As a South Texas country boy and an avid hunter, I have a love for firearms. Shotguns, pistols, rifles, if it goes bang, I want one. I often tell people owning a firearm is like eating potato chips…you can’t have just one. While my collection is far from finished, I do have several pieces and am always looking for ways to keep records of them. They are all under lock and key in a large gun safe both to protect against theft as well as keep my kids’ hands off of them. As the number of weapons grows, so does the need to keep a list of what I have. Last summer I tried keeping records on an excel spreadsheet, but could never get it set up how I liked it. I was unable to find any applications that worked on both Windows and Mac until recently. MyGunDB is a platform that will work on Windows, Mac and Android (iPhone app is in the works). Let’s take a look at how it works.
MyGunDB is a firearm inventory which provides features that meets ATF digital boundbook requirements.
FEATURES
- Keep a digital copy of your firearm inventory
- Print inventory, financial and A&D reports
- View stats about your collection
- Track your purchases and sales
- Be notified when a firearm is past its maintenance schedule
- Built on Adobe AIR® so it runs on Windows, Mac OS X v10.5+ and Linux
- Constantly being updated and new features added
The application is intuitive and laid out to easily reach any information with a simple click. For this review, I entered one firearm for simplicity and to not show off any of my weapons. I would hate to have the zombies know what they are up against! Each firearm is listed on the left side of the window with options to add or delete and sort and filter the entire list. To get started, click add and then click Edit Data at the bottom of the firearm window. Now, simply work through the windows and fill in any information you have for the weapon. As you can see, there is even value and financial information that can be entered which is great for collectors, FFL dealers and anyone whose collection is insured.
Once the general information is entered for the firearm, start filling in the stats. Everything for actions to lengths to trigger pull can be entered. Yes, many casual owners do not care about any of this, but true collectors will be interested in these stats. Weapons with NFA items and classifications can also be kept here which is great to have for ATF record purposes.
Another important section is for Accessories. It includes both attached and unattached as well as holsters. For my weapons, this is where I added my scopes, bipods and slings. Each item can have a photo easily loaded which I love. To continue to track the value of each firearm, make sure you enter the prices and values of all accessories.
The final window that I have been entering for my firearms is the ammo tab. Once a rifle is sighted in with a certain ammo, it is best to always use that round so most collectors will have a large collection of ammo also. It is nice to have this list to not only remember which round is shot with each gun, but also to keep track of the amount of inventory. When that number gets down to a box or so, it is time to start buying more. The Maint. tab allows collectors to keep records of any work done to a firearm, the gunsmith and cost. This information can definitely help anyone planning on selling a gun someday. Just like a vehicle, it is much easier to buy a weapon that has a total maintenance record.
For anyone with a large gun collection or planning on beginning one, MyGunDB is a perfect solution to keep track of firearms. My best friend builds custom rifles and is an FFL dealer and says this application is perfect for him to keep accurate records for his collection. I love how all information is available for each firearm from tabs in a single page. Enter as much information or keep a simple list of weapons owned. Add pictures and values and you will end up with a comprehensive database of all firearms owned, bought and sold complete with printable reports and totally searchable. MyGunDB is free for up to 10 firearms with a full registration available for $39.95. That is a small price considering the value of most collections it will be keeping records of. Check out more information and get started with your first 10 weapons here.
MSRP: Free for 1st 10 firearms. $39.95 for complete registration.
What I like: I finally have a simple way to keep track of my growing firearm collection complete with pictures and values.
What could be improved: I would love to see an iPhone version available that syncs with the desktop version.