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

No, I equate integrity with integrity, financial status unimportant depending on how ya got it.

I've lived among true poverty for a period of years of my life, what I'm in ain't it, not even close. How I got where I am now is assuming a bunch of debt with half the income (coolest part has been watching my credit rating climb through the roof over these past few years )

I am particular about how I accumulate property, it ain't worth it to me to price gouge, fer example.

IMHO you bragged on gouging, but have now submitted a bunch of qualifiers, OK.

Hey tks for the kind words.

Good reminder, Ron. In 1962 I bought my first rifle through the Sears catalog for $13.95. It is a M95 Chilean Mauser and I bagged Mule and Coues deer with it for years in AZ
I will keep it as long as I live - period.

Bought a M96 Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55 for $50 a couple of years later, and it had a Weaver 4x scope on it. Fabulous cartridge - that design is over 100 years old and its performance stays up with the modern fancy-named stuff.

Eddystone Enfield in 30:06 for $25 and a nicely "sporterized" Rock Island Springfield with Redfield scope for $50 when I lived in Tempe - the Phoenix newspaper classifieds were a treasure trove in the 60s. There were some good old days.

I doubt most guns have kept prices with inflation. My understanding is that in the late 30's Model 70s sold for about $120, running it through the inflation calculator that's about $2100 today. The notable exceptions are probably going to be very rare guns like bespoke british stuff or stuff that was so cheap that it was abused to death so there aren't many good examples left.

Other than that it's probably all fads and bubbles which are harder to predict than I want to deal with. People who were kids in the 1950s-1960s grew up on TV Westerns and Jack O'Connor so as soon as they got disposable income they had to get lever actions and model 70s. But once that generation dies off the demand is going to drop as they next buying generation has no child hood dreams of being like Chuck Conners.

I try to buy good quality stuff that I'm going to enjoy and try to avoid paying full sticker, but I don't have any belief that anything I own is going to be an investment.

That's not far from what you could get for a New In Box, common caliber, 1930s made Model 70.

I'm less and less enamored with the idea of guns as a good investment with a few exceptions.

I just buried a best friend that was the biggest gun collector I've ever known. His big mistake was not unloading them before he died. If he'd been half as smart about selling them off as he was about acquiring them, he'd have done all right. However, he waited and let his widow handle the sale. It put her through hell. I'm sure she didn't get what he expected to get. We all chipped in and bought what we could, but. . .

I have seen guys who have bought crates of military rifles. That's probably a good investment, or at least it was. An acquaintance bought a case of 7mm mausers and sold them 3 years later for 3 times what he paid for it. I'd love to go back now and buy a truck load of sub-$50 Albanian SKS of which I only bought one. In 10 years they became a classic, and now go for several hundred $'s. Ditto for Mosin Nagants, Swiss K31's and Mauser K98s.

However, I've also seen folks plunk down big bucks "classics," and find that they'd been better off putting it passbook savings.

I remember when those straight pull Swiss K31 rifles came in in large numbers in very nice condition. I couldn't imagine anyone wanting one at the time. Today, I'd love to go back and pick up a couple of nice ones for $100.00 each.

Why so?

Now if all gun investments were like the Colt Python I bought from an Army buddy needing money. I paid him $185 in the early '70's. He wanted it back, but I kept it. That thing is in near mint condition and I've seen similar selling for nearly $3,500. I don't even want to figure the ROI on that one.

That kinda deal doesn't happen every day.

DF

I have been selling off firearms recently, partly because I have too many, and partly because I don't want my wife to be left with a big headache trying to get rid of what I would have left should I die. She knows very little about firearms, and even less about how to sell them and what they are likely worth.
As to the claim that firearms are an 'investment'- assume that you own 50 firearms, and that you bought them right, over a period of 20 years, and they all have appreciated, say at an average of $100 per gun. You sell them all, and realize a gain, over a period of 20 years, of $5000.
$5K, over a long period of time, would hardly be considered a significant investment. The reality, based upon my experience, is that for every firearm that I sell at a profit, 4 are sold near break-even, or at a loss. None of the firearms I own are safe queens- they are all shot, hunted with, and enjoyed. In every instance, they have caused the additional expenditure for ammo, reloading components, scopes, etc., at an amount that far exceeds the value of each individual firearm.
So, maybe the more correct way of describing firearm ownership, rather than using the word 'investment', would be 'hobby', or 'recreational equipment', or 'personal protection expense'.

1) It was the last thing she needed or wanted. She needed time out. Instead, she had to sell his guns.
2) She was not a big gun fan in the first place.
3) She had no idea what they were worth
4) She's a naturally suscpicious woman, and she had no idea if anyone was cheating her.

Luckily a mutual friend of ours who's retired helped compile the inventory and handle a good part of it all. The widow also used his favorite LGS to dispose of the bulk of his collection. If my friend had been looking ahead, he could have sold most of what he had and still kept his favorites. As it was, the widows was pulling out guns from under the furniture for weeks-- I'm still not sure she has them all. Yes, she's probably going to realize quite a bit of money out of it all, but not if her husband had been doing it for her. As it was, he was buying new guns up until a week before he went in the hospital for the last time.

Another thing: A good part of his collection was not in the best of shape. He'd had health problems and not been cleaning them. A good number of the weapons were non-functional when we got them. They weren't all rusted up or anything, but they were in noticeable neglect. As a result, they were not going to fetch top dollar. This is where the plan can really go afoul. A guy needs to unload these things before he can no longer service the collection.

If you think if it as having rented them for that period, it doesn't seem so bad what you can, on average, get back for them when you sell them. After all, you actually make use of them, and enjoy their ownership, unlike a securities portfolio.

a;t the time through century you could buy them for 69dollars.

I’m not seeing much interest in old stuff of any kind from the newest generation

One of my nephews (now a big city cop out West) insists that when he was a kid I promised him my whole collection when I go. I don't quite recall it, but he insists it's true. Not saying it's not, but I don't recall it. Seems unlikely, though.

She sounds like a real peach.

Yep!! I've bought (what I thought would be) collector pieces such as Colt Double Eagles, Winchester Model 70's, etc., and am having trouble selling them. With the proliferation of accurate inexpensive firearms (e.g., Ruger American rifle, Tupper-wear pistols, etc.), hunters are not willing to pay a collector's price for earlier craftsmanship.

I'm sure those liberal gun laws you voted for aren't helping either

In my rural area, there are 1/2 the hunters, and 1/4 the shooters as compared to 20 years ago.
Younger guys in general don't have disposable income, or a sense of history to carry the market.
On average, I think the value has peaked. Younger crowd would rather have a shield or Glock than a M29SW.
Big shops in my area have very little in the way of revolvers anymore. Number of guys under 30 that desire or couls afford a SAA is very slim.
As baby boomers sell off, supply will be up, and less demand.

It may be true that younger folks don't like what old timers do. I can't see a Colt Woodsman getting cheaper soon.