Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Oh this will annoy some people and make others happy...

A few S&W's, a few stocks, maybe a little gold. It's all good.

Years ago I got in the stock market. A friend of mine that's always been afraid of the market bought 200 acres of prime hunting land about an hours ride from the house. One night we were sitting around the campfire with some good Whiskey and the conversation turned to investments. His land was for sale and I knew the asking price and his potential return of investment. It was a good time to be in the market and I had done a lot better percentage wise on my investments. After telling him this he asked one simple question , "can you hunt your stocks?"

Not all returns are monetary and you can't always put a price on them.

One of the things about buying guns to hold their value or even to make some on is you need to buy quality. I doubt anybody is going to be getting in a bidding war over a Savage Axis or Taurus Judge.

Doesn’t hurt if you can pick up some quirky oddballs that end up not selling well. A buddy bought two S&W 296 hammerless 5 shot Lframe 44 specials years ago because J&G sales was blowing them out for $249. They’re worth about 8X what he gave for them. Same for the 32 mags that were not very popular. All the short runs S&W did for distributors back in the 80’s and 90’s command a premium with collectors, I wouldn’t be surprised if today’s special runs follow that trend.

But yes I agree, your run of the mill M15s and M19s and the like are probably actually cheaper today than when new as far as buying power goes. To make a comparison to the OP’s revolver selling for $250 in the 70’s, my dad bought a new 1979 F150 for $5450 pretty well optioned. $250 bought a lot more then.

To be precise, yes, you CAN hunt those stocks. Cashed out, they will take you to Africa, Alaska or anywhere else. With hard investments, such as firearms, most of the return is made the day you buy it. Buy it right and you’ll do fine. If not, then not. I honestly don’t care if I make money on a gun. I buy what I like and enjoy using them. I’ll invest elsewhere for retirement. There are lots of good ways to do that.

Edited: TheKid makes a good point. Good guns are usually the best investment. I’m not rich enough to buy junky guns.

Put simply, if you cash out the investments and spend the money on hunting trips, they aren't investments anymore. It's just money you put in someone's pocket for your entertainment.

Try to keep up here.

Thanks for the clarification, Mr Buffett. It is possible to spend some of the gains without hamstringing the portfolio. But I’ll try to keep up.

And still call the money you spent an investment? No. Absolutely not. You still don't get it and your kurt response only reveals your ignorance. I'm sure Mr Buffet would agree with me on both counts.

I think the word is “curt”, not “kurt”. 🤭

But best wishes anyway. Glad you’ve done well.

I'll try to explain it a little better. Mike the OP made a valid point about the rate of return on "collectible" S&W revolvers. He is 100% correct if we are only talking about monetary value of the investment. That said, there are other considerations like being able to shoot it occasionally and pride of ownership. While it might not be the best investment, it offers other rewards you simply can't get with other investments

My stock market investment was great and percentage wise I did a lot better than my friends land investment, but we had a lot of good times on his land. He had a pride of ownership with that land that I never had with the stocks. Not to mention the life long memories of the hunts

Point being, not all investments are about monetary gains and I needed reminding of that.

The curt/kurt thing, I knew but sometimes Android decides for me.

Here is one of my recent "investments." Will I make a killing? Probably not, but the only way I'll get hurt is if I shoot myself with it. Would I invest all my money in S&W revolvers? No. Is a little OK? Yeah, I think so.

Your buddy is smart, and doing what I've thought about but haven't.

Shopping the blowout sites for discontinued, discounted, retards.
When Ruger made the Super Redhawk in 10mm, my first thought were
"Who wants an artillery piece shooting a mid level round."
The next was, "Not many folks, until 10 years from now. Then they will bring
ungodly money from the collectors saying "They only made xxx of them."

Of course it slipped my mind, a more diligent fellow would be watching J&G and
CDNN for such opportunities.

Precisely.

Bingo!

Spot on.

Very nice. You're not likely to lose a dime on that, and will have pride in ownership, and years of enjoyment, besides. You may even make a few bucks on it, one day (over inflation). Likely, in fact.

mike Dettore: Don't forget that your profit on the "cagr/s&p" WILL be reported to the I.R.S. and you will pay 20% to 35% income tax on any profits (depending on you's tax bracket) whilst ALL the profits I have made over the last half century plus, trading and investing in guns, was/is MINE to keep.
As others have pointed out your "figgers" are a bit skewed - but if investing in "cagr/s&p" floats your boat then thats fine with me.
I take pride in the ownership and the profits my firearms investments and my collector guns have brought me - I never recall taking pride in any of the stocks or mutual funds I have owned in the past! Let alone the friendships and camaraderie's I have made and enjoyed amongst fellow collectors and gun enthusiasts over the last half century plus!
I have NEVER felt "friendship" with any stock brokers or I.R.S. agents!
So theres that.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Thanks Hawkeye.

The next one is going to be the X frame 350 Legend. I’m not buying any because I think they’re stupid but they’re going to be collectors items.

Doesn’t the guy who buys and sells collectibles, like firearms, also owe taxes on his profit? Whether he pays it or not is certainly another matter. If he decides to cheat on his taxes, he should at least be consistent and not complain about others who defraud the government in some way. Also, there’s no reason for this to be an either/or thing. Lots of folks have investment portfolios AND gun collections, and often some real estate too.

I'll toss an example on pricing. Eagle grip swap shown. Your old stomping grounds.

This receipt is for a K38 Model 14 I own. Obviously, it's not a model 19 but may yield some insight into the pricing hierarchy of Smith & Wesson revolvers on August 6, 1971.