclusive.

You have a fine list of quality arms and suggest starting with the one your heart desires most. And don't go to fast with the buying, takes the time to enjoy, tweak, and tune each to make it your own.

Tack

 

My priority was collecting a home first to put them in. A good handgun and a good lomg gun for self protection then hunker down and devote yourself to college or learning a trade. Start working on a down payment for a home.

You do NOT want to wait until your in your mid twenties or later to think about that!! You need to have priorities in line first.

Just my advice heed it or not up to you.