Montana Cowboy
Bearcat
Enjoy your sport and by the gun you want and enjoy it, price only goes up as time passes.
The Price
- Thread starter Highstandardguy
- Start date
3/4 of all my firearms were purchased with the intention of never firing them ……and that is not a small amount
Everyone likes different things
contender
Ruger Guru
"I just cannot comprehend buying something and never shooting it."
As I considered collecting,, I was also an avid shooter. I fixed my conflicting thoughts. It was easier to find a "shooter grade" gun to enjoy,, all while searching for a nice collectable one just like it. Funny thing,, shooter grade guns that have wear do not sell as quickly as very nice condition guns that are identical to it.
So by having (2) of a gun,, it's EASY to have one & not shoot it.
But even a worn shooter with a lot of "character" can be quite valuable. Just not as valuable as a pristine example of the same gun. I once bought a truly shooter grade OM FT known as a "Ross Variation" for $150.00 BECAUSE of the character it showed.
As I considered collecting,, I was also an avid shooter. I fixed my conflicting thoughts. It was easier to find a "shooter grade" gun to enjoy,, all while searching for a nice collectable one just like it. Funny thing,, shooter grade guns that have wear do not sell as quickly as very nice condition guns that are identical to it.
So by having (2) of a gun,, it's EASY to have one & not shoot it.
But even a worn shooter with a lot of "character" can be quite valuable. Just not as valuable as a pristine example of the same gun. I once bought a truly shooter grade OM FT known as a "Ross Variation" for $150.00 BECAUSE of the character it showed.
Well, it's my single "investment piece". My others are shooters.
Twelve years later I bought a new original .45 Vaquero for $419 and I shoot it instead of the SAA. Close enough . . . even to the price.
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What I but doesn't. I guess I buy the wrong stuff. On second thought one I bought did quite well, one broke even.
You might just have what some tool collector is looking for. You never know exactly what item is going to be a 'special' thing later on
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 10,879
I don’t understand people buying fine art or $500 bottles of wine. It’s their money, they spend it how they want to.
If someone buys a gun just to own it, more power to them.
To me a gun you can shoot if you want to makes more sense than a lot of other things people spend money on.
bigbillyboy
Hunter
I get it . I have both categories , collector and shooter guns .
One bad thing about buying a relatively expensive gun with no intention of shooting it….. It can be used against you ….by a manipulative daughter!!
“Dad, will you get me this Louis Vuitton purse?”
Me: “How much is it?”
“ It’s kind of expensive…. $2000.”
Me: “Absolutely not!!! Sorry, but there is no way I will ever pay $2000 for a purse!!!”
“Why not you have guns that cost way more than that …. they just sit there and you never shoot them! At least a designer purse will get used and they actually old their value”!!!!
Me:
“Dad, will you get me this Louis Vuitton purse?”
Me: “How much is it?”
“ It’s kind of expensive…. $2000.”
Me: “Absolutely not!!! Sorry, but there is no way I will ever pay $2000 for a purse!!!”
“Why not you have guns that cost way more than that …. they just sit there and you never shoot them! At least a designer purse will get used and they actually old their value”!!!!
Me:
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Have you ever priced a "Hermes" purse or bag? Holy crap. We're talking $25,000-$35,000.
OMG!!!!! I hope the daughter doesn't see those!!! unbelievable
Boxhead
Buckeye
If it is a particular piece I have wanted to own, Ruger or otherwise, I buy it when I feel comfortable with the price being asked. Pretty simple decision for me.
OP
Or you can have some of each. I have some I shoot and some I don't. In other words I buy some to shoot and some to collect; best of both worlds.
I have a Colt Trooper MkV in 357 Mag that I've never shot. I bought it used in 1986. Still sitting in the box.
It's too pretty to shoot
It's too pretty to shoot
I guess I'm not a true collector, I use everything that I purchase or build. Yet I do seem to have an inordinate amount of Golf Clubs, Firearms, Rocks Glasses, Briar Pipes, etc. Guess the closest I come is all the shot glasses that the Spouse and I have accumulated in Our travels, but they all have been used at least once prior to being stored in the Mahogany Kidney shaped glass corner tables. Perhaps I'll never get the bug?
protoolman
Service-Sixer
I bought a real colt series 70 once. Like new, could just about see your reflection in the high gloss,deep bluing etc. Perfect for looking at. Shooting not so much. They won't feed hollow points reliably and accuracy was so so. My Remington R1 series 80 is a better trigger, accuracy and 100% reliable. Just not as pretty! So the Colt got sold for stupid money and I bought 2 new guns.
I also have a Colt Trooper MkV that I purchased new around 1986. I don't recall what I paid for it back then, thinking maybe $250. It is pretty, but it has been shot. Pictured here with my meager accumulation of Colts.I have a Colt Trooper MkV in 357 Mag that I've never shot. I bought it used in 1986. Still sitting in the box.
It's too pretty to shoot
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Don't Colt collectors horde Un-shot First Model Pythons? I had a S&W 29-1, but I shot it a lot before it was stolen at a Motel 6 when my spouse was still naive.
They might, but I am an accumulator, not a collector. I haven't shot the MKIII yet. I need to get that done sometime. I purchased it off my cousin who bought it new.
As a matter of fact, I might be a snob? Pictures paint a thousand words?
Bet someone can recognize the Thomas Kincade works?
Bet someone can recognize the Thomas Kincade works?
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contender
Ruger Guru
I spotted the Kincade. Miss penny is a fan. We have a couple of them.
Actually there are six of them. The little ones on the sides are also Kincades. We used to visit the Gallery before it closed. It's amazing how they change as light moves through the room. Same as the Spanish Gallion.
needsmostuff
Blackhawk
I have seldom done well with thing I bought specifically bought with an eye toward appreciation.
But I have often done well with things I bought just because I liked it.
Whatever the morale to that is.
But I have often done well with things I bought just because I liked it.
Whatever the morale to that is.
The only things I have purchased to appreciate are my Home that I reside in or Stocks, and most of them I purchased as DRP. If I'm not getting a dividend every year cash flow is reduced.
In my opinion, most things originally sold as "collectable" are not. I knew Tom Kincaid, my wife worked for him for a year, and we went to church together for a couple of years. Tom had a keen marketing sense, way more than most artists.
What is "collectable" goes through fads, just like fashion. Tom's prints are less and less in fashion currently. If you like the art, great. But don't buy a print expecting to make money on it anytime soon.
I've noticed the same thing about guns. They may always have "street" or "shooter" value but the "collector premium" comes and goes. I pay the "collector premium" for "bragging rights" and the "fun" displaying at collector shows. I don't plan on recovering it on resale.
What is "collectable" goes through fads, just like fashion. Tom's prints are less and less in fashion currently. If you like the art, great. But don't buy a print expecting to make money on it anytime soon.
I've noticed the same thing about guns. They may always have "street" or "shooter" value but the "collector premium" comes and goes. I pay the "collector premium" for "bragging rights" and the "fun" displaying at collector shows. I don't plan on recovering it on resale.
Yes…,so true!! Ebb and flow. If I get my money back then I feel fortunate, but I usually don’t lol! So I don’t sell anything. But, that’s okay, I don’t do it with the goal of making money. I collect because I enjoy them and like you say it is fun to put a display together!
Many things that I buy used, I will sell at a small profit, enough to recoup what I lose to inflation. Buy used sell used, no loss in value. Buying cheap is the art of frugality. Most people never learn how to buy used stuff.
But profit is difficult to do with guns, although I get lucky 40% of the time.
The main reason I sell a gun at a loss is modifications. Almost every firearm I buy needs trigger work and that added expense is gone forever.
I don't buy rare guns or safe queens, then use them, ding them up and sell at a loss. I instead buy them with dings and ding them up some more.
But profit is difficult to do with guns, although I get lucky 40% of the time.
The main reason I sell a gun at a loss is modifications. Almost every firearm I buy needs trigger work and that added expense is gone forever.
I don't buy rare guns or safe queens, then use them, ding them up and sell at a loss. I instead buy them with dings and ding them up some more.
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