Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Collecting Winchesters...where to start?

You may be entirely correct, but even so, I would just as soon have one 77/22 as two RARs'. Or, myriad other nice .22's available on the new/used market.

My neighbor showed me a 92 src last year, a pretty nice 38 40. I would say 80%, nice blue on the receiver. He says, I heard this is worth 3000. I was like, yeah maybe, not to me. 1500, maybe. I would like to buy it, but I'm not that excited to own it. Where can I go after I pay 3000? Nowhere.

My two passions in the gun world are Pre64 M70's and Parker
shotguns. They don't have to be a mint SG 35REM or a 20ga A1 Special to be collectable and go up in value. A well maintained std grade 30/06 or a VH 12 will also bring the owner pride of ownership and an appreciating asset.

Only buy what you like or what interests you. The SRC 38-40 may or may not be worth $3K.I'm not a lever guy so it would hold no interest to me and I wouldn't pay that kind of money for it.

At the end of the day everything and anything is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. My goal is to liquidate the collection while I'm still on this side of the dirt.

"My goal is to liquidate the collection while I'm still on this side of the dirt".

+1

About a year ago I started collecting model 52 Winchesters. I now have about 10 of them. I think they are a fun gun to collect as there are so many variations and the first 52 was made in 1920. Win 52's were made up till about 1973 and come in mostly magazine types,but single shots also. I have pre-A,the A,B,C,D,and E types. I was lucky enough to purchase Elmer Keiths 52 match rifle and I also have a "A" single shot,which is a one of a kind.

I probably have a average price of $1200 and all are minty examples. I tend to like the heavy barreled guns. As I get older the rimfire rifles just make a lot of sense to me and they can be purchased without breaking the bank,but nice examples are harder to be found.

Some of the older guns were used by very famous small bore shooters like Art Jackson. I have a 52 that was shot in the 1952 Olympics. There are also custom 52's that have very interesting histories and that's what makes these rifles collectable and fun to collect.

Photo of Elmer Keith's 52



Provenance of Elmer's 52 rifle

http://www.scribd.com/doc/262179195...eith-Some-Turkey-Rifles-Past-and-Present


p.s. I also collect Remington 37's,Springfield M1922's,and High Standard 22 target pistols....what's not to like!

I have guns, guitars, and Gold that are giving me a return of 3% compounded annually.
I have real estate returning 4%.
I have Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon stock that have returned more than 20% compounded annually over the last 21 years.
I have Winchester 70s, 1885s, 1892s, an 1894, an 1873, 1897s, 61s, 69As, 75s, and a 1912.
I like the Winchester Model 61 pump 22s the best.

I am 64.
When i was 12 I had a Win 77. The win 61 is what I SHOULD have had.

BINGO, Varmint guy, I have watched, read your post for many years, you have hit nail on the head 99.9% of my time!! very best from SW GA, your winchester pal WinPoor, maybe WinBroke fits better! LMAO

Do yourself a favor and find a nice 6" Colt Match Target! I promise you will be HOOKED! v best WinPoor

I had a model M61 22 Mag and let it go when I was just a youngster..dumb. I have a 6 inch Colt match target I paid $900for it a couple of years ago and it's in mint condition. I also have a 6 inch Colt Diamondback that is unfired and I see them on GI for $2500+, I paid once again $900. My favorite 22 is a Kimber Super America, maybe a solid investment maybe not.

90% of my retirement (read TAXABLE) is locked in at a guaranteed 8%. The Winchesters, Parkers and other investment firearms I can use and enjoy while they appreciate in value. IMHO a high condition Winchester in one of the rarer calibers such as a 300 Savage, 35 Rem,7MM or a small bore Parker is money (tax free) the bank.

I read where Polesi wants to tax 401K money for the poor and to give them the lifestyle they so richly deserve even though the people she refers to are illegals. They won't tax my M70!

My advice as to where to start: don't. We need fewer not more gun collectors, so as to allow those that do have more access to the treasures!! (Kidding of course.)

Every collector does so for different reasons, be it ink wells, Lithuanian postage stamps, or guns. If a guy wants to focus on one make or model of gun (heaven forbid- that would be like going to a buffet and only eating the roast beef) it should be for some driving internal reason, even if it's something you can't put your finger on, and not what a panel of experts advises you to do.

Surprised no one's jumped on this one. Not a pre-64 but a New Haven, that according to some (Winpoor?), shoot like a house afire.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth.../1/Winchester_Model_70_Laredo_Cla#UNREAD

It is not a collectible rifle.

At a gun show I witnessed some dickering over a gun with $50 price tag. The prospective buyer complained, "It has been reblued. That ruins the collectability."
That puzzled me.
Now you reveal another situation where collectibility comes in quantum states.
That puzzles me.
I guess I started buying Winchesters and it could be called collecting. But I never bought guns because I was collecting per some collecting rules. I saw condition as starting at LNIB and going continuously down hill and botched mods to the state of wallhanger.

Hey, some people collect Aunt Jemima syrup bottles. What's collectible to one may be junk to another. There are no rules that say to collect Winchesters they must be pre-64 and 100% correct. What usually makes a good collectible is something no one wanted when they were making them, so they didn't make many. Think pre-64 Model 70 in .35 Remington. Or, a Laredo w/BOSS?

I'd LOVE to have a pre64 M70 in 35 Rem, one in 250/3000 would be good also:)

As the forum states "Winchester Collectors" and, as the thread states "Collecting Winchesters", it isn't much of a leap to call a gun safe full of used Winchesters "a collection". But some forethought might go into choosing each one.

Education can be real expensive in this business. I know enough to see where this is headed. The trend is your friend.
Anybody need 38 40 ammo?

I'd love to know where you get 8% guaranteed!

Nothing at all wrong with collecting. I understand it, but much prefer shooting them vs. collecting them..

If selling the wood stocks for upwards (or more) of $400.00 and replacing them with Mcmillans is a sin, count me in... . To go back and answer the OP's question about where to begin, try small town gunshows. I've had good luck finding some primos at small town gunshows. Get in good with someone who is willing to teach you the ins and outs of collecting Winchesters. One of my mentors is a gunsmith and a "good ol boy" who has collected Winchesters for a long time. Like ball town bob mentioned, hands on experience trumps book knowledge. This is damn true, and in a perfect world you would have someone there who can show you the ropes. If you don't know what you are looking at, you will likely never know, as some subtle changes were made during different era's and it is hard to know this unless you are a gunsmith or similar. This is extremely true when it comes to Winchesters. Little things like how the factory blued parts and pieces is good to know when you are looking at a rifle. A keen eye can spot one that has been "re-done". Some small parts like triggers or bolt shrouds or bottom metal, may look similar, but will have differences that a seasoned collector will point out. Crowns can be altered, bolt faces opened up and chambers may be different than when they came from the factory. Facing the receivers to adapt a different factory barrel to look like an original is something else to look for. This will degrade the value of the firearm, or maybe someone may be trying to pass it off as an original and you will be educated enough to know the difference. Unlike ball town bob, I also believe book knowledge is of huge value when accessing value of these old Winchesters. Some of us don't have the luxury of having a good ol boy gunsmith Winchester collector guru to teach us everything we should know about these fascinating old rifles, so our next best option is to go to the books or forums like this one.