I was wondering if buying ammo or guns as an investment would be a good idea?

If things went bad I imagine the ammo/guns could be traded or sold for other needed supplies or money. But then again will anyone have the money to buy it? Will anyone have anything to trade that they wouldn't need themselves?

If nothing ever went bad then I believe guns would be a good investment seeing how many older guns are selling for 100 times their cost new. Ammo went to the skies but has come back down not to much more than it cost 7 years ago. But ammo still increased in value.

At less than .25% interest in the bank it seems stupid to leave money in the bank.

Do you find it any profitable?
If you hunt for money and have some savings to invest, you should consider the idea of buy-to-let property. It gives you decent returns and no worries if you hire a management company. A good heritage for you children

by the way a good piece about investing in short-term rentals Short-term rentals: the affordable and profitable overseas property investment — Tranio

Investing in property vs investing in guns, or anything else of value are very similar, bottom line is to make money off of what you have invested in. Yes, it's a great idea to invest in property, but a lot of people can't afford to do that, because of the high prices of property nowadays, however investing in guns , or other affordable items, such as collectibles, oil paintings, stamps, etc... might be a lot easier for some people just for the fact that there are alot more affordable items in most cases, than properties. Investing in any affordable item that you can make a profit on, can help you accumulate enough money, if you do it enough for you to buy the investment property of your dreams. Investing overseas?? Very bad idea, if you can't keep an eye on a rental, and take care of it yourself you are basically screwed. If you have not gotten screwed yet, dealing with the management companies, you probably will soon, specially an overseas management company!! I would invest in the US, My 2cents worth.

I hesitate to invest in guns because that investment is easily subject to the bureaucratic whims of the ruling party. Suppose you invested in AR-15s and wake up one morning and learn that while your guns could be grandfathered, you may only sell them to the government for a fixed price, lower than what you paid?

Another problem is that there are many local fire ordinances, usually not enforced, that prescribe the amount of small arms ammo you may have in a residence.

Then, there's the matter of secure storage. I know of burglaries in which intruders made off with the entire safe. There goes your investment.

Any money I may make on a firearms transaction is coincidental. Investing in income producing properties remains the best investment, in my opinion.

If someone puts a gun to your head and says give me your guns, gold, Etc. you likely will open your safe. You at least have to go through the courthouse to transfer property.

I don't buy guns & ammo for investment, but the fact that I can enjoy my firearms, have them for protection, and family fun, and by keeping good care of them sell most of them for more than I paid many years prior is icing on the cake. They are not investments, but it is nice most will appreciate in value.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I've made more ammo purchases over the years than I can remember, and have a current supply that tests the strength of the floor joists in my home. I don't remember regretting any purchase. On the other hand, I've made some financial investment decisions that I've later regretted.

I'm already pretty well gunned up.
Not that I wouldn't buy some More!
I am buying ammo.
Not only for me but family members,
Especially my Son and SIL.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I have never bought any gun for an investment. Over the years I have accumulated a modest assortment of hand guns and long guns but except for the few that I have for sentimental reasons or that are not in firing condition, all my guns have to work for a living. I have had some beautiful guns but none were considered a safe queen.

When it came time for me to thin the heard I discovered that regardless of my intentions my guns were an investment. Ammo too. Pretty close to 8 thousand rounds in 10 calibers. I went to a gun show, rented a table and sold all but my 2 1911s, .357mag, and my BUG. and all the ammo for calibers I was now out of. I made money. It had never occurred to me but that is just how it happened and I think the way it should work out if you take good care of them, keep them clean and in good repair.

I found it to be a great comfort that I got to enjoy decades of enjoyment from owning and using all those guns for target shooting and hunting and covering my narrow bee-hind and not only did it not cost me anything I actually made money at it. If I'd realized it was gonna go like that I'd have "stretched" myself more and bought more of the high end stuff. Still, It all worked out and I'm happy.

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Real men love cats!

^^^^What he said.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

Firearms ae a terrible investment, as a pure investment vehicle. The main downside is liquidity. First you must find someone who wants the firearm for sale, who can afford to pay the asking price, then you must find someone who will pay your price for the firearm you are selling.

Now in a S.H.T.F. deal, do you want to arm one more person, who may turn the firearm you just sold them against you?

So buy whatever firearms you want and believe you need along with ammo to go with these. But there are remember there are better investments than firearms.

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Always Stay Strong!

Thats certainly is a possibility, to some unpredictable extent. To minimize the risk, AR-15s for investment purposes should be purchased from a name-brand source as inexpensively as possible. Since the lower receiver is the serial numbered part, that is what should be purchased rather than the much more expensive but currently unregulated upper receiver.

I would recommend buying only complete, assembled lowers. They would be easier to sell than the bare lowers. Should they be confiscated, this would minimize your loss vs buying complete guns.

Here is an example:
AR-15 Lower Receiver with Installed Lower Parts Kit : AR-15 LOWER RECEIVER W/INSTALLED LOWER PARTS KIT | Brownells

I'm a fan of diversification. Don't put all your eggs in one basket as it were.

Might not be a bad idea to stock up on a few of the more popular "standard capacity" mags as a little investment.

Guns are a bad investment.

This is because they are not necessarily 'liquid'.

Here in NY other states, you have to have a background check to transfer a gun to a new buyer. Handguns are registered and must be transferred.

SO you must go to an FFL to do this for long guns and our County Clerk for handguns as well as to the FFL.

You can't buy or sell assault weapons SO if you own the you must register and sell out of state.

Ammo can only be purchased from a registered ammo seller. Eventually you will need background checks. IT is NOT clear if it is legal to sell ammo to another person. I think eventually it will be illegal.

The long term plan of gun control is register guns and to ban guns. If you own a gun that is banned you won't be able to sell it and when you die it will be destroyed, you won't have your civil or property rights violated and yet you lose your right to inherit or leave property.

Guns and ammo are a terrible investment because they are frought with long term risk and actual liability and in liberal states are NOT liquid any longer. Years ago people traded and sold guns or used them as 'cash'.

I know guys with large gun collections I KNOW are going to lose money when they liquidate. There are NOT enough buyers in NY. They will sell out of state.

I think if the election and supreme court nominees go against us, the 2nd Assault weapon ban and national registration will make guns a poor investment.

Finally, the decreasing market for used guns because the percentage of gun owners is shrinking as well as many states will NOT let you purchase some guns make the number of used guns to increase per the number of possible buyers. Plus some states like california limit your ability to purchase based on arbitrary reasons.

So the first question in answering the OPs question is what state does he live in, and where does he plan on moving when he retires. Guns have enemies. Usually liberal politicians are the worst ones. But like any asset you buy, you've got to figure out where to keep it. If at home, you've got burglary and fire, among other risks. It means you need a good safe and an insurance policy to keep you covered. Many of us don't really want others to know things like the serial numbers and how many we've got. The insurance company will want that.

Then when you sell, you'll need to comply with state sales tax laws if you have them in your state. Worse, you can be expected to claim the "profits" on your income tax, state and federal. Then things can get ugly. The IRS may demand your receipt when you originally bought the gun. If you don't have proof (to their satisfaction), they may just deny your cost basis and claim your entire selling price is profit and taxable.

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Dick Burg

I've personally seen many of the scenarios described in this thread, from changing laws to carrying off the safe.

My thought is to buy what you want to shoot, and buy "enough" ammo. I suspect that ammo will be the first fatality in the chain of pain that certain changes could bring. It will vanish first because of fear, then remain unavailable except as trading medium between the closest of friends as new laws about sales creep in. Ranges will suffer as gun / ammo sales are more difficult, and prices for lanes have to go up. Then they will hit insurance.

Better to buy small amounts of smallest denomination silver / gold coins over time to cost average, if you are into SHTF scenario stuff. If you are really into long-term investment, land on the outskirts of growing metro areas can't fail unless everything else goes bad, in which case it doesn't matter where you lost your money.

I am still trying to recover from losses in 2008.Land is the only thing I had that actually recovered. There wasn't enough of it to save me.

Agree with "hoc9sw" above.

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2B1ASK1

I was fortunate that my hobby turned out to be a lucrative investment, but it was not something I planned. Back in the late '80's and early '90's I had no idea these $150 carbines would be such hot items 20-25 years later.

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- Change it back -

I started out collecting military surplus rifles years ago. $125 lee enfields, garand,M1 carbine and some foreign military rifles. I was shocked at what I could sell them for today. While many of them I have had for over 30 years I don't think they have appreciated that much. I'm kinda picky about what I buy and their condition. So no junkers except the ones I get for parts. A safe investment would have been silver coins. Just look at the prices some of the bullion places get for bags of junk silver. Not collectable coins but junk silver. Anyway, if and when I decide to sell any of the firearms you can bet your bottom dollar I'll get more than what I paid for them. Frank

It may have been worth it 20 or 30 years ago but today there are no such thing as cheap surplus. That all went the way of the dodo about 6 years ago, when prices really jumped. Even the Mosin went from $70 to $220. Around 2011 I could have bought 1200 round crates of Yugoslav surplus AK ammo for about $175. $150 if you looked hard enough. Today that same crate is $375 - $400. It's good ammo and good for long term storage but at these prices I don't know too many people that will be stocking up.

There are still deals to be found but everything firearms related has hit its peak price in its category.

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As an investment you can do better than firearms in most cases.In 1976 l purchased a Colt Python 6 in blue for $256.00,that was over 2 weeks pay for most people,it was a struggle to buy it.Today Pythons are selling in the range of $2000 still 2 weeks pay for some people but any gains l made are negligible compared to things l could have invested in like property etc.

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SWCA#2288
SWHF#407

Yeah, wish I had bought a few dozen M1 carbines 25 years ago. You were very smart or lucky, either way you won.
But I think there are better investment options than guns and ammo. That does not mean they won't appreciate in value in "some" cases.

Guns are good for hunting and self defense. Unless somebody has a particularly adept skill set and education, investing in guns would be like investing in boats. Any off the shelf new gun purchase is likely to be worth less ten minutes after you walk out with it. Rare guns are already expensive and predicting future demand is next to impossible. Seems like a good way to lose money to me.


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Guns have just about kept up with inflation. Only good ones (Smiths, etc.) keep up with inflation. Some exotic collector pieces might do better (old Colts) but guns are not an investment in the true sense of the word. Guns have a high carrying cost (storage and security) and they have big transaction costs (buying and selling, government fees). Of corse guns we bought twenty and thirty years ago cost more today. So does everything. Investments pay monthly and quarterly dividends, guns don't. Guns have a sad added risk, Hillary might some day, with the stroke of a pen, make them worthless. Guns are good for hunting and self defense and are fun and cool but not an investment. I have a ton of guns, but I don't rely on them for income like I do my investments. Yes, a bunch of guns you bought thirty years ago, if the right kind, are worth more now but not as much as true investments (S&P 500) would be worth. The only people making money on guns are people buying wholesale and selling retail. Guns, with few exceptions, are products and you are going to lose money on them. But they are a lot of fun and provide a security service to some.

I was of the same mind set that stocking up on guns and ammo was a good investment. I've changed my mind on the subject and like others have said, they are very illiquid. Finding a buyer is such a pita. Right now you can buy PMags for $10 which is a great deal, but where are you gonna find buyers unless there is another shortage. Your more or less gambling on another gun grab panic to make money of.

I'm thinking there are pretty good odds on that happening.

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- Change it back -

Agreed.... you'd think not after the last 20+ years of the panic roller coaster, but it'll happen again. Prices and demand will go through the roof...again...

More to the OPs original thread - I wouldn't invest in guns or ammo for the purpose of making money. That said, I've only ever lost money on a few and I used that as a learning experience. 99% of my purchases are at a fair price that I'm comfortable with. Only a few times have I paid more than what a gun was worth (at the time), but I was buying it for my pleasure, not as an investment. Luckily enough, those few times also worked out in my favor in regards to the value. One example was about 10 years ago, I bought a very hard to find Noveske N6 (7.62 AR) rifle for a bit more than I wanted to spend. Shortly after that John Noveske died in a motorcycle accident and the company (not necessarily related to his death - I think they were consolidating their models for manufacture) stopped making them. Now there's a "cult" following for those old guns and I could easily sell it off well beyond what I paid. But I won't. As mentioned, I bought it for me and I love that rifle!

As for the run of the mill, off the shelf guns - think of it this way. Take $500 cash. Buy a Glock, shoot the **** out of it for 20 years and then sell it off for $400. Yes, you took a loss of $100 face value. You also had a pistol that you shot a lot, used to protect your family, maybe hunted with and was a comforting companion. That's a pretty good value for $100 spread over 20 years.

I've wasted more than that in one evening trying to charm the clothing off a beautiful woman.

The point is - I wouldn't purchase firearms as part of a diversified retirement portfolio (unless you're the big money types with lots of class IIIs and a collection of Teddy Roosevelt's hunting sticks). It is nice knowing there's a pile of guns that I can liquidate pretty quickly if emergency money is needed though. Let's say you have a collection of 50 various Smith revolvers, well used Colt 1911s, a few Ruger 10/22s, 3 Glocks , a 12ga or two and a few hunting rifles. Don't forget all the associated magazines, scopes, lights, holsters, etc. Averaging out at $500-700 to sell them all (realistically the number will be higher, but lets say it's an overnight fire sale)..that's a quick $25,000.00-$35,000.00 cash. I'm willing to bet that's a drop in the bucket for many on here. With the pictures I've seen, there's A LOT on here that are way up in the 4 digit+ range, bringing that end number to over 6 digits pretty quickly.

I'd wager to say it's at least pretty safe to buy a gun, store it and then sell if needed down the road. Even at a short loss of value, it's likely far less than if that cash just sat in your wallet and went to a Big Mac, the extra dryer cleaner doomaflitchy you saw while walking the aisle at Home Depot, or "my worst waste of money but I still do it several times a week paying for a coffee at the drive up stand and tipping the girls"...oh how many guns I could have piled up if only I could stop that. But I won't.

I've read people saying it's difficult to sell a firearm. I felt your pain. I lived in California. I moved.

The opportunity cost of cashing-in firearms/ammo investments is far higher than most enthusiasts will admit.

Even if something truly does appreciate at a rate greater than inflation, you'll have serious time/labor investment involve in cashing it in for top dollar.

Today, adjusting for inflation, $439 is the same as $150 in 1980 money.

If you had invested that $150 in 1980 at 4% simple interest, your account balance would now be $366. So, those carbines beat a very conservative investment by a good bit. But what cost of acquiring them in the first place? What cost of storing and maintaining them for 36 years? What cost of selling them for top dollar now?

There are much better investments than firearms. If you choose to invest in firearms, do it because you're an enthusiast, not because you think firearms are some sort of golden investment.

I sold a bare generic AR15 lower receiver for $400 during the last big panic. The whole transaction turned into a real hassle. Won't be doing that again.

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WWSSD?
What would Skeeter do?

See my previous post #7. A good example of my post came about today as I had put 4 guns in a local gun auction. The amount realized was double what I had spent on the total of the guns originally. The longest I had owned any of these 4 was 9 years and the shortest was 3 months. I exceeded my original cost individually on all of the guns, some more than others. I was smiling when I left the auction, (even though I got outbid on the 14-1 I wanted).

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I pick up all my guns for my sons and my grandsons. I have two guns from my Dad who pass went I Was four or five I will never give them up . It now 60 some years and I can only hope they will feel what I do when I hold those old guns they are not worst must to you guys but they are priceless to me.