Advice on Trading/Selling Guns

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wmg1299

New member
When I first started buying guns, several older collectors that I respected advised me to never get rid of a functioning gun. These guys were collecting before the 1994-2004 ban, and they warned of the risk of not being able to replace something that had been traded away. They also had a few stories about trading away a gun they later missed.

Some years have passed, and my collection has grown. I'm tempted to trade some of my stuff with friends or trade-in for credit toward something new at the LGS. I would like to know how many of you guys who have traded or sold guns later wound up regretting it. On the opposite end, how many of you guys look back and regret not making trades/sales in the past?
 
I have sold many guns over the years with only a few regrets; one was a Ruger No.1 RSI in .243, a version you rarely see available from the original run......
If you trade in at the LGS, realize you will get maybe 60% of the value. You are better off selling them on your own for max money to put towards your new acquisitions.
 
wmg1299 said:
When I first started buying guns, several older collectors that I respected advised me to never get rid of a functioning gun. These guys were collecting before the 1994-2004 ban, and they warned of the risk of not being able to replace something that had been traded away. They also had a few stories about trading away a gun they later missed.

Some years have passed, and my collection has grown. I'm tempted to trade some of my stuff with friends or trade-in for credit toward something new at the LGS. I would like to know how many of you guys who have traded or sold guns later wound up regretting it. On the opposite end, how many of you guys look back and regret not making trades/sales in the past?
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I agree with those old timers.
 
My hard an fast rule(s) are something like this when it comes to parting with anything:

Do I like it - yes or no.
If no - then get rid of it. No sense in tieing up money in something I don't like.

If yes - - then:

1.) How much and how easily can I replace it at some future time?
2.) Do I want it more than I need the money it will bring?
3.) Would it be better to wait and see if circumstances change?
4.) Repeat above as needed.

I have sold/traded - and just flat out gotten rid of - a number of guns over the years.
Just recently, with all the hoopla going on, I thought about selling off some of the guns I no longer have much of a use for anymore.
I went through all the steps & even asked here what others thoughts were.
My conclusion was - to wait and see.
 
I only regretted selling one gun.
I got it back, eventually.

The rest?...
I sold/traded them for a reason.
Would I like to have some of them back, in order to take advantage of a market that has gone insane and doubled, tripled, even quadrupled prices on some things? Absolutely. But that's not regret. It's just greed.

I do agree with the general idea of, "never sell a gun that you won't be able to replace."
 
If you are selling collectors pieces or heirlooms, that is a different story.

I buy and sell to get what I want. I’m doing a lot of trying on for size. Like I bought a Glock 23, tried to make it work. Bought an m&p 40 5” and preferred it to the Glock, so I sold the Glock off to fund a rifle project.

I only have 1 regret. I sold a pre-lock 640 and now that is basically irreplaceable at a decent price, but I do have the CW380 & M&P a Shield that replaced it. So, the regret is minimal.

I have sold guns and bought optics or added to the “general fund” that is disappointing generally due to value loss. I think I sold one once to add to vacation fund....that gun is gone forever and so is the extra day of vacation from my memory. I try to keep gun money separate from “other” money. My gun money is basically a rainy day fund that I keep building. Factory guns make a good, fun saving tool. Same for reloading supplies. Optics are a bit more hit & miss. I’m not saying I would buy guns as a retirement investment, but their value lasts better than most “hobbies”. I had $750 in a gas rc truck. I think I gave it away in running condition like 5 years later! Ouch!

Certain things like M70 Winchesters and S&W revolvers can be used and gain value.....AR’s can be pieced together from sale parts, tore down and parts sold off to partially refund the latest and greatest rebuild.
 
I do not have any regrets over any guns I have sold or traded. The reason I sold or traded them was because I didn't use them or like them in the first place. Counting on a gun to appreciate in value enough to consider it a worthwhile investment is pretty risky. If it's not already in high demand, odds are, it won't be for another 50-100 years.

My advice, is to know the present value of your guns. If you don't use them or like them, then getting rid of them for what they are worth is not foolishness, but sound judgement.
 
I just went and looked back through my list of sold guns, which is a pretty large number. There are several I sold as "motivation" to get what I really wanted in a particular class. There are more that were winnings from prize tables that were either duplicates or guns I just really never had any attachment to. The rest are mostly guns that did not get shot for several years and were just taking up space. There really is not one on the list that I regret selling.

I have sold 5 guns in the past few weeks. With the current conditions, I did pretty well on them. I had 3 guns on my "want" list which is now down to 2, and one won't even be out until fall, so that is a 2021 gun at best. The other, when we are back to work and I take a look at my gun budget, will likely get it underway as it is a build.
 
I have no regrets, slow to breakup but when it’s done I’m moving forward.

If said gun fit my situation going forward I wouldn’t have gotten rid of it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is just how I do it, but I feel that guns are interesting and for enjoyment and shooting. I have inherited quite a few, found good deals from fellow shooting club members or people that go with the herd and need the lasted trendy toy. Once I lose interest in it, it’s eligible for sale or trade.

Guns I regret letting go:
- Bersa Thunder .380. It went with a PPK, and honestly the bersa shot rings around the PPK. After 15 years I simply bought a new Bersa for about what I sold mine for and the new one is in better shape. I’ll never let this one go.
-Beretta Silver Pigeon over and under. I stopped shooting skeet. A local gun shop gave me about what I paid for it in trade so I got a couple years of skeet league for only the price of reloaded shells. I thought that was a good deal. A couple years ago my wife made me get a dog, so me and dog have been hunting pheasants. Every bright sunny fall day, walking in the open fields I think I miss that shotgun.

Every time we are out in the rain or snow, or push out way through blackberry brambles or thick brush I think “I would not be out here if I was worried about my pretty shotgun” and every time I take the third shot I am glad I replaced it with an Ithaca Model 37 from 1946. That model of shotgun is what my dad always carried. His was 16 Ga. which he traded on accounts of no longer being able to find shells. I’ll never trade this one- a “tactical” oriented gun shop owner was surprised at how fast I whipped out my wallet to give him $175 for an old shotgun with some scratches on the stock but perfect bore, action and trigger. Never gonna sell that one.

As for selling to gun shops- there was a time there was a real deal pistolsmith 40 miles from my house. I sent as much business his way as I needed or wanted or more. He could not make a go of it and left the state for a paying job. The gun shop I had a good relationship closed it’s doors. There is another shop run by some young guys I will always check with before going to a big-box shop... but mostly now I buy and sell and trade with fellow club members or people I meet online.

Tips for buying and selling
-timing. Sell in time for hunting season or pistol league or when tax refunds just showed up.. or in a pandemic... Buy when the prices are low.

-trends. Some fellas always seem to need the latest trend. Find that guy that sells his Glock 19 to buy a Glock 43 which he sells for a Hellcat which he will sell in six months to buy a p365. He’s having fun and you can get his lightly used gun for a great discount over new.

-Don’t buy junk. Then again, know your diamonds in the rough. I would almost say I regret selling my hi point 9mm carbine. The thing was crazy ugly, not accurate, but always ran. Why? I could have fun now making a nice wood stock for it, just for fun.

- Know a little home gunsmithing. I don’t mean “own a lathe” I mean... can you take things apart enough to do a proper cleaning, replace springs, fix a scratch in wood or metal? Do you own a proper set of screwdrivers and a punch set?

I picked up a Single Six .22 from a fellow that was a bit evasive on its operation. Seems the base pin fell out every shot. There was something odd about it, I offered a lowball and he grabbed the money and ran. It turns out he had installed the base pin locking pin spring on the wrong side, so the base pin was always free unless you pushed the button, then the base pin locked. See? And I thought I was going to need to call Belt Mountain for a locking base pin. I put the spring in it’s proper place and presto, works as it should (except it wasn’t accurate because of that single six thing about .22wmr) so I sold it for almost double what I bought it for.. but learned I wanted a single six or seven (got one! If it’s a Shooter it might be a keeper!)

This is just how I do it. How you do it is up to you. It’s a hobby.

Ps. On reflection, I wish I had a shop with a lathe and an end mill and... ack. I need to stop watching Midway videos on YouTube!
 
Few Regrets

I would like to know how many of you guys who have traded or sold guns later wound up regretting it. On the opposite end, how many of you guys look back and regret not making trades/sales in the past?
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I guess that I too, regret selling one and it was a "Vintage" Savage-99.
Other than that, I have no regrets one what I have sold, traded on given away. I feel that as the years pass, our interests, motivations and needs, evolve. ;)

There are firearms that touch one's hearts and some that never will. One that is "very" special to me, is a Marlin-39A that I purchase at a Gitmo-Bay Naval base, gun store. I will never sell it as I want to give it a better home. When the time is right, I will "give" it to my Grandson, along with it's history, "My-History" …… :cool:

Be Safe !!!
 
Very few guns I've sold or traded that I miss. If I do start missing one, I think of the reasons I got rid of it. If I still miss it, I can get another one. Guns are mass-produced and chances are there are a few hundred thousand of the one I got rid of floating around out there.
 
I figure life is short and might as well enjoy as many different guns as possible. I don't have the financial means to just buy guns as a please so I have to get rid of one to buy another usually. I do regret selling some of them but I have to remember why I sold them. I do have some that will never be sold.
 
I've sold or traded several over the years. Out of all of them I have regrets for three. The test I've used for the past few years is "will I regret this later". I don't sell unless I'm confident that I won't regret the decision. It's worked for me.
 
What is this ‘selling or trading’ of what you speak? Are you suggesting that a gun isn’t a forever purchase. Sorta like a dog, or something,
 
What is this ‘selling or trading’ of what you speak?
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Well, I dated redheads, brunettes and blondes, but I only wanted the one I liked, so I let the others go. Kinda like catch and release. Keeping something you don't want and don't like doesn't make any sense!
 
Well, I dated redheads, brunettes and blondes, but I only wanted the one I liked, so I let the others go. Kinda like catch and release. Keeping something you don't want and don't like doesn't make any sense!
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Exactly.
As I like to say...
There's no point in wasting my life with guns that don't work or don't make me happy, when there's another gun out there that can.
(Or, at least, I think there's another one that can.)
 
Gone to a better home !!!

When I first started buying guns, several older collectors that I respected advised me to never get rid of a functioning gun.
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That is not realistic, nor the "Greatest" advice, just a personal opinion. I cannot count the reasons one would sell a firearm. For now, I'm just going to list one. … :rolleyes:

There are times when a firearm, needs to go to a better home.
Case in point; I use to be an avid upland hunter until all our Pheasants moved to South Dakota. I had an older Remington 1100. I bought it used for $135.00 from a waterfowl hunter that no longer hunted. I harvested "killed" more deer, turkey and pheasants than I can count and it never failed me. I sold it to my buddy's son and he too has taken a lot of game with it. It went to a better home. … ;)

No regrets !!!
Be Safe !!!
 
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From about 1975 - 1985 I was nuts about surplus military rifles and got good to excellent examples of most everything available for $65 - $90, a few maybe as high as $125. I haven't shot them in years and have noticed really shabby examples at gun shows and stores going for $350 and up, depending on the gun. So I've been thinking, just thinking mind you, about selling them. The movie 1917 has motivated me to take out the SMLE for some range time though.
 
Use solid common sense, intuition and Armslist. About fifteen gun deals so far via Armslist TN. Some were sales, some acquisitions.

Selling guns can provide the same, or most of the required cash when gun interests change.

wmg1299:
People living outside our Socialist States should be able to replace guns they sell, should they not? I'm not talking about increased value as many became "sporterized", leaving far fewer Non-refinished, non-"sporterized" originals which might have been well-stored.
 
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