Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Pre 64 African .458. Shoot or No Shoot?

It's like buying a new car and taking a $10K hit by driving it off the lot, or buying a late model one, letting someone else that that initial hit.

Just gotta decide what your goals are and how your finances stack up.

You may have enough cash to burn a wet mule, and if that's what you like to do and it's your cash, who cares...

DF

If you bought it as an investment with the intent of selling it for a profit after it gained value then don't shoot it. If you accomplished that inadvertently and the old girl just sat in the safe long enough to be worth a lot of money, then shoot her! Thats a mighty fine rifle and she longs to take blood. Go to Alaska and kill brownie with her or to Africa and kill a Buf! Kill something! Pre 64's are killin' machines... IMO way too many fine works of steel and wood like this one hide in the dark in the safe for years yearning to be free, begging to have a few pills thrown out of their throats at a big game animal, to breathe and wander the savanna or tundra as their owners chosen tool of trade... ok, sorry I'll turn off the "born free music" now.

As an investment, I think guns, esp. one like this, pretty much suck. As a toy to have that won't devalue too much and may even increase in value a bit, guns are great. This one would be a safe toy to avoid devaluing a lot but if that's what you like do it.

If you just want an investment, buy a stock fund or a CD.

Personally, I don't get a kick out of having a valuable rifle in my safe. So, having it sit there and accrue mild amounts of value by aging is pretty pointless to me. Like having a rare, valuable vintage of wine in a bottle. What's the point? Still, there are people for whom "having" is everything - using, not so much.

I've sold several guns over the years that were too expensive or too nice to shoot. If they're that valuable, someone else needs them more than I.

DF

I actually admire you guys who just use guns to hunt and shoot with. Some days my own collector, "neurosis" feels like quite the burden. I have many pieces here that I will likely never fire and in fact, plan not to. Not that I feel I couldn't (i.e. they are not unfired) but why would I? Why does one fire guns? Well, because you like to shoot or hunt etc. And I do that, and have plenty of pieces that fit the bill nicely. Plenty of them. So, why shoot something that is very rare and valuable when you have plenty of others that fit the bill?

Well, "unfired" isn't actually accurate, because they all get proof tested at the factory But you knew that.

Tough call. Do you consider the Pre-64 a specialty in your collecting? Or was it just a really nice rifle you bought to have, and you just enjoy having it in your collection?

I've...ahem..."deflowered" a few "unfired" collectible guns in my time, a couple of Colts. One probably cost me $300 to shoot, after I decided I didn't like it, and sold it. The other is a Colt 1911 limited edition, and I saw an "unfired" example at a Houston gun show for $4600, which is probably 4.6x what I gave for mine. That price is probably unrealistic, but I do wonder if shooting it cost me $1K or so.

I probably would not shoot the .458. There can't be more than a handful of them left in 99% condition. In their day, they were viewed as a less expensive alternative to the big British rifles, and most were used and used hard. I'm wagering it will continue to appreciate. So keep it and enjoy the appreciation, while still being able to occasionally show it off to your buddies, or sell it it and harvest the profits.

Heck of a rifle, in any case

I have enjoyed this thread and all the different perspectives. It's not like I haven't enjoyed owning and shooting big bore rifles. I've had rifles in .510 Wells, .450 Watts, .460 HE magnum, many .458's and others. I shot all of them. "Tough call" on this one? Not for me. I wouldn't be tempted at all.

I am very appeciative of all the responses this thread has garnished! .......and I thank everyone.

I am going to be 50 years old next year and have been drooling on Winchesters since I was about 35 and had enough spare change to buy one occasionally. I work a lot so I am always dreaming about one day when I will be able to just take off and go hunting for weeks or longer.

In the mean time I'm just going to let this thread go, and maybe I will shoot it on my 50th birthday just to get it out of my system.

By the way, this is the only big bore rifle I own and I have never shot anything bigger than a 38-55 rifle.

I suspect I am going to catch some flak for resurrecting this thread, but I am doing so for two reasons.
1. I really enjoyed the responses, and I enjoyed that the thread did not turn into a bunch of insults. If you never read this thread, it is pretty interesting.
2. Mostly, I really wanted to see how the story ended, meaning did Toddly shoot it our not?
P.S. I did try to use the SEARCH function to find out if there was a more recent thread that answered my question, and I came up empty.