Am I the only one that thinks milsurp prices are in a "bubble"?

Those are some interesting pics. I've never seen pallets of rifles stacked 25 rows high. by my count that would be 250 rifles on one pallet. It will be interesting to see which outfit ends up with all of those.
 
I blame the Mosin! At the time when things started to go crazy the Mosin was the super cheap rifle getting a LOT of attention that everyone had to get. I feel like that drove a lot of the new gun guys spawned by the craze interest toward the lore of surplus firearms.

So it's YouTube and the Mosin Nagants fault!:eek:

But in all seriousness While I LOVE my surplus and the joys of shooting a piece of history I did also love the reasonable prices for nice firearms/ammo and at this point I am starting to wonder how much longer it is going to be worth it. :(
 
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Supply & Demand

Ever been to Simpson Ltd's store in Illinois? I could spend hours in there.

I think there is a difference between bulk surplus and surplus. Nagants, SKS's, & Mausers, & Enfields were cheap back in the day because they were available in bulk. Bulk surplus is bought cheap and sold cheap on that 1st go about in the market.

Now that all those guns are in private hands (no more bulk surplus) the price increases, doubles, triples, etc. They are now into a 2nd market where there is no more piles of rifles readily available.

I do note that 03 C&R guns always seem to sell for more $ than guns sold through 01 dealers. The idea that you can have a C&R handgun shipped directly to your door somehow means to sellers that it should be priced higher than the rest of the market.

With antique guns (no FFL required) that is even more the case.

Note I don't have an 03 license and except for that one visit to Simpsons Ltd - don't think I need one.
 
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Just something to chew on.
We may be reaching what I refer to as a roll over point.
Many very nice and large collections are in the hands of older collectors.
They bought these guns back when they were cheap and plentiful but now they are older; and have basically completed lifelong collections and now are in their twilight years.
Why I say this is I have two friend that meet this criteria and they are starting to sell off their collections. Partly due to lack of interest anymore, partly because no one in the family has interest and also to help fund their retirement or defer medical bills.
I’m one of those guys that bought these guns back in the day as a fun hobby and a long term investment.
Most of us that were there back in the day are reaching that roll over point.
Look at some of the collections you see here on this forum. When these collection come to market there will be hundreds of new “good quality” guns for sale and like I said many of us that were around back in the day are reaching that roll over point.
As for prices you pay what the market will bare. That's how capitalism works
and that explains prices today.
 
I been into surplus guns for over two decades+. I was watching prices going up over night from $150 to $450 on mausers. As the prices went even higher I got off the surplus guns and went to newer guns.
 
Has the price really gone up that much? I mean Walmart starts people off at $10 an hour and mosin are like 200 or 20 hours.
When they were $15... People were making like 75 cents an hour doing min wage jobs. So they cost like 20 hours of work then too.
 
Good conversation.

Like ammo a few years ago, I still believe many that aren't really collectors have been snatching up milsurps because they believe prices can only go one way- up....

Funny, I remember having the same conversation with a business associate back in '07 that had been buying and flipping condos in SW Florida. Re-selling them for a profit before the closing docs had gotten cold. We all know those that kept saying the same thing about housing. Then 2008 happened and personal bankruptcy soon followed for him.

I don't know whether that tipping point is now- or some point in the future. But there is a tipping point- so it's just fool's logic to say they "can only go up in value" ad infinitum. I think it's just important to use some common sense, and it's necessary to buy smart these days.

Many "rules" that affect value seem to have temporarily (IMO) gone out the window- like CONDITION. I see rifles in NRA "poor" condition going for much more than they should- as though condition didn't matter. The buyer justifies the price he paid by saying all the nicks, gouges and rust on the rifle "add character" or are "battle scars". LMAO. On a rare piece, condition is less important- but it's everything on more common ones.

Just going on record- I'll look this thread up in a few years to see if I called it right ;)
 
I don't think it's a bubble, just a new price point for a finite supply of guns. No more made, no more imported.

Even surplus ammo, a product that is made daily, has seen price jumps not because of the "quality" of surplus ammo, but because of the finite supply. I doubt it will surpass the price of new ammo, but it might get closer now.
 
The Italians were also in the big war. What ever happened to Italian surplus arms. A few Carcanos showed up sure, but how about Italian surplus pistols? Where can I look to find them.
Baretta must have made zillions during the war.
 
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