Firing a Commemorative

[Cpo1944]

Guys,
To use or not to use , isn't really the question here .
What I am asking is ;
HOW MUCH $ does it cost to use the blooming thing?

 

[Gamecock]

Guys,
To use or not to use , isn't really the question here .
What I am asking is ;
HOW MUCH $ does it cost to use the blooming thing?

$700.

Happy now?

 

[Muss Muggins]

If you only shoot a few cylinders and clean it very carefully,no one will ever know.

I am quite confident that I could tell. There are a lot of nooks and crannies in a revolver that will collect powder residue, and to clean it completely would require taking it apart, which is also noticeable, and even then, it won't ever look unfired. If you want to shoot it, shoot it. I'm not the best person to ask that question, because I won't own a gun that I wouldn't shoot. I may not shoot some very often, it at all, but I would . . .

 

[M E Morrison]

I dunno. I march to my drummer and I tell him what to play.

Guys used to freak when id show up to hunt or do sporting clays with my old a grade parker or westly richards. Or deer hunt with a super grade pre war model 70. Value had nothing to do with the enjoyment I got from using them.

On a similar note, guys would freak out when I brought my high grade pre WW 1 German drilling out to a turkey shoot. Some of them nearly fainted when I told them that was my favorite squirrel gun.... My statement was "I bought a gun - not a painting to hang on the wall"

 

[unclebob]

Why would you buy anything and then not use it? Would you buy a couch and not sit on it? Would you buy a car and not drive it? Would you buy a pair of pants and not wear them?

I have life insurance and I hope i never use it, of course we all know that ain't gonna happen......

 

[Gamecock]

Supica's Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, Third Edition, 2006, mentions the Georgia commemorative specifically, on page 194.

Valuations:

ANIB - $1,500

Exc - $800

You shoot it, you put a ring on the cylinder, and it goes from $1,500 to $800.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

To my way of thinking most used commemoratives are worth around what the same used non commemorative model is. That's depending on condition of course. I would love to get a Elmer Keith commemorative and shoot the snot out of it!

 

[k22fan]

The SCSW's prices are now 10 years old. jack oconner posted that one of these sold in a recent GB auction for $200 under the SCSW's price. Considering the spike in S&W revolver prices that is an interesting insight into how the market values commemoratives. My experience has been that NIB unfired commemoratives sell for about the same price as undecorated but other wise identical production guns in 90% to 95% condition. For 50 years I've read and been told that firing a commemorative for the first time drastically devalues it, but since that presumed a high collector value existed, that old wives' tale may be false.

 

[Bill Bates]

Pretty much commemoratives are a pretty poor investment. Buy one if you like it or it holds some interest for you. If you buy one, toss it in the safe for years hoping to make a buck; it is likely to happen. You would be better off putting your money into to savings account earning squat.

Here is my story of my one and only commemorative a Winchester 94 Golden Spike. In 1970 I thought it was so darn pretty. No accounting for the bad taste this 15 year old kid. I worked all summer at $1.60/hour gave my hard earned money to my Dad to buy one at the local drugstore on close out for $99.

I shot the heck out of that gold gaudy Winchester 94. Killed my first deer and few more over the years. I still pull and shot it from time to time. It has some wear and scratches. It is in maybe a 80% condition. If I sold it today I could get maybe $400 to $500 for the right buyer looking for an overly glitzy shooter lever gun.

If I had left it in the box never taking it out other than to oil it up and slid it back into its box it might sell for $600 or $700. Heck maybe I could get $800 but how much enjoyment would I have had.

For sure I had $400 worth of fun with my Golden Spike. The memories are priceless. Four hundred dollars worth of fun over 45 years is nothing. I've spent more on a couple good dinners that weren't all that memorable.

 

[Cpo1944]

Mr. Gamecock, I am happy now, thats what I was looking for cold numbers. The depreciation is actually higher than I thought it would be. I think I might leave this one un-fired and probably use it as trading fodder to get a shooter or two . That way I`ll leave it for the next owner to worry over. Its only original once and I have plenty of plain shooter grade guns to keep me occupied .

Supica's Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, Third Edition, 2006, mentions the Georgia commemorative specifically, on page 194.

Valuations:

ANIB - $1,500

Exc - $800

You shoot it, you put a ring on the cylinder, and it goes from $1,500 to $800.

 

[Muss Muggins]

I have life insurance and I hope i never use it, of course we all know that ain't gonna happen......

Well, it won't be you that makes the claim . . .

 

[Muss Muggins]

Supica's Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, Third Edition, 2006, mentions the Georgia commemorative specifically, on page 194.

Valuations:

ANIB - $1,500

Exc - $800

You shoot it, you put a ring on the cylinder, and it goes from $1,500 to $800.

Well, it did eight years ago . . .

 

[Big Stick]

Supica's Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson, Third Edition, 2006, mentions the Georgia commemorative specifically, on page 194.

Valuations:

ANIB - $1,500

Exc - $800

You shoot it, you put a ring on the cylinder, and it goes from $1,500 to $800.

As mentioned previously, it MAY sell for those numbers. It is not a guarantee....... If the gun has no useful value other than to sit in a safe and look pretty, you may be better off investing the money in a commodity such as gold or platinum, which may offer you a better ROI, and make for a better paper weight.....

 

[Rastoff]

Guys,
To use or not to use , isn't really the question here .
What I am asking is ;
HOW MUCH $ does it cost to use the blooming thing?

I answered this question in my previous post, but apparently it needs more clarification.

To me, and people like me, it doesn't change the value of the gun because we wouldn't pay more for it for being unfired. What this means is it greatly depends on the person looking at the gun. If it's a WWII commemorative and a WWII vet is looking at it, they might pay more.

Anyone trying to put an actual number on this is making a mistake; you can't. It will all depend on the buyer.

 

[RSanch111]

Depends what you shot with it. For example, if it's a Detroit PD commemorative .357 and I sell it with an affidavit stating that I used it to shoot a holdup man on Livernois and Puritan, the fact that it's been fired isn't going to affect the value, and may, in fact, INCREASE the value, depending on who I shot with it.

 

[M3Stuart]

Unless you are so poverty stricken, or expect to be one day, that a couple hundred bucks is going to make a major difference one way or the other, I would shoot it. A lot.

 

[Frank237]

Want a formula?

Any Commemorative= Lose $

 

[rwsmith]

It's good form....

It's good form to tell a commemorative what it did wrong before you fire it.

Maybe this is off the track, but the title "Firing a Commemorative" had me wondering just what this was about.

 

[k22fan]

After all this commemorative slamming a few things in defense of this one’s value need to be reiterated. Previously I wrote

My experience has been that NIB unfired commemoratives sell for about the same price as undecorated but other wise identical production guns in 90% to 95% condition.

I should have added once again that the exceptions are commemoratives that offer features significantly different from available production guns like unusual barrel profiles and chamberings. The base gun, a model 26, was a well recognized collectable that sold for a large premium over other big bore production S&Ws when I bought a 26 in 1976! Additionally the .45 Colt chambering raises its value. The closest things to production revolver equivalents are the current Classics and the very tiny runs of .45 Colts S&W made before introducing the 25-3 in 1979. The Classics are too modern for a lot of you and those early .45 Colts cost serious bucks. Many members wanting a .45 Colt with a pinned 1950s barrel profile would over look this revolver’s decorations.

 

[JSR III]

I have life insurance and I hope i never use it, of course we all know that ain't gonna happen......

I can guarantee that you will never use it while you are alive