Really... is that one gun worth 4-5 others ???

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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
this thread is inspired by the guy who traded 6 guns & cash for one vintage gun...

I can understand in some cases, but I get great joy out of nearly all my guns... I'd personally have a hard time trading 2 for one... even if it was something I really wanted

so... for those of you who feel they have a gun worth 4-5 of your other guns... lets hear about them... maybe some pics of that prized gun... & any story about what you had to go through, trade or pay to get to take it home...
 
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Tactical Jackalope

New member
One mans junk is another mans treasure. Things have different values to different people. I wouldn't trade and X amount of fighting pistols for an old and outdated, used to be fighting pistol. Then again some people are strictly collectors. I'm curious to know the guns that were traded and for what.

To each their own. Is usually what it boils down to.
 
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newfrontier45

Moderator
Many shooters are totally satisfied with plain factory guns with plain factory grips. Some need to at least put custom grips on their guns. Others go a step further and will have a gunsmith make some changes or perhaps have nicer finishes applied. A few will go so far as to have a full custom gun built that is everything they want but cannot obtain otherwise. I have a mix but have become less and less satisfied with factory guns. Virtually all my three dozen revolvers have custom grips ranging from $100-$300. With plans to have two fitted with ivory. Including the $2500-$3000 custom .500 I'm about to commission. I already have four custom Rugers and I'll tell you this, I would NEVER trade them for equal value in plain factory guns. Same for my upper end factory guns like USFA's. Quality over quantity for me.
 
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Magnum Wheel Man

New member
ah... but would you trade 2 USFA's you loved to have 1 custom 500 built ???

I get the custom gun thing, I have several... but I'd have a hard time trading 2 guns I loved ( that I may have already customized some ) to fund a new custom project

... I'm not rich by any means, but most of what I have collected, I like... so I guess, myself, I'd have to be patient ( which really sucks :eek: )
 
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Pahoo

New member
It happens !!!

I'd personally have a hard time trading 2 for one... even if it was something I really wanted
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I'm pretty much in the same boat on this and perhaps mostly due to my age and where I am, on my collecting. However, I have seen others that have done so and that's their call. There are guys who go through guns, like the monthly gun magazines. They buy, not always trade up and sell low; really low. .... :)


Be Safe !!!
 
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mavracer

New member
but I'd have a hard time trading 2 guns I loved ( that I may have already customized some ) to fund a new custom project
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Then pick to other ones, ones that may be easily replaced at a later point.
I easily have 5 guns that I'd trade for a 2500-3000 custom and then I'd turn right around and reaquire those same 5 guns as funds became avaliable.
Love my SR9 it shoots great I'd trade it in a heartbeat for $500 toward something else I wanted.
 
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jmr40

New member
Depends. Over the last 10 years or so I've steadily been thinning the herd so to speak. I carried 5 guns I rarely used down to one of my favorite LGS's about 5 years ago and put them on consignment. 2 months later I walked out with a brand new Kimber and $1500 in my pocket. One of my better gun trades. I'd had all of the old guns long enough to sell them at a profit, got 1 really good gun I actually use and money left over.
 
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newfrontier45

Moderator
ah... but would you trade 2 USFA's you loved to have 1 custom 500 built ???
Click to expand...
No but I wouldn't trade any of the guns I love, no matter what they cost. Been there, done that and learned my lesson. I would, however, trade any of the myriad guns I'm not in love with. I'm actually about to put an early USPFA on Gunbroker because I've never been satisfied with it. To pay for that .500. Along with two or three others guns that I've used very little.
 
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dgludwig

New member
I'd personally have a hard time trading 2 for one... even if it was something I really wanted
Click to expand...

Too much of my answer to your question depends on which guns and why. For an extreme example to make the point, two HiPoints for one Korth would seem to be a "no-brainer". On the other hand, there are a couple of firearms in my collection that, for sentimental reasons, will never be on the block for sale or trade.
Most people trade guns because they don't have enough disposable income to just go out and buy another gun only because they might really want it. Most of us go through a process of "rationalization" before we're able to justify (to ourselves and/or our significant others) acquiring another firearm to add to our ever growing inventory; making each new gun acquisition based more and more on want and less and less on need.
So, in that context, I could see myself trading several firearms along with the balance in cash to obtain a gun I've always wanted but couldn't afford to buy otherwise. Five of my nice repeating shotguns for one svelte Merkel 20 gauge double? As much as I would hate to do it, yep, I would. And I'd never look back. Well, maybe an occasional peek backwards just to make a good night's sleep something to work for. :)
 
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dgludwig

New member
Actually, newfrontier45, that was a hypothetical proposition. In reality, I've been chasing grouse and woodcock around in Michigan and Pennsylvania coverts for the past couple of decades with my Merkel Model 147 EL 20 gauge double-and, no, I didn't give up five pump guns and boot to get it. :D
 
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newfrontier45

Moderator
Me neither, I did it the old fashioned way. I put it on a credit card. Which means I spent too much but it was worth every nickel. ;)

It also came with a fitted set of Briley .410 inserts.
 
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dgludwig

New member
I got mine after prostrating myself before my wife and promising her I'd never buy another gun if I could just buy one last one-the Merkel. She relented.
I'm such a liar. :eek:

Post Script: Despite many chances at a double on grouse when hunting with the Merkel, it never happened. But several years ago, I finally scored a double on grouse in a Michigan cedar swamp-but with an old, circa 1955, Browning Double-Auto. Karma, I guess.
 
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BigJimP

New member
No, I wouldn't trade 2 guns I love ....for something else...regardless if it was a "fair" trade or not in terms of value.

If I like a gun I keep it ....regardless of what it cost....

If I want a custom gun ( and I have several too ) then I save my money until I can afford to buy it outright vs trade anything.
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I will admit I shoot the same 3 or 4 guns a lot ..( 75% of the time ) ....and the other 40 or so handguns I have, don't get that much range time, but I still hang onto them ( to give to the kids, etc )....but just because I don't shoot some of them a lot doesn't reflect what I think of them in my collection. As an example, I don't shoot a lot of .44 mag - even though I have several S&W revolvers in .44 mag ( model 29's and 629's in 3", 4", 6" and 8 3/8" barrels...) but I don't shoot them a lot, because it beats up the arthritis in my hands and wrist too much / doesn't mean I don't like them, and won't keep them .....and even when I do shoot them, a couple of boxes thru one or two of them is plenty.
 
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Bluestarlizzard

New member
Trading up has been my Dads way forever. Some things he'll sell/trade to get a new gun, but only if he has too for something more expensive, but usually he'll just sell one thing and make up the rest in cash.
Needless to say, in 40 some years of collecting he has a lot of money tied up in his guns and nothing from when he first started out.
And yes, there are many regrets along the way. Some of which he tells me about and it makes me want to cry. I found a pile of old receipts once and started poking through them. The commentary was priceless.
"You had a such and such?"
"yeah, it was a peice of crap."
five minutes later,
"jeez, dad. How many Remington 870's does one man need?"
"I was in a combat shotgun phase."

But on the other hand, as it stands now, he has a bunch of really cool stuff and has amassed a great amount of experiance along with it.

I, on the other hand, have a much lesser pile contributed to the greater collection. Only the WASR-10 would be in danger of going to a new home if something REALLY awesome came my way.
 
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Slopemeno

New member
I would.

I've been thinking about consolidating. I was looking at a Weatherby .460 on Gunbroker, and said "ah, I can't afford that"- but then I thought- yeah, I really could. Ditch a couple of .30-30's, a shotgun and one .458 and I'd have all the money I needed.
 
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publius

New member
I don't trade or sell guns anymore. I have regretted every one I sold except one.. If I don't have the money, I don't get it.
 
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Bluestarlizzard

New member
Lefteye,

His greatest total of combat shotguns at ONE time was 8.

I don't think they were all Remington 870s. But still, 8.

Now he's down to a respectible 3 and no Remingtons.
 
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