Future collectors firearms

[THE ROLLING STONES]

I'm thinking of getting a Smith & Wesson model 63 with a 5" barrel 22LR and a Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 327 R8 357 Magnum. Could either of this ever become a collectors firearm? Thanks for any thoughts.

THE ROLLING STONES

 

[Anton Chigurh]

Probably not in the sense of a pre-29 or 27, or even a .44 Ruger flat top, but they could bring a premium price down the road, much like the 3" 66's do. Actually the 3" 66's are fetching ridiculous prices lately, at least on websites dedicated to auctioning off firearms, which may involve some chicanery or manipulation of the public.

 

[murphydog]

If either of these is NIB and kept that way, it will eventually become "collectible" simply due to being new. Of the two, the PC gun (limited production, etc.) has a higher chance of doing so if used, but collectors are finicky as Anton noted. If you can predict 10-20 years ahead of time what collectors will want, consider playing the lottery .

 

[stantheman86]

Very few guns will really go up all that much in price......maybe NIB with all the tools Registered Magnums, "Dirty Harry" era 29's, rare stuff like 38/44's, .38 Long Colt M&P's, all in high condition to mint.

Keep in mind, the gun market is "stale" right now, all but people rich enough not to care are holding on to their money and not buying those "extra" guns. Those trying to unload "investment" guns right now are often left holding the bag and barely breaking even if they're lucky. Look at the classic car market, it's the same way.

All those guys socking away 60's-80's era 10's, 64's, 19's and 586's thinking they're gonna retire in 20 years on the profit when the "Non MIM and IL" guns are worth their weight in gold, are going to be sorely dissapointed years down the road. If it isn't "rare" , it's never going to fetch enough to call it an "investment". That NIB 586 from 1985 someone has locked away in a safe might net them $1,000 in profit if they don't touch it for the next decade. MAYBE.........I just don't see even 27's or 29's NIB being $5,000 guns in any of our lifetimes.

There's a supposedly "scarce" minty 4" Model 12 that's been sitting on GB for $600 and it's recycled like 40 times already, I keep seeing it when I search for Model 10's because it says "Model 12 not 10" in the tag line......the seller was probably counting the money before he even listed it thinking people were gonna fight over it and there's been 0 activity on it......just an example.......

 

[Beaver]

My secret to financial mediocracy..

For the last couple of years, I've been buying numbered Smith revolvers and Series 70/80 Colt autos. My local gunshops seem more than happy to let me have certain $400 to $700 Revo's/Auto's on time. I'm usually good for $200-$300/month. Right now I'm buying a 25-5 6" LNIB, just finished a 33-1 from LouisianaMan, and a Colt Combat Commander in 38 Super. At my local store, I've got my eye on three 686/586's that aren't moving. I don't expect these guns to have a crazy, exponential increase in worth. However, I do expect them to meet/exceed inflation and cost of living. Look at what good condition 15's, 17's, 18's etc. have done in the last 10 years, plus I'll have a room full of goodies to play with when I retire. If the world goes completely south, I'll have a room full of guns to arm a modest neighborhood rebellion of old men.

Anyway, its a good excuse to buy guns and play with them.

 

[Old cop]

I agree that neither will go up in price. I own a model 63 5" 22 lr and it is a sweet shooting gun. It allows me to practice on the cheap and it is very accurate at distances up to 20 yards.

 

[Anton Chigurh]

You would at first think that the most collectable would be the most desirable (Python, pre-29, etc), but sometimes is is quirky.
Seem to recall that in the 50's Ruger made a small bunch of probably flat tops or Single sixes that had duplicated the serial numbers of guns that had already left the factory.
Somehow.
I believe they added some sort of suffix to differentiate them from the originals, if that is how I should refer to them, and turned them loose. When this became public knowledge............voila, instant collector's guns, although I have no idea how much clamoring is going on for guns whose sole claim to fame is a screwy serial number.
Well, and they are flat tops, and XR3 frames, or flat gates, which is not so bad.

 

[stantheman86]

It is true, it's an excuse to buy more guns!

I mean, it always helps to tell the wife/gf/etc. that "yeah I bought another gun, but THIS one is an investment!"

If it's any yardstick, I saw a pinned Model 15 in pretty nice shape for $250 at a recent gun show, and when I left it was still there......why didn't I buy it? I had bought a 10-14 and "needed" it more to work toward my "set" of Model 10's.......looking back I should have snagged that 15....I didn't even look at it closely, for all I know it could have been USAF marked

Some of the newer IL and MIM guns, I believe, will be going up in value.....people debate me on this, but stuff like 64-8's, 619's, etc. will be in demand if they are dropped from production.

Sure, now some guys say fixed sight, 4" revolvers are "dinosaurs" but once they are dropped and no more are made ever again, they will become "retro cool" and people will be clamoring for them.....people are strange like that!

 

[jo64ohio]

the pre-lock 627's are said to being only 302 made,wouldn't that be a mighty rare gun?i would think it would be a good investment down the road,but i really don't know much about the newer p.c. guns only the older ones.in your opinion does it hurt the value of the early pre-lock 627's now that they are making them again?

 

[Bullseye Smith]

If less than 500 made will be a collector item in twenty years and double in price. Show me a saving account that will do that .

 

[GF]

Maybe a little off topic but i'd rather buy guns than gold or silver for an "investment" for the future.

They could trade for anything in time of emergency. And maybe for much more than the original price.

I'll take the tinfoil cap off now.

GF

 

[TDC]

I'm thinking of getting a Smith & Wesson model 63 with a 5" barrel 22LR and a Smith & Wesson Performance Center M&P 327 R8 357 Magnum. Could either of this ever become a collectors firearm? Thanks for any thoughts.

THE ROLLING STONES

Nothing seems to bring out the self described "experts" in handgun investment than a question like yours.....

None seem to comment more than those who don't collect or have no experience with values other than their neighborhood gun shop. What they heard from their "second cousin" or "a friend of a friend" is rarely supported by documented fact.

Keep in mind that increasing costs of manufacturing, materials costs, labor costs and general inflation as well as government required edicts and taxation are always going to drive up the cost of any item, especially quality firearms. That most always translates to higher used prices in the future.

Common sense should tell everyone they shouldn't seek firearms advice from Charles Schwab. That same common sense should indicate you don't seek investment or financial advice from an "anonymous membership" website like this one. Opinion are fine but take them with the proverbial "grain of salt."

Buy what you want and what you like... Firearms are generally better than most manufactured items for at least keeping up with inflation. And when compared recently to recent investments in the stock market, housing and other traditional investments, well, I think I can rest my case.

JMHO.....

 

[dmar]

I agree with most of these responses, but would also encourage people to not put all of their eggs in one basket... If you are truly looking at buying/collecting guns as an investment, then you really should think about what % of your total dollars you are investing in guns vs. other options. I know the stock market is crazy right now, but remember, everything has cycles. As risky as the stock market may seem, there are also variables that can quickly/negatively impact the value of your guns (government laws/regulations, change in buying demographics, theft of your guns, etc...). How easily can you liquidate your gun investment if you have to; how about if regulations make it much more difficult to do so...?

I have struggled with this same dilemma, and have tried to be mindful of diversifying where I put my money. There are some financial/market instruments that carry much less risk, compared to other choices, much like some guns can be a bigger investment risk than others... I'd say if someone is buying 5k worth of guns per year, but has not opened a Roth IRA, then that person may want to talk to a legitimate financial advisor (not a broker, but a for-fee type advisor). Overall, if you are going to buy into the stock market, now is the time. It's also a decent time to buy guns, market is much softer than it was a couple of years ago.

Again, I would not put all of my money into guns, because if something changes relative to that market, you are SOL... I do know that, today, I will get a better return on my guns, than I would if I bought a new boat, sports car, golf clubs, power tools, etc... I like to think/hope that, down the road, I can at least get my money back on the guns that I have, but if worse comes to worse, I need a plan "B," so I'm not "all-in" on guns...

 

[stantheman86]

Buy what you enjoy and want to shoot, IMO firearms are a poor "investment", if you've got pockets deep enough to buy stuff that will REALLY be worth something in 10-20 years, than you can buy into other options like was said above.

The only people cashing in on "investment" firearms are the ones that sell guns like Mint condition Custer-range Trapdoor Springfields,high grade "rare code" K98 sniper rifles with bringback papers, and Holland & Holland AAA grade double guns used by legendary hunters to kill rare animals, these sell at high dollar auctions, the kind of events where 99.9% of us here couldn't even get in the front door..........

In other words the guy with 5 or 6 NIB S&W's in the safe and plans to be retired to St. Croix in 20 years is probably gonna be very, very dissapointed. Unless you've got Patton's Registered Magnum, which last I checked was in the Patton Museum outside of Ft. Knox, there's not many S&W's out there that are a guaranteed huge return.

At this point all the "rare" S&W's are already "at their money" IMO, I mean, if you spend $4,000 for a NIB Registered Magnum from the late 1930's now, how much of a return are you really going to get?