Did I screw up?

[AveragEd]

I was hot after a 6" Model 66 and found one on GunBroker that I thought I just had to have. It was a pinned and recessed 66-1 that was unfired and came with its box, all papers and an unopened cleaning kit. When the high bid was just over $500 and there were four days left in the auction, I placed a proxy bid of $650 as I'm not able to babysit auctions very often.

It turned out that I was able to check on this one and with a little over a hour to go, I was still high but the bidding heated up rapidly and the last I checked, the gun was over $700. I was still tempted but really didn't want to invest perhaps $750 in another S&W I couldn't shoot. I mean, to fire one round out of that thing would devalue it a lot. So I moved on to another "shooter" gun and bought it.

I just wanted to see what people who are much more knowledgeable about S&Ws think. I have two 686s that are unfired and will stay that way - a 6" -3 with an unfluted cylinder and a 6" PowerPort. I really didn't want a third but can't help second-guessing my decision.

Ed

 

[diamonback68]

Way over priced. Even $650 is way over the top.

 

[bettis1]

I don't think you screwed up at all. You can find a shooter for less.

Sometimes (most of the time?) we should listen to our inner voices. It would cut down on a lot of buyer's and seller's remorse.

Bob

 

[gr7070]

For starters I think keeping modern, mass-produced S&W revolvers unfired makes no sense whatsoever. I invest in stocks, bonds, and real estate. I gamble in a casino.

I also think most used guns are severely over-priced. I'm also not hung up on pins, recessing or locks.

I can buy an unfired 686 that can function in nearly the same way a 66 can. I can buy the former for under $600 and the latter for over $700. I'll take the equivalent function for less money every time.

I may be in the minority, but I don't mind that when it comes to economics and the average person.

Sometimes (most of the time?) we should listen to our inner voices. It would cut down on a lot of buyer's and seller's remorse.

Bob

+1

 

[youngda9]

If you are buying them as safe queens and investment guns, than it is best to get them at the best price to give you the most profit when you decide to sell (or as we all know it that our kids will divide up and sell since we aren't willing to sell off firearms, right

You did the right thing.

 

[Dragon88]

I think you made the right decision. Are you going to take that gun with you when you die, after it takes $700+ out of your pocket and sits in your safe unfired?

 

[VAdoublegunner]

I buy them to use, but I agree if you are buying it as a potential investment get it for as low a price as possible relative to a "user" version and make sure it has all the serious collector paraphenalia intact.

The only gun I ever bought as an "investment" turned out to be that by default since I never got around to shooting it. I bought a new Win 9417 a number of years ago when a local store was selling out their firearms stock after being bought out by a national chain. I even got some ammo and a Boresnake for it at the time. But since they were also selling the 9422 and 9422 Mag for the same prices (right at $260) I had to get both of those as well and I never got around to shooting the 9417. Then Winchester stopped production of them the next year. So, the 9417 was a very short lived version. It is still new in the box with all its stuff and factory oil. They seem to go for pretty high asking prices these days. Man, I even used my Ruger Gold Label for hunting. Now, I'm starting to eye it as more of a safe queen since they will never return again!

 

[Sebring Pop]

No ifs and or buts you did the right thing. Good luck on your next one.

Thanks Pop

 

[Bent Barrel]

As has already been mentioned, I too believe you made the right decision.

 

[Big Cholla]

"Using vs. Investment". ......... A Doctor friend of mine loved good guns and had money. He always purchased two of any gun (more handguns than anything else) when he made a new buy. He said, "one was to shoot and the other was for investment purposes." Well, he died with two huge safes full of guns. In one safe, the guns were all 'new in the box'. In the other safe were the ones that he had shot. His heirs promptly sold off ALL of the guns at auction and the good doctor never made a cent off of the un-fired guns. I know he enjoyed shooting because he and I shot together up to the time he quit shooting. ........ Big Cholla

 

[lagavulin62]

the fact that you bought a shooter tells me investing in guns is probably not a good idea. you clearly have a love for guns and you can't love an investment. simple rules, buy low sell high and never have any sentimentality or passion for what you are trading. just the fact that you are agonizing over an overpriced gun tells me you would rather "buy and marry" your "investment". never a good strategy.how about this. gold is right now at an all time high. doubtful it will will ever reach these highs again, yet listen to the news and the experts say you should buy now. why do you think they want you to buy? you made the right choice.

 

[Chuck Jones]

Over the years I've gotten to be more concerened with condition than I was in the begining when I was looking strictly for shooters and condition didn't matter as much as price.

But, for a long time I've had more guns than I could shoot, so I guess that makes me a collector.

In general I still still prefer guns in VG-fine but less than perfect condition, so I can shoot 'em if I want to without harming the value. For me the primary value of a firearm is in its shooting. I have no interest in starting Chuck's Museum of 19th and 20th Century Machined Blued, Plated, and or Casehardened Steel. Not that it doesn't interest me, I'd just rather shoot 'em.

What is interesting is that gun values are being outpaced by the rise in value of their accessories: grips, boxes, papers, tools, etc.

I'd been looking for a pre-war Colt Woodsman for years and finally found one last spring at a price I was willing to pay (I'm cheep). And just a couple of weeks ago on ebay, a Woodsman box with target, papers and tools, serial numbered within 1000 of mine, sold for as much as I paid for the gun!

S&W palm swell target stocks ("cokes") routinely sell for more than I'd pay for a very nice used S&W revolver. More than I paid for a Model 520 N frame 8 years ago, and as much as I paid for a model 58!

So from an investment point of view, shoot the damn gun but don't loose the box, papers, grips, tools, and sales receipt!

In fact, take a photo of how the gun was boxed as well as the box's contents. 'Cause nobody is quite sure exactly what came in the box 50+ years ago, or when they changed from this tool to that, or this form or that card etc.

To illustrate my point here's the Woodsman, needless to say for the same money I'd rather have it than the box and papers.

/c

ps: I replaced the garfed grip panel and if I hadn't had a set from years ago when I began my quest, that would have cost me 25% of what I paid for the pistol!

 

[AveragEd]

Thanks for the input. I'm with most of you guys - I'd much rather buy a like-new but previously fired gun than an unfired one with potential collector value. In fact, the two unfired ones I have were obtained by accident - both were advertised as "like-new" or "mint" but the gunsmith to whom I have my purchases sent is a real S&W enthusiast; he examined them and proclaimed them to be unfired. And the PowerPort gun's condition is easy to verify with the naked eye by looking at the interior of the port and muzzle. Absolutely no discoloration is present and no matter how hard I scrub or what I use, my 629PP will not come that clean in that area.

That Model 66 appealed to me because of how gah-gah some S&W fans get over pinned and recessed revolvers. Frankly, the pin means little to me if the sights line up straight and I prefer non-recessed chambers as the cylinder is easier to clean.

Now, locks - I haven't accepted them yet.

Ed

 

[ken158]

There are very few guns out there that will rise to the stigma of "collector value" and simple reason is there are so many made of all the models and even a new in the box will have to be kept for many years to reach the level of twice what you paid for it. Do a little research on the "rule of 72" and you wont buy collector guns unless you already have all the money you need.

 

[gr7070]

but the gunsmith to whom I have my purchases sent is a real S&W enthusiast; he examined them and proclaimed them to be unfired.

That's an impressive smith who can tell the difference between rounds that S&W used to test fire the gun at the factory (assuming that was done) and any other rounds fired since.

I'd be leary of the truth to the claim of being unfired post-purchase.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I think that the best way to handle an auction is put in your highest bid and let the bidding rise to where it will go. If you loose, you live to get the same gun another day at a price that you want. Sometimes you will win with much lower that your highest bid. This takes a lot of the emotion out of the bidding.

 

[AveragEd]

I think that the best way to handle an auction is put in your highest bid and let the bidding rise to where it will go. If you loose, you live to get the same gun another day at a price that you want. Sometimes you will win with much lower that your highest bid. This takes a lot of the emotion out of the bidding.

That's pretty much how I do it, Joe. I bought cars at auction for a long time and once I had a number in mind, I seldom went over it and if I did, it wasn't by much. These days, I place a proxy bid and wait for a "You're the winner!" or "You've been outbid!" email.

Ed