Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Who thinks gun collections as investments is going to be a flop ?

Holy shades of momma and her two sisters! God bless em

markets go up and markets go down.

lot's of youngsters don't even drive anymore.

they depend upon uber drivers and competitors.

downsized senior housing costs more than old housing.

in 2024, what will gov't offer for good quality assault guns?

my son, age 39 tells me to hold onto mine. not to sell any of them.

Depends on which market. I made a killing on crap AKs, used ARs and a couple of FALs after Obammy was elected. A Norinco AK w/ 3 chink mags would gain $2000.00 from the scared and desperate.


mike r

OY!

Sell me your minty, safe queen Winchester Pre-64 Model 70 Featherweight 7x57 or 30.06 - I'm offering $400 and that offer will be good in 10 years....

A friend has 30+ Weatherby Mark V's the majority in brand new condition some still new in the box . Some dating back to the early 60's - high grade models etc. etc. .
I was talking to him a while back about this topic - he said i ruined his day by giving him the opinion that the rifles might be a flop money-wise . Lots of big caliber stuff 340 -378 - 460 etc. some smaller stuff too .
He has it in his head that those rifles are the absolute best and most sought after rifle ever built and that they're worth a fortune . Me i'm not so sure about that .
He has pushed me to get rid of those Remingtons and he'd find me a good rifle through his connections .

I was offered $750 for a case of 223 I had during those times. I figured if things were that bad I better keep it. It's worth about $300 now. Timing and BS politics are the driver.
If we had a crystal ball, we'd all be millionaires.

From the ninja w/ a cheap .22, you and starfish are the masters of defense. SNORK


mike r

Yea I started a year ago selling some investment guns...the newer generation has zero appritation for them...I'm having a hard time letting go tho.
Did my first gunsho last winter and all the younger crowd turned there noses up at my winchesters. I took a 92 in 32-20 that still has case color on the receiver...nobody under about 60 years old even noticed it...didn't get it sold but I did get the 1895 takedown sold along with some others...

Lol...if you had invested that same money "pre 64", you'd be way, way ahead.

One of the reasons for a decline is the loss of hunting lands.

A best friend and I have talked about this very subject many times. We both have a number of vintage LC Smiths, pre-64’s etc. Our children all love hunting but gravitate towards Benellis, Berettas for bird hunting and fiberglass stocked hyper accurate rifles for deer hunting. When me and my buddy cross the river for our happy hunting grounds they’ll all be fighting for my Jarrett, Carolina Precision rifles, AR’s and such. My 1931 LC quail gun will probably hit the pawn shop, as will my 16 and 12 LC’s. My 1886 33 WCF? Gone probably.

I hope our son and his buddies learn to appreciate the mystique and cool factor of my old stuff. He’s gradually coming around though now that he’s hit 30....thank God

Those 60 year olds buyers are going to run out of ''need'' you better hurry .

Same financial bubble that's about to 'pop' for 1960's muscle cars will hit rifle collections, too. IMO.

On that day about 30 years ago, that I went all in collecting pre 64 Winchesters, it became a virtual certainty that they would eventually be worth less than I paid for them. That's just the way I roll! Anybody looking for a 28 gauge Model 12 with a solid rib? Ha!

it's an issue or reality of supply and demand.

people have to have space to keep muscle cars, boats, guns, etc.

i don't want to sell any of my guns. i want to buy more. but as an investment?

they have value as to something to pull out of the case and wipe down. but what else?

I have owned many, many rifles, shotguns and handguns but never bought even one of them as a financial investment. Every one was bought because I liked it, saw a purpose for it, looked forward to getting it to perform great, and knew I would eventually sell it if it did not meet performance expectations. Even the pretty looking and well-known desirable ones. It has been big fun, especially the reloading and load development along with just plain shooting/hunting, and I still have a bunch of good ones. Very useful and enjoyable tools.

Certain factors caused me to begin selling them a couple of years ago. I have worked at it rather assiduously – and I have sold a bunch. More will be sold. My unanticipated experience has been that they were good investments – nice gains over prices of purchase – adjusting for inflation too. And, these ALL have been wood and blued steel models – well, a few were stainless steel.

I never have liked non-wood stocks and am not a big lover of semi-auto stuff, but do have one excellent AR type and one ceracoated barrel/action in a synthetic stock – because I needed the rifle ready to go and did not have time to make or fit a wooden stock. I do wonder what those would bring in today.

Ouch.

Collecting another subject??

I see how a lot of things have changed with the next generation.. and it's not really their fault.. 40-50 years ago gunshops were a hangout where kids with interest could learn about guns. Gun magazines had jack O, keith,and skeeter. Manufactures made guns with pride. Table holders at gun shows were eager to teach history of guns and foster interest.. schools taught history,and encouraged junior rifle and shotgun shooting. And has been pointed out public hunting land was more available. So now in this age kids don't know anything about history. Manufactures are making mostly junk,compared with what we had. Gunshow folks are only interested in selling. Small gunshops are mostly gone. Folks at cabelas don't know a damn thing about guns or the history of.. so my grandson won't have the opportunity that I have, so I'm not concerned about selling.. you will never be able to replace it.

The demographic pool of old white guys with disposable income who revered workmanship in blued steel and walnut is shrinking at an alarming rate. If you doubt me, look at the inventory in Sportsmans Whse, Cabelas, Scheels etc etc. Stainless, plastic or just plain black pot metal...feeding the mass market. Unless you are holding a museum quality piece, I'm afraid the market won't even keep pace with inflation. For an average attractive, hunted but well maintained sporting gun, if you acquired it 20 years ago, I think in this market you'll be lucky to break even. Some old, well made revolvers are still holding up but fine side by side shotguns and rifles languish waiting for loving homes.