A Good Investment?

ndbilly

Emotion aside on this one. Strictly business.

We all gild the lily a bit, either with ourselves or our significant others, about what a "good investment" a particular firearm is. We often use it as justification for the purchase. But truly, except for collectables and some military pieces, how many of your purchases turned out to be good investments, defined as those that appreciated in value from the time you purchased them? Could you get more out of it than you have in it?

aglore

I have a bolt gun that I have just a little over 3 grand invested in. That includes bullets, dies, brass, scope and of course the rifle. I would never expect to get that much out of it unless I kept it for a couple of decades and the price of this particular companies custom rifles just happened to double in price. Then mine would be a bargain at what I have in it.

AlleninAlaska

Free men are not equal and equal men are not free

gunpaq

Investing in firearms and ammunition is a better investment than investing in gold according to my financial guy and accountant. Today, a $10,000 investment in quality firearms, high or low grade, will most always be worth no less than $10,000 as opposed to $10,000 in mutual funds, etc. Ammunition could be the currency of the future rather than gold as gold can't kill game for food or protect your family.

Pack slow, fall stable, pull high, hit dead center.

Rembrandt

I've always bought with a two fold purpose in mind, utilitarian use and resale. The resale is a direct result of buying limited production guns of high quality.

As far as return on investment, one must factor in another key element...."Time". Given enough time anything is certain to appreciate. Could be 5 years or 50 years. Higher quality firearms tend to appreciate faster.

I've got a few high grade Belgium Brownings that have nearly doubled in the last 10-12 years.....the same money in a stocks would probably have done as well or better.....but, I did get the use and enjoyment from these great toys, don't know how to put a price on that.

The guns that have done the least in "return on investment", are the inexpensive Rugers 10/22's and cheaper firearms where millions were produced.

Lowrider

My Glock factory hi-cap magazines have increased in value by a factor of five or more. I bought my model 17 new in 1989 and over the next five years purchased several 17-round mags for about 18 bucks each and several 19-round mags for about 23 bucks each. I just went to a big gun show yesterday and saw these same magazines for 125 dollars each. If I sold all my magazines for $125 each I could make over 1500 dollars profit.

As far as my guns go, my pre-ban AR-15 and my FAL are now worth more than what I paid for them, but the rest of the guns in my collection are probably worth less than what I paid. I don't care. And I'm NOT selling my Glock magazines either.

Lord Lowrider the LoquaciousMember:Secret Select Society of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets She was only a fisherman's daughter,But when she saw my rod she reeled.

offeror

It's true that most guns do not appreciate in value unless something like a ban occurs to artificially increase value. But I find guns are a good investment compared to other consumer goods because good guns hold their value fairly well. I can get most of my cost out of a gun, usually, unless I just had to have it so bad that I paid too much ("too much" being defined as the high end of the market price). It also depends upon how big a hurry I'm in to sell.

M1 Carbines have gone up in my lifetime. I'm sure Dad paid only $100 or so for his Iver Johnson in the 60s, and I paid maybe $169 or $200 for the Blue Sky surplus gun I refinished a decade ago. Now these are estimated at $350 apiece.

Guns do hold value better than other things consumers use, like stereo equipment or television sets or some videogames. In that sense, they're good investments in my book, a place to store value. But if we're going to talk legitimate investing, we've got to talk stock market, 401Ks, things like that.

The trouble is, collectibles may take a lifetime to really increase in value, and then you have to factor in inflation too. You have to keep stuff for 30 or 40 years to really see an increase in collectible value that is not powered by something like a ban on imports. I kept some movie posters bought for 50 cents in the 60s that sold for hundreds, and in one case $1800 a few years ago. The Hubley 13" .44 caliber toy Western cap pistol I got for Christmas as a kid sold for about $100 on eBay a couple years ago. My Man from UNCLE toy gun by Ideal sold for $350, without the bipod and not in mint condition.

But yes, I do have some hi-cap magazines for my G23, bought originally for $25 apiece, now worth $75 to $125 depending upon who you ask. Actually, I bought some extras at $60 apiece recently -- a bargain, now. And then there's that M1 Carbine. But most of my guns have remained about the same value, or slightly less, which is okay considering that's very cheap amusement if and when I sell and get most of my money back.

- Life NRA Member
"If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878

martzkj@msn.com

If you buy guns right you can make money. However you must sell them right away to be profitable. For example, you buy a gun for $300, it's sellable now for $350. A good profit. Now you keep that gun for ten years and the resale has grown to $400, not that great of an investment but it's money in the bank and you got to enjoy it. Now of course this is not true for all gun, but this is true for a lot of them. As stated before some guns due to being banned or to rarity really can sky rocket in price.

pickenup

Investment??? I buy 'em to shoot 'em.Most will hold their value, some will increase over time. There are better ways to invest money. As posted before AMMO might be a good investment now. What happens if they TAX the $h-t out of it?

If I knew then, what I know now.