Are our gun collections really investments????

[twoinchgroup52]

Many people on this board rationalize their gun collections by saying " it's also really an investment." Is it really? I, as well as others here own over 20 firearms. If the NEED ever arose, and we had to liquidate our collections in, let's say, a three-month period. What percentage of your cost do you think you would recoup and how would you go about disposing of the firearms?? Just wondering! Sincerely, Twoinchgroup52

 

[Martowski]

Yes... in the same way stocks are investments. Not all guns are will increase in value as quickly as others. The key is knowing the supply and demand of the particular item, and the price at which you purchased it compared to the price at which the gun is commonly sold. I usually do not just go into a store and buy a gun. I usually do weeks - months of research regarding not only the functionality and reputation of the firearm, but also the prices available through local dealers (meaning within a 200 mile radius), gun shows, and mail-order distributors (adding in, of course, the cost of the FFL transfer). With this data in hand, I then search for the best possible price for the firearm I am looking to purchase. I have been consistantly making money or, at the least, breaking even on my firearms. The best method, for me, has been on the internet. All guns I have ever listed on the internet (5 - 6) have sold within three months of listing, and all transactions went extremely smooth. For example, I bought a Finnish M28/30 Mosin Nagant at a local store earlier this year for $75. The guy running the store did not know what he had on hand, nor was he aware that this is a small group of collectors fanatical about such rifles. I sold it via internet auction a week later for $320. Not bad, eh? You have to remember, too, that current production guns like Rugers and such will not hold their value as well as more scarce, more established weapons. It's all about supply and demand.

 

[BB]

No. There are a many, many better investments out there than firearms. Buy to shoot, or to admire, but for an investment? No.

 

[Rezdog]

A lot of people think that average guns continue to appreciate in value as they are used and grow older. In my experience, if you want a gun that will greatly appreciate in value it must be something special to begin with -- limited production, fancy finished, fancy wood, engraving, special serial numbers, and so on. Still, I consider buying (and using) guns a good deal in that if you ever decide to sell it you can recoup a good deal of the original value, depending on condition. Over the years I have invested in books, tools, rock climbing gear, etc, and they all lose value rapidly and can be hard to re-sell. Accessories can be money losers as well. So... I think that guns and four-wheel-drives are good deals because they depereciate slowly and may even become worth more as the years go by.

 

[ScottS]

Had a buddy who always used the argument that, "Hey, it's an investment. This gun will be worth twice what I paid for it." I used to say, "Jiffy, have you EVER sold a gun?" He'd say, "HE11 NO!"

If you never sell it, it can't be an investment. Buy it because you want it or need it or like it.

Scott

 

[Jeff OTMG]

A financial investment? No. An investment in freedom? Absolutely!! I could get my money back on guns that I have purchased and make a profit, with the exception of two. I have sold guns in the past. Start in the local paper and trader paper. For the more exotic stuff I would advertise in Gun List and online on TFL, GlockTalk, and Guns America.

 

[Ragin Cajun]

Investment? Yep. An investement in the security and well being of my loved ones. That's a priceless investment! And I can pass them on to my children, too.

 

[jimmy]

I expect that 19th-century Colt's revolvers would be a good monetary investment. But none of my guns is on the same planet as that league. So, when I've sold or traded a gun, I've rarely gotten 100% of what I put into it. And I've never gotten more than I paid.

OTOH, the resale value of a gun is proportionately more than most other consumer goods. So I guess it's all relative.

 

[Hammy]

Most people use the term "investment" too loosely. How many times have you picked up the paper and saw an ad for a vehicle that read "Over $10,000 invested....will sell for $3,000". I personally have bought guns from the WWII era because of the historical value and I do not plan on parting with them. If only these guns could talk....Also, I'm not crazy about selling a gun, at which point I no longer have control over, in the event that it might be used in a crime later on and then you have a lot of explaining to do. If you want to invest, then buy stocks. With the gobs of money that you'll make in the stock market you won't have to sell your guns to finance your retirement.

 

[taco]

If you buy guns strickly as an investment you can make money in the long run.

One of the fellows who just retired from my company few months ago collected first and second generation Colt Single Action Army revolvers for past 30 years. According to the guy he paid average of $150 for each of his almost 200 revolvers and this revolver collection was appraised at over $300,000 last year. In addition to Colt SAA he also has collection of Colt 1911 (not A1) and "unusual" 1911 variations, Winchester lever action rifles from 1800's and Winchester 1897 shotguns. In all he has about 350 guns and total value is estimated at $500,000. He said he got most of these items back in the 50's and 60's when he worked as traveling sales rep. in Mid-West and Atlantic Coast states. Only guns he actually shoot are his S&W Model 10 and a 1911A1 from 70's.

Another fellow I know collects Parker SxS Shotguns and he said his collection has appreciated "quite a lot" since he began. For him, his Parkers are strickly an investment and he does not shoot them. His shooting gun is a Remington 870 Express.

I too have "some" guns but I do not buy them as investments. I "collect" S&W model 10/M-P revolvers from 1960 or earlier but they are all shooters and they are all shot frequently. To me, my guns are meant to be shot and enjoyed and if they increase in value over the years then that is just "icing on the cake". I have no use for guns which are not used regularly.

 

[KaMaKaZe]

Investment for piece of mind: yup.
Investment for piece of cash: yup.

I've got a few rifles that could command a lot of money. They started out as a lot of money -- and will only continue to become more valuable. Will I ever sell them.. NEVER!

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[trlmech]

I can't think of a better investment than someting my Great Great Grandkids can remember me by.I'm fortuneate to own a couple that fit that catagory and there worth a hell of a lot more to me than my 401k.

 

[JimFox]

A canny collector can do pretty well investing in guns. Most of us, I suspect, don't acquire guns (except by luck) that will appreciate at 8 to 10% a year. We buy guns to shoot, because we think they're pretty, we want to experiment with a new caliber or type, or just because they appeal to us. Of the guns I have - some for over 40 years - I expect I'd do good to break a little better than even if I liquidated them all over a three month period.

Jeff OTMG is probably right - an investment in recreation - yes. A political investment - yes. An investment in safety - yes. An investment in pleasure - yes. A monetary investment? Put the same bucks in a mutual fund and quite kidding yourself.

I've had folks tell me - with a straight face - that they got back the cost of their rifles (boats, rods and reels) in game. Well maybe. If they were a poacher and/or if they were using their grandfather's 30/06 Springfield with bullets cast from scrounged wheel weights.

I have two guns that are probably worth 2.5 times what I paid for them. A couple more that, maybe - on a brisk July day - would be worth 2 times their purchase price. All of these I've had for more than 15 years. That's a good investment? The rest I could - maybe - break even on.

I have absolutely no regrets about the bucks I've spent (blown) on guns, ammo, reloading supplies and accessories over the years - but I'd never delude myself that the (mostly) mainstream guns I've owned were a monatary investment.

Maybe (God forbid) after 8 years of Al Gore they might have some higher black market value - but how'd I find the buyers.

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Jim Fox

 

[PreserveFreedom]

If your collection contains even one Jennings or Bryco, you are not an investor. If you buy quality, you may be.

 

[ILLINI]

Forget about gun appreciation. Buy factory high cap magazines for quality firearms like Glock, Sig, HK, Walther, & Para. In fact, at some of the larger gun shows, I've bought some at one table and resold them at a higher price a few minutes later...Illini

 

[James K]

If we look at, say, the last 40 years, some guns have gone up in value spectacularly, especially Single Action Colts, .45 1911/A1, Lugers, and automatic weapons (due to the 1986 law). But most have not even kept up with inflation. In 1959, a wartime Mauser 98 sold for $30-35. Today, a Mauser 98 can be bought (though perhaps not in as good a condition) for $70 or less. Yet car prices, as an example, are easily 20 times 1960 prices.

I agree with those who say that guns are an investment in history and a great hobby. But even a mediocre mutual fund would have been a better investment.

(In 1959, I passed up stock at 10 cents a share. I didn't want to waste my money on companies with silly names like Toyota, Sony, Mitsubishi, and Sanyo.)

Jim

 

[Joe Demko]

It's only worth what someone is willing to pay. When someone says that a gun is worth a given amount, he means it's wortht hat much if there is somebody out there who wants it that badly. Some guns, like Colt SAAs and some Lugers can easily be resold without much trouble for their true "worth." Others, you end up schlepping around from one gunshow to the next until you find somebody willing to pay your price. I'd say that they are good investments only if you can immediately liquidate them for their appraised value.

 

[muleshoe]

In 1960 my pa bought 4 new in the box model 12 Winchesters from a Walgreens store that was going out of business. He paid $85 a piece for them. They lay under his bed in their boxes and come out once a year for an inspect and light oiling. They are in they same condition today that they were when he brought them home. I'd imagine their probably worth close to what he paid for them.

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bullet placement is gun control

 

[Greg G]

I would say from my experience, if I did a three month liquidation of all my guns, I could break even on some, make a little on some others and loose money on the rest. I figure I could do no worse than 80 cents on the dollar, over all, in a three month time frame. I keep my guns in as perfect a condition as I can. (A combination of being a little anal and having a touch of OCD.)

My "investments" are in mutual funds and stocks.

 

[Cap n ball]

For any handgun or rifle to have an appreciative value it must be either historical, unusual or beautifully engraved and fininished with no 'gap-itis' between wood and metal. ALL of the above means it's a rare item. Here in Missouri about twenty years ago a guy could go to estate/farm sales and usually find that old Colt SA or Sharps with not too much trouble. As these things have become rarer and rarer the value has gone through the roof. That old indian trade gun with the brass tack design in the stock I could have bought ten years ago for a couple of hundred is now in the thousands. It also takes years of experience with these things to detect the authentic from the fake. People get burned all the time thinking they are buying a real civil war piece only to discover later that it's a reworked italian replica. I own and shoot some very fine Peddersoli replica black powder firearms but they will never be worth one tenth of what that original .36 cal. Colts Navy my great grandpa carried at Vicksburg is worth. Even though it spent 70 years rusting in the barn and I would never shoot it even if it was useable. It's got history and documentation to back it up as well as a sentimental value beyond dollars.