Quote:
Originally Posted by Absalom
Your comment nicely illustrates the confusion that frequently arises: what exactly do we mean by collectible?
There are really two kinds of people who call themselves collectors: collectors who are interested in owning the guns for technical or historical reasons and investors who buy guns hoping they will increase in value (of course there are "hybrid" collectors with feet in both categories too  ).
For the first kind, let's say someone who is building a representative collection of fixed-sight K-frames, the Model 12 is very collectible, and the early all-aluminum guns with the aluminum cylinder that you shouldn't shoot at all are the most collectible, since they're not that easy to find. Whether they'd be a good investment for the second type of value collector is a different question.
So whether a gun is collectible depends entirely on your collecting mission. |
Absalom, I think you "nailed it" with this!
For me, when I started buying handguns in 1985, I bought mostly semi-auto pistols (and of course a few AR's) with a few revolvers (J frames mostly), but about 10-15 years ago I began buying older revolvers (K frames, L frames, Ruger Security Six series, Colts, and now starting into N frames), much like the revolvers that friends of my father, etc. had, and would let me shoot, as my father was not much into handguns (he was a rifle and shotgun man).
Next thing I knew my collection was increasing, as I would find and hold a revolver while remembering an old friend, acquaintance, friend of my father, etc. that had one, and I would be back in the early/mid 70's (at least in my mind), no doubt I bought them.
So while most of what I've bought/collected are "shooters" and probably have little "collector" value to anyone else, to me they bring a smile to my face, are priceless, and take me back to a simpler time, my childhood.