If you think your logistics problems are daunting, go and read the list of ammunition that Tam keeps in her bedroom. (Disclaimer: I don’t know for a fact that it’s all in her bedroom, having never been to her house. She might keep some there, some in the basement, some on the bottom shelf of the Lazy Susan in the kitchen, and who knows where else. My point is that…well, I forgot what my point is. Humor me and keep reading.)

It’s a daunting list, and I understand the almost irresistible urge to collect guns in odd — and even not so odd — chamberings. I myself have rifles in both 7.5mm x55 Swiss and 7.5mm x 54 French MAS, so I’m not entirely free of the affliction, but beyond that my calibers are both few and common.

Though never approaching her staggering list, at one time I did have a much wider selection. Over the years I’ve whittled down my inventory primarily because of the headaches of storing and reloading a sufficient quantity of each. I decided that rather than reload a hundred rounds each of eight or ten calibers, I’d rather spend that same time and money reloading five times that much in each of two calibers.

Over the years I’ve gotten rid of a bunch of guns in calibers that I didn’t shoot often. The Dan Wesson .445 SuperMag, for instance, was a heck of a lot of fun (especially with the 3″ barrel on a dimly lit indoor range) but didn’t have a lot of utility for me. Even more mundane chamberings, like the various .44 Magnums and Specials I’ve owned, went out the door; I didn’t shoot them often enough to justify loading a whole bunch of rounds for them.

The last such gun was a neat little Detonics CombatMaster in .38 Super. I like the cartridge, but a sober analysis showed that it really didn’t do anything the 9mm doesn’t already do better. We turned it into something more useful.

I admire her list, and am actually quite envious, but it’s not for me. The less complicated my life is, the more I like it.

-=[ Grant ]=-