I have nine guns, and only one of them doesn't work. My old muzzle loader could be made to work, all it needs is a new operating spring. The thing is, they came out with better ones shortly after I bought it. I still used it for years but, when it just wouldn't work anymore, I bought one of the new improved models rather than fix up my old one. If I knew somebody who wanted the old one, I might sell or give it to them, depending on how close a friend they were. Of course I would tell them what's wrong with it. It's not old enough to be an antique, but it's kind of obsolete, so I doubt I could get much for it. I do have one that really is an antique. I don't know how much it's worth, but I don't want to part with it anyway. Of the remaining seven, there are two that I use regularly. There is nothing wrong with the other five, but they are not suited to the kind of hunting I do now. If I ever do the kind of hunting for which they are suited, I would hate to have to buy a new gun knowing that I used to have one like that and had gotten rid of it. There is an old saying that guns never lose their value, until you try to sell them. A lot of things are like that, there's one price when you buy them, and another price when you sell them.
My father had an old Winchester Model 12 shotgun that he grew to dislike. He sold it cheap to one of my Outdoorsmen friends, who didn't tell him that the Model 12, which was a very popular gun, had recently gone out of production and, at the time, was fetching a higher price on the used market than it ever did on the new market. By now it probably is a bona fide antique and is likely worth more than it ever was. They made a lot of them, and nobody knows exactly why they stopped. Normally, something that they made a lot of like that would never have a very high antique value no matter how old it got, but most people who still have an old Model 12 would never part with it for any price. They shot theirs till it wore out and then made a wall hanger out of it. Come to think of it, most of the people who owned a Model 12 back in the day are probably dead by now. Their son or grandson who inherited it would be even less likely to sell it because it has now become a family heirloom.
As a result of his experience with the Model 12, my father resolved that he would never sell another gun, he would pass them all down to me when the time came, and he made me promise to do the same. Five of the guns I have came from my father, he gave me three of them while he was still alive, and I got the other two, plus the two pistols, after he died. The trouble is, neither my daughter nor my granddaughter wants anything to do with those guns. There is this guy, who I gave the two pistols, who is kind of like the son I never had. It's a personal story, and my hypothetical wife doesn't want me spreading it around but, suffice it to say, he is the closest thing I have to a son. He doesn't hunt, but is an avid target shooter and gun collector. It looks like he will get the rest of my guns when I go off to the Happy Hunting Ground. I will not, however, ask him to make the same promise that my dad asked me to make when he gave me his guns. He may decide that on his own, but I won't make him promise. I mean, the buck has to stop somewhere!
To my mind, the most important thing that came out of the 60s was the Sexual Revolution. Of course it didn't turn out exactly like it was supposed to, but revolutions seldom do. It's still better than it was before, and maybe someday a new generation will take up the cause and perfect it.
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