What would be considered a "Collectible" today.

If I were to buy a modern S&W today that in the future would be considered rare and collectible. What do you think it would be? How would one go about getting such firearm? Thanks Joe

If I could answer that question I'd be in a much higher tax bracket.
There's no way of knowing what will be "collectible" in the future. Some limited production guns are not worth that much monetarily, some are. In the late '90s S&W came out with the .44 Spl. M696. It didn't sell as well as they wanted, so it didn't last long. Try to buy one now. (I'll never sell mine BTW).
Certain guns just have that cool factor. Unfortunately, cool to me might not appeal to you.
Take a chance, just buy one of everything.
Tell the Missus I told you to.

Some of the guns that people pay a premium for now were nice when made but not popular and didnt sell well. The 16-4 in 32 H&R was one of them. Now they make a nice J frame 327 with a ported barrel and I hear it isn't selling well. Maybe it'll be worth more int he future, maybe not.

Guns are like everything else. The future will determine what’s collectable and what is not. If I could have seen into the future, I would still have comic books and baseball cards and other stuff from my youth that are worth big money today. Like the man said; “Buys a ticket and takes your chances.”

Some of the "limited" PC revolvers, like the Blood Work.

As much as I think of the newest IL and MIM revolvers as great shooters, and I carry a 64-7 for CC........but I do not think any of the IL guns will be as collectible as the earlier ones. If S&W ever gets rid of the IL, watch the IL guns become "collectible" in 20-30 years..........people are wierd, you never know what will become "collectible" down the road.

You can still get a M28 from the 60's for $4-500, so that should tell you, just because it's "older" doesn't mean it's worth a mint.......

Guys, I got most my collection about the very late 60s to about 1986. I had guns before that and bought very few after that. My collection has been very stagnent since then. I havent been on top of the new models and prices for quite awhile. My collection probley doesnt have to take a back seat to all but maybe 10 % of the people on this site from what I see.
I dissagree that you cant pretty well guess what will become collectable. Not that I had the money to support my talent, but if I ever was good at one thing in my life, its that I have a nose for the subject. Ever since I was a kid if I liked particular firearms, cars, motorcycles or airplanes, it was a sure thing that in later years those makes and models led their fields in desirability!
Most the guns I bought were used and in top shape. Maybe 20% were new. Virtualy all of them outran similar guns in collectability. My biggest mistake was selling or tradeing them off. I never lost money on a gun and usualy got a very good profit. I have lost a lot to theft.
When I started out I did have a top old time collector for a mentor. Still, it just seemed with me it was more of a matter of taste. What Joni said is true. For instance when the old ruger hawkeye in .256 mag came out it wasnt popular. I traded into one for a pair of .36 caliber colt navy replicas that I had about $60s in. The hawkeye was new in the box. I hate to think what that would bring now!
If you are new to guns I would haunt the gun shows and shops for awhile without buying hardly anything and go as a learning experiance. If you have to ask other people the question, you arent ready yet. Soon you will value your own opinion over "guru`s". When that happens,--- you are ready!

Sir, Ms. Joni_Lynn pretty much nailed it. Look for items that Smith isn't making many of. That can include high-dollar items like the Performance Center guns, but it'll mainly be guns that don't sell well. Check your local gunshops and shows to see what languishes on the shelf while other things move. That'll be a good clue.

I'm a good barometer for such things. If I look at something and think, "No way in 'hail' would I buy that," it's almost certain to become immensely valuable in just a few years. :-/

Hope this helps, and Semper Fi.

Ron H.

The economy (world) isn't getting any better, so buy them cheep and hoard allot of ammo eventually it will be worth $$$.

I agree with Joni, the uncommon revolvers are crazy priced. Try to get a model 696, 16-4, 631, 632 and be ready to hear your wallet cry. I know because I have all of them. I told my kids they are better than bars of gold, plus I would haunt them forever, if they ever sold one!!!

I am not well versed in collecting firearms but I am very well versed in collecting musical instruments (drums, cymbals and percussion). No matter the subject, this is the most important thing I learned about collecting:
If you're looking at collecting for the profit, you would be better off putting your money in CD's.
If you're looking at collecting for the fascination with the subject, for the history of the subject and the sheer art of the subject or simply for the fun of it, find an attribute you like and take it from there. It may be an era, a caliber, a finish, a barrel length, or something entirely else.
Just my dos centavos and worth every penny ...

I'm at a loss to advise in this case. I've bought a lot of guns in my life. I can't ever, EVER recall buying one with the primary or single purpose of wondering if it would appreciate in value.

If you buy a gun that appeals to you or satisfies a personal need, you will rarely be disappointed. You may even be fortunate enough that it will be worth more in the future. That will be the icing on the cake.

Bob

Joebklyn said:

If I were to buy a modern S&W today that in the future would be considered rare and collectible. What do you think it would be? How would one go about getting such firearm? Thanks Joe

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For a firearm to be collectible it usually has to be uncommon, high quality, desireable or have provenance. If you are searching recent Smith revolvers, good luck.

I would guess that production revolvers thru 1998 are a good start, as well as Performance Center guns thru 2001. Since then, possibly something like the case colored model 40?

Just food for thought.... I have noticed that almost all of the guns I want are priceless collectibles (or at least priced that way) and the guns that I have are pretty much worthless when I try to sell one to fund a new one.

feralmerril said:

I dissagree that you cant pretty well guess what will become collectable. Not that I had the money to support my talent, but if I ever was good at one thing in my life, its that I have a nose for the subject. Ever since I was a kid if I liked particular firearms, cars, motorcycles or airplanes, it was a sure thing that in later years those makes and models led their fields in desirability!

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I agree with this. While no one can predict with complete reliability which current guns will become collectible, you can certainly make educated elections.

Buy guns you like and have fun........if you want to invest buy silver and gold The stuff that makes money crosses the auction block at places like Christie's and unless you've got a Brown Bess with documented Revolutionary provenance, or a Colt revolver linked to a famous outlaw or lawman, no one is gonna retire on selling guns. I know gun shop owners who sell 100's of guns a month and last I checked, he still drives a '92 Silverado and not a Land Rover.

The last time anyone could have truly made money was decades ago, I knew a guy who told me he was buying bringback Lugers and P38's for $10 at flea markets in the 50's and 60's, along with Springfield muskets and 1860 Colt Army revolvers (yes, real ones) for $5 and casting balls out of wheelweights and shooting them. If he had spent all he could on $5 Colt revolvers in the 50's and socked away 200 of them, he could have retired a multi-millionaire in the 90's......but back then, he said, no one cared about that stuff, they were just "old guns no one wanted". These days, there are no "old guns no one wants" anymore.....sure, you can get a Mosin-Nagant refurb for $100, and maybe in 40 years it will be worth $200 because so dam many of them were imported......but I think a lot of stuff like S&W's has already found it's price and leveled off, and will just go up with inflation. The Model 29 I got for $600 5 years ago may be worth $2,000 in 20 years but that's not a gain that will be worth me ever getting rid of it, unless I can find a way to prove it was touched by Clint himself......

peyton said:

I agree with Joni, the uncommon revolvers are crazy priced. Try to get a model 696, 16-4, 631, 632 and be ready to hear your wallet cry. I know because I have all of them.

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Anything manufactured in small numbers. Two examples from personal experience:

Like peyton, I have an affinity for .32 Magnums. My first one was a 631 Lady Smith that I stumbled on at a bargain price, so I naively thought I would just pick up a few more revolvers in that caliber. Of course, reality hit hard and the 632, 631, and 16-4 that followed didn't come nearly so cheap. All were manufactured for only a year or two in very small numbers.

I have always wanted a Model 45 M&P .22 "Post Office" gun. Saw one the other day with two factory letters, one recent and one from 1966. The recent letter noted that the gun was shipped in 1963, while the older letter stated that "this model has no additional value as a collector's item". Only about 1500 of these were made, and any collector can tell you just how funny that line from the 1966 letter is.

So, even though no one can predict with certainty which guns will be the most sought after in the future, odds are it will be the ones they make the fewest of.

I got started late and really didn't start collecting until about ten years ago. At the time N frames were selling cheap here as our CCW law was new and small guns were in fashion.
I could see they were selling for much more in other parts of the country and bought what I could afford. More than anything though I liked them and wanted to buy more.

I've since done the same with other frame sizes I like and sell for better prices like model 10s and 30s. I've also found Ruger Blackhawks at good prices and bought some of those.

I may not do as well as the N frames but I can still buy guns I want at more affordable prices and that's the fun in it for me. I'm probally picking up some future collectables as well and that's okay by me.

I do admit you could buy fine collectable guns far cheaper the farther back you go in time. Thats a obvious given. As far as what guns are available today that will outpace the market of similar models later I cant say, as few guns made today turn me on as what was available to me in the 60s and 70s did.
Really, when I was dealing hot and heavy 40 years ago, I simply bought what turned me on. Without fail the bulk of them turned out to be the same models that led the pack in collector desireability.
Basicly my taste has always been old winchesters, colts and s&ws.
I also liked what is considered the old wild west guns, and they soared!
Most of my guns I somehow bought fairly cheap, even for the era.
Heres a small list of a few by memory. Today I couldnt afford any of them!
A original sharps carbine.
A springfield 45-70 carbine
A 50 cal whitneyville armory buffalo rifle
A winchester 73
several old winchester 92 carbines and rifles.
A colt nickle pearl stocked .38 lighting in 90%
A colt 1878 DA 45 colt about 85%
A nice old remington derringer
several colt saa`s. Still own one sent to the copper queen mine in az.
A colt 1917 that looked new, unfired.
2 beautiful new service colts
A almost priceless parker double barrel shotgun
A remington new model army 44
I couldnt afford any of the above today!
If you want collectable, in my view there isnt one new manufactured gun made today worth buying unless you plan on liveing untill you are 130 years old!
Educate yourself on "classics" no newer than 1963 in winchesters, and about 1970 in colts and smiths. Buy the best conditions. I say you can also shoot them and carefully clean and take care of them, if they already have been shot.

I buy things to enjoy using them but I do confess to having value appreciation in the back of my mind. My comparison of buying guns instead of CDs is that both will likely appreciate in time; CDs because of the interest earned and guns that are quality pieces will appreciate but even if they don't, I received the fun of using them instead of interest.

I believe Smith & Wessons to be good investment items because they seem to be the Harley-Davidsons of the firearms industry. Other manufacturers also make nice guns but S&W ownership is almost cult-like, much like the Harley crowd. That never hurts resale value.

Some of the guns I've purchased are worth more than I paid for them; some aren't. In S&Ws, I have a no-dash 617 and a 5" 629 Classic DX that are easily worth more than I paid for them. In Remingtons, I have a Model 700 "C"-grade that was made in Remington's Custom Shop in 1974 that I paid $500 for. Did I mention that it's also a 6mm? I had a twin to it in .270 that I sold for $1,500 five years ago. New ones like it START at $2,300 today.

The S&W 686 and 629 PowerPort guns could be collectable one day. Non-IL guns might be, too, if S&W never goes back to no-lock guns.

For the amateur, beer-pocketbook collector like me, there are guns like the Remington Model 700BDLs made between 1997 and 2001 that have scroll engraving on the receivers, Model 700BDLs with detachable box magazines (only available on blued SPS version today), stainless steel 700BDLs, 700LSSs (discontinued in 2008), Model Six pump rifles (only made for five years), the XP-100R bolt-action "handrifle" (only made in 1998, the last year of XP-100 production), single-shot, low-recoil Model 870 Competition Trap guns (only 5,300 were ever made and production ended over 10 years ago) and any Remington rifle in 6mm. With the exception of the XP-100R, 870 Comp and some 6mms, they don't bring a whole lot more than their still-produced equivalents do but have the potential to appreciate at a higher rate.

Along those lines, I have an unfluted 686-3, an unfired 686-3 PowerPort, a 629-5 PowerPort and the previously mentioned 617 and 629 DX. I have other S&Ws but those are the ones that stand the best chance of being considered unique some day.

Gun collecting is fun, especially if you shoot them. If your kids also appreciate fine guns and will enjoy them, too, then buying them is an even better idea.

Ed

Harleys? I remember paying $1,000 for this 63 fl in 1966 with just a few miles.


$1,500 for this FLH 1964 in 1981 with not many miles.


$2,500 for this 69 in 1971.


If we only knew, huh?