I've picked up quite a few recently, many I haven't fired as of yet. My problem is when I see a bargain, I snatch it up. Prefer older S&W wheel guns, but a couple Rugers made the cut. Am I being selfish, keeping these for myself? The supply is drying up out here in CA, fewer and fewer oldies out there. Many GB sellers clearly state NO SHIPMENTS TO CALIFORNIA....

No one owns anything forever. Enjoy, it's your money.

I dont buy anything as an investment-rather for enjoying. That said, of the guuns I have-only 4 have ever been fired. NOT because I designed it that way--just happened to happen.

I do not buy guns for investment, but I do plan on them gaining a little value so that when some day I do sell them, I will have made a profit. But I plan to hang on to them for quite some time.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Some of mine were bought as investments,but I think speculating is a better word for what I was doing.

Well, like the Ringo Kid I never bought one gun for investment. Every gun I've EVER bought I bought to shoot...a lot. But like Steely85 points out you can't own anything forever.

When I sold 90% of my guns and ammo I make a lot of money and it never occurred to me that I'd wind up making money on a passion I'd loved all my life.

I had 4 Glocks which I lost about 25 bucks each on but a hundred bux is not much to pay for 11 years and 23K rounds of problem free shootin' fun. I made a lot on my long guns and ammo and on my Lew Horton 24-3. I "stole" that gun and sold it for a lot closer to what it was worth. In fact I did so well over all that I bought my Ruger SR-1911 and my Sig 1911-22.

I have always taken excellent care of my guns and it really paid off when it came time to sell. If you have a gun with any quality at all and keep it well maintained and repaired you can basically own it for as long as you want to for free or even get ahead. No reason not to get what you want.

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Real men love cats!

At one time had 43 MILSURP rifles...enjoyed them, cleaned them, shot most of them...when I pared down my collection to three, I made a small profit and had the joy of ownership. I figure why not have a hobby that's both enjoyable and (unlike a boat--wife won't let me have one) will be worth what you paid when you decide to find something else to do with your time...

I'm a collector type. I hate selling stuff no matter what it is. Recently I've sold 5 of my 1911s (sold a first year Delta Elite today actually) to help replenish the bank account for our house reno. I didn't buy any of them as an investment but always hoped I'd be able to at least get my money back if sold. Haven't gotten rich from them but holding my own for now.

My brother told me once you can have it all, just not all at the same time.

I'm in the same boat as everyone else. I think I have one gun that may qualify as a collectable-ish. Everything else is either newer stuff or shooter condition, which I like better than collectable condition

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

By nature when ever I buy something that at some point I'm likely to sell instead of use up; I think about the out at the end. When I buy a firearm I'm always thinking about the return when I sell. If I don't think I can break even, I don't buy. I even hope I can do better than break even. That applies to stocks and bonds, real estate and collectables.

With that said, I sure don't look at guns as an investment. They are just stuff I use and appreciate, if I make a buck when I sell that is great. Investments are things where the goal is clear to earn and preserve wealth. On the plus side, some guns can fit that description.

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Bill Bates

In the words of Steven Wright, "You can't have everything. Where would you keep it?"



I've never had the financial resources to collect as investments, or bought guns with thoughts of resale for profit, though I have sold some that way or traded pretty advantageously. I've always bought them to use, with the idea that I would pass them down to my son and grandkids.

I've now done just about all of that, and am down to three guns I'll never sell.

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Oh well, what the hell.

" Collecting handguns as an investment..."

Ain't no fun in that. Shoot 'em!

My $0.02; unless you are buying high quality guns, i.e., Registered Magnums, etc., you could do better investing elsewhere. Particularly here in California where we are always one vote away from losing our guns. Look at the poor guys that have guns with original ivory grips who can no longer sell the grips in California. Could you imagine having an original SAA with ivory grips and having to separate them to sell the gun, and then being stuck with a worthless set of grips?

I suspect that those in this situation r.e. Ivory grips wait until we have a change in administration. I believe that sanity will return in this area at that time.
Jim

When you cant get ivory? Maple is just as good.

Its a fun concept, but full of danger. Guns biggest enemy is political hacks. Right behind theft and fire. Everyone here wants to brag about how much money they make on their investments, but they never think about the tax man and if he's watching your posts. Have any of you considered the idea that those "profits" are taxable? Even worse, the taxman doesn't have a sense of humor or fairness.

Say you bought that rare gun at a great price. Then sold it a few years later for double. If you claim it on your taxes, guess what. The IRS isn't even going to let you only claim on the profit. Unless you have rock solid proof of the initial cost, they'll disallow it and tax you on your full sale price. That's the main fear.

On the other hand, you can't even earn anything near the inflation rate on your savings. They've manipulated the market so badly that you earn nothing, and then your principle is worth less and less each year. Soon your nest egg isn't worth squat.

Buy your guns for pleasure. If you get your real value back after 10 or 30 years, feel good. Even if you do get double the dollar amount, its probably worth about the same do to inflation.

If you live in Kali and fear the next vote, move. They only want your guns to make them feel safe. They have no plan to compensate you for their theft.

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Dick Burg

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from this forum. I wish I could remember who said it. A member asked if he had paid too much for a really nice S&W. The answer was "You can't pay too much, you can only buy too soon". This has worked for me. Anybody that bought a nice S&W 10 years ago and hasn't caught up yet, probably should consider another investment hobby.

@ the OP, Ron, you said ". My problem is when I see a bargain, I snatch it up. ".........is that a problem???

Are you complaining or just bragging my friend?

Perhaps a little of both and that's OK.

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Rather be outdoors

I have my own collection,and haven't fired some of them, and don't plan on firing them.

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Life is short,live it fully.

I have been fortunate that my hobby of the past 25 years (an interest in USGI M1 carbines) has turned out to be a fantastic investment.

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- Change it back -

I am just waiting for these to become popular so I can get my money back:


Kidding! Picture came from here: http://www.westernfirearms.com/wfc/t...&display=split

I started 25 years ago seriously buying bargain guns that IMHO would appreciate in value as an investment plan. Now, because of my advancing age and the uncertainty of the vote by the uniformed voter I wish I had instead bought gold and silver coins and a really good bank quality safe.

My g u ns were bought to shoot, investing is for thing like bonds, gold, stocks and vintage cars,

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Carpriver.

All I can say is Oh My! I want that.

I have one gun that is worth considerably more than I paid for it. When I'm gone I'm sure the next owner will get a similar deal!

That one gets fired and carried a little less. Another gets carried less in order to preserve its luster, but gets fired plenty. The rest are tools.

A few years of regular shooting and daily carry really gives them that honest look.

Hopefully some of my excess will help my kids out someday. If i ever get outa Kali and back to Idaho, that is.

Attachment 248714

I don't have any safe queens, every handgun I own is to be shot and carried. I told this story the other day when a forum member ask if he paid to much for a model 10 police trade in.

A couple years ago one of my children called me at work telling of an ad they saw for S&W Model 10's Police trade-ins for $209 ea. He wanted to know what I thought. I told him they probably were carried more than they were shot. Expect the blueing to be wore off and some scratches, but I thought they would be alright because we were just going to shoot them anyway. He stated he would like to have two, another son said he wanted in, he would take two and I wanted two. So we put in our order for six. There was no picking or for $10 we'll pick you out a good one, you had to take what they sent you. We found a LGS to handle the paperwork for $10 each. A few days later we got the call to come and get'em. Some came with wood grips but most came with rubber grips. We pulled the grips off and started picking right there. I went first since I financed the deal, I picked out two square butts with hammer mounted firing pins. I personally think all Smiths should look that way, but they didn't consult with me before they started changing things. Next son picked out a pair of round butts with frame mounted firing pins. He says he likes the round butts better than the square butts ( so much is wasted on the youth ). The other son, which by the way never has any money but finds great deals, got two round butts with frame mounted firing pins, but one had the famous lock, he said he didn't mind because it had a #43 stamped on the side and that was his number when he played ball in school. Now all six of these revolvers have been scrubbed and cleaned, which helped a lot. They have all been re-gripped with smooth elk and full bark elk by a forum member. Another forum member made the belts and holsters and we are now putting money back to have four of these revolvers engraved by another forum member. There is no way we could have purchased six new model 10's, put the grips on them, purchased the leather, and have them engraved and come out ahead on the deal. I'm beginning to see that the gun is the cheapest part of this whole equation. I have watched on this forum for sometime, I have seen some of the most outstanding pieces and some of the most beautiful leather that could ever be had. My point is, after all we've done, our purchases will be valued more than what we've invested. I guess you could say we turned a sow into a silk purse !!! I remember Skeeter Skelton once located an automatic pistol that some one botched putting a S&W revolver sight on. He wrote several articles about a gunsmith cleaning up the job. It shot so well he had it engraved and reblued. Now that's the way you add value in my book !!

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and everything Kentucky !!

Here's the other pair. They don't look like they've been out protecting and serving !!!

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and everything Kentucky !!

Horrible !
A pipe dream that never materializes. Put your money in stocks and bonds. Collecting guns for investment is no better than stamps, coins or baseball cards. And those who collect expensive artwork are not looking at it as an investment and a good percentage of that is stolen bought underground and hidden in their basements for only them to see.

Guns have a very limited market as it is, we may think that market is big because of how many guns are out there but the truth is most including myself live hand to mouth. So those guns that are expensive would never be bought by the common serfs out here who have no money to begin with.

And once they ban small arms around the world and that is indeed the goal, not just gun control in America, who is going to then buy an illegal outlawed item.

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Mulebuk Sam and the Governor

There will always be a black market.

Never collected handguns. Was kinda long gun oriented. Had a bunch of Winchester M-12s way back in the day. When wife and I married I sold 60 and bought a house. 1972 so the M-12s weren't super expensive...but that house and a little money have turned out to be a very good investment. The only gun I ever bought as an investment is a pretty little Ithaca double. Paid 500 bucks for it in the late 60s. One of the larger Auction companies appraised it back in July at approx. 55 grand. But they wanted 15% to sell it.

Wish I had bought S&Ws back then! Only handgun I ever bought was a Colt SAA when I was about 9. Paid 15 bucks. I wanted to show them guys on the cowboy shows on TV how to Quick Draw. Then I realized my parents would whipped me a new butt. So I had to hide it for quite a few years. Still got it and it is worth a bit more than 15 dollars

Ive only paid "too much" for one gun--only because I wanted it THAT badly. I probably paid around $200.00 too much.