I’ve been putting this off but it’s time I get serious about making a list of my guns with information to identify and put some kind of value on each of them. I used to have one but it used a program called Filemaker that I used at work. When I retired I brought a copy home but eventually it got obsolete and I couldn’t load it on new computers. I no longer fool with computers much and do everything on my android devices. My tablet has a 14.5" screen so it suits my purpose. I settled on using Google Sheets as I doubt it’s going away anytime soon. I have just started this project so it’s in very early stages at this point. I’ve made columns for information I think necessary but I could be forgetting something. I will need to go sit in front of the vault, bring out each gun, log the info and photograph it so I only want to do this once. I will attach a screenshot of what I have so far. I know the pictures look small but I put them over the cells instead in it so I can grab the corner and expand them as much as necessary. If anyone has any suggestions please share them. One thing I do like about using Sheets is I sent my wife a copy and any changes I make on my devices will automatically show up on hers. Thanks and I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. 2025 has been rough on me and I’m hoping for a better 2026.
I do something similar except it’s physical copies instead of digital. A couple things I have added on mine are what I payed for it and who I bought it from (if needed who did the transfer as well). I thought about adding an MSRP to it so I can look back and see how much it was going for at that time. Sometimes my purchase price is very different from MSRP due to a sale. Only problem with this is I would need to go back and do some research for what MSRP was at that time.
My original list had what I paid for most of them but no way I can get that information now as some of them I bought 40 years ago. I just ordered the newest copies of The Standard Catalog of Firearms and The Standard Catalog of Military Firearms and that’s where I plan to get an estimated value. I know some recommend looking at ended GunBroker auctions and I may do that later.
Careful with auctions you may end up with something like this.
https://www.guns.com/used-guns/p/palmetto-state-armory-dagger?i=582995
I don’t normally sell guns but I have a Dagger I would part with for that. Takers???
#MeToo
Larry,
great thinking and good idea.. i’ve been doing this for years and like you im in need now to update my system because unfortunately the original programmer and inventor of the program i went with has stopped supporting it entirely unfortunately. The program i was using and still am right now is called MyGunDb. Its a pretty powerful database program that lets you do all sorts of things, it has a ton of depth in the software and a lot that i dont even use and was fairly inexpensive to begin with. It used to have a dedicated website but now i find its been taken offline, and there is another that has popped up claiming its thiers and has a download link with reviews of 3 people so i wouldnt download it .. but heres the original programmers Facebook MyGunDB Page : https://www.facebook.com/MyGunDB/
this will show you some of what it is like and about. I really am sad that he stopped support, upgrades, and development of it, for a while there it was integrated with things like brownells, the blue book of gun prices, and gunbroker and all sorts of things too.. it was really going to be the ultimate database software for gun inventory in the long run if hed of just stuck with it. dang it.. but i digress…
my software allows me to record the gun, and all pertinent information to it, mfg, barrel size, things like that, even country of origin, trigger pull, etc..etc. where i bought it, when i bought it , who i bought it from, how much i paid, if i sold it when i sold it how much i sold it for, its accessories their prices how many bullets ive ran through it, a cleaning schedule, a shooting calendar and how many times i shot it at that visit to the range, photographs of the firearm, and alot more. Here’s an example shot of one of the pages of its db. :
Now there’s another software out there that a lot of folks have been talking about that im tempted to try to convert over to, but ive put so much work into mygundb I’m hesitant to do the conversion over.. but now i cant dl a new version of it from their website so idk i may have to convert over if i cant dl Mygundb anymore. One of the big problems i have with that software to me is that software is not personalized just for firearms. Its a general database used for anything… so you could record any collection in it if you wish.. It’s called NMCollector, and can be found at : https://www.nmcollector.net/ now it is configurable so that you can use the templates given, and modify them, or you can create your own, or any combination you can think of there… I have yet to try this software, and i may yet do so, but idk.. i really love mygundb but its dead as far as development is concerned now, so i may as well look to update again, and its been a while since i did look for a new program. I know there are more out there.. there has to be.
now as to a few other things you mentioned Larry… using the Google docs thing is cool, yeah, itll get the job done, and it may even be there where they dont get rid of its software like im running into with mine… but there are other things to worry about.. for instance.. everything on google is a direct line to no privacy. be it the hackers, or the public in general, or worse the government. we all know the NSA had to build that larger data center out in utah a few years ago just cause they didnt have enough room to store all our data from evesdropping on our phone calls and emails, and photos, and texts etc.. or what they call Meta data. they used to not be able to do this legally.. but thanks to the patriot act, well they can do it legally now. Also theres no encryption that i know of to really keep anyone out of that as its in the google home again.. where as a stand alone program you can encrypt the database or in the very least password protect it. The plus is also that you have access to it where ever you are, but thats also a negative.. cause your on the google cloud.. again see security. cause now all those SN’s and photos and everything is going to be basically public domain to anyone who wants them bad enough. yeah its probably very slim that anything will happen, but ya never know. just being my IT job for ya for a little bit to show ya some things to think about..
Oh one last thing ilove about Mygundb is that it keeps a running tab at the bottom of the Db of what ive paid for the collection(what i have invested) and what its worth too (what ive entered each firearm is worth at the time i put it in) back when it was live, it was tied into the great blue book of gun values web site and would pull prices in from there so you’d have live run time pricing, at all times of what your collection is really worth. i loved that… especially cause they also added up what all your accessories you paid for, i.e. how much you invested in all the holsters and mags etc.. and the ammo section had all this and more in its own section too.
i cant talk highly enough about it.. obviously. lol.
2025 has been rough for me too.. perhaps not the worst year yet.. but not the best by far. my family has had quite a bit of hits lately over this year, and while a lot have been hard some were hard and horrible but necessary to turn the page to better days. I pray for you that its a better year in 2026, as i pray it is for me andm y family as well. I hope my dissertation above was somewhat cohesive and understandable, I apologize as sometimes i ramble. I also hope this helps us talk more about inventory and ways to store/create and find the best for many of us going forward. Merry Christmas!
Thanks for your reply @GamecockOperator. I have thought about the privacy issue but considering I have posted pictures of most of my collection here and over at https://www.thegunrack.org, the info is already out there in the public domain. Then there are all those 4473’s out there. We have no secrets anymore. I even have an Alexa I almost never use. We used to be concerned about wiretaps and now we think nothing of saying “Hey wiretap, do you have a good recipe for pimento cheese?” I have played with a couple of dedicated gun inventory softwares but I was concerned that what happened to you would happen to one of those. I assume you still have access to the date but when filemaker stopped working, I lost everything. I’m not saying I have given up on dedicated gun software but but at least I would have a back up. @Welder might have the best idea with just a physical copy.
Paper is good up to 454F and no electronic prying eyes.
BTW I do have a killer recipe for pimento cheese. (Sorry, I posted this in the wrong thread and had to regroup). I cut this recipe in half and that makes about 4 cups.
I need to do the same. Maybe tomorrow suppose to be -10 so not going to range!
It’s supposed to be 65 tomorrow but I really need to get started.
Jealous!
I still have original sales receipts from 32 years ago. At one point a local FFL shop was giving out log books (2 page fold over) that you could list your firearms in. I think it had space for 10 or 15 guns per but, that was about a decade back.
I’ve lost soapy hard drives over the years, paper logs and pictures seemed a better way to go. It is interesting seeing you guys post about the current software options.
A 2 drawer file cabinet. 2/3 + full. Handed down with so much info from my Dad. The file on the 1897 Winchesters has articles from the 60’s. Sometimes I get lost reading all the history. If there was info in a magazine on one of the families heirlooms - he saved it. Every improvement or repair updated till he passed. I’ve tried to keep it current. As my kids get the collection - a file will go with each firearm.
Mine is in Google Sheets, as well. I’m comfortable enough with the security capabilities of the platform to take the risk. Manufacturer and model, caliber, purchase date, purchase price, seller, serial number, notes on upgrades I’ve made. A second sheet is used as a practice tracker so I know when I shot each and about how many rounds.
That’s another thing I didn’t think of. Improvements and repairs. A fantastic idea to add so you can look back “did I replace that part before? Who had it? How much did I pay for?”
you’re very welcome. @string1946. Yeah i know most of us digital Gunguys have posted a lot out there already about the guns we’ve had at one point or another that worrying about some of the info being in the public domain , with the government 4473 is one thing, but we also have these wonderful phones now a days… you know iphones, samsung, windows phones, etc etc, all of which are all being traced, tracked, and monitored 24/7 along with having their mic’s turned on at any and all times remotely and having any and all data taken from them including photos, texts, emails, and any other forms or documents on them directly to the NSA / CIA/ Any other alphabet agency out there at anytime.. I mean hell they can turn your smart tv’s speaker when it is OFF into a Microphone, and listen into conversations in the room its in that way, if we think there’s privacy now we’re really not paying attention… but because of all that, should we not do all we can to prevent all we can still? I mean you wear a seat belt when you drive just in case right? a jacket when its cool or cold just to prevent you getting a cold right?? I guess my point is even with 4473s and everything else, not all that info on your guns is out there in one place at one time, tied to one firearm, at once. its a very powerful document, / database when you get down to it, because of all the information it ties together at once.
oh yeah mygundb still works fine for me.. i get a few errors on loading about html files no longer being accessable since the sites it pointed to arent there, but once its loaded up and im in the program im good to go, and since i had paid for the whole program, i have all the functionality i need in it. Ive installed it from as far back as running windows 2000, 7, 8, and now 10… but i am not sure if i can continue installing it and using it in 11, or if i want to.. NMcollector supposedly has a migration program that will migrate the data to it, so i need to look into that more indepth. I just really like the program as it was and hate to go away from it. oh it has ways to backup and ive ran backups often in the past so thtas not a problem either. luckily.
yeah it is. except its not available remotely, theres no phtographs or other integrated data either.. and you cant password protect or encrypt it… lol.. oh and do not try to light it on fire to test that 454F*thing. just a protip.
yeah hardware failure can always be a worry. when a drive fails, at least you have an additional target to shoot at.
now thats’s cool. i’ve been doing something like that too with my stuff, and with my car stuff too.. being anything with reciepts and or instructions or articles, or things of that nature, i’ve been putting them into a 3 ring binder and trying to sort and organize them that way.
yeah thats another thing the database programs keep track of under maintenance. very helpful to keep track of that sor to fthing too..
I won’t say I don’t have any concerns but I will go forward with the project. I guess the heart attack earlier this year made me realize this is something I needed to do. As they say, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not really out to get you. Also a friend died a few years ago and he had a few guns, maybe 20 and his wife has no idea what they are or their value. When she wants to sell a few she comes to me. I show her what the books says. Then I make her an offer with the understanding if she or family ever wants them back, they can have them for what I paid.
When I sell a vehicle the buyer gets the file. I think that cements a sale having good records.