C&R Sites

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wilsoni91

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Where do you guys look for C&R guns? I have been watching GunBroker but it seems like some of the prices are very much inflated. I am looking for 1903, K98, and 1898 Krag to start off with.
 
my buys of milsurps over the years from C&R dealers have been less than steller, with quite a few being sent back on my dime because their firearms were over sold due to condition. over the years I relied of private- gunshow buys where I could look the firearms over and decide with a on hands exam, other than guess if the firearm condition was right.
 
My two cents

Definition of the word "Curmudgeon."

: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man

Synonyms:

bellyacher, complainer, crab, crank, fusser, griper, grouch, grumbler, grump, murmurer, mutterer, sourpuss, whiner

So now that is out of the way....

I am with Eastbank.

With the rise in popularity of online mail order sites, a technique has developed. It has two facets:

1. Too many mind games. You can't find out how much you are paying for shipment/delivery until after you have gone through the trouble of processing your "shopping cart". You are therefore subconsciously enticed to complete the transaction so as not to lose the effort in filling your "cart".

Even the word "cart" is carefully chosen. The shopping cart was developed in 1937 with the advent of the self serve grocery store. Before this time it was customary for buyers to hand a list to a clerk who retrieved the groceries and put them in a bag for the person who simply waited for the service. Since then we have accepted a mental image of the cart as a device which is used when you are buying more than one or two items. So when you process your online cart, with only one item in it, it looks pretty empty. "Maybe I should also get a holster, a coupla magazines, a cleaning kit." Remember when the digital list of things you were buying online was known as an "order"?

Some of these online vendors will select the best of ten for an extra fee.

Shouldn't they do that anyway?

Does it take a person making 10.00 per hour, two hours to "select the best"?

How do you know they actually selected the best and didn't just package the next one in line because the condition of the specimens in the entire lot is essentially identical? B--L S--t!

2. Online vendors look at shipping and handling as one of the profit spheres.

I can't say that I have been unhappy with my online purchases, but I must admit, they have been mostly for parts and not for complete firearms.

Go to a gun show and you can handle the item. Ask questions. Vendors don't generally charge you for shipping when you are carrying it out the door.
 
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Thanks for the information guys. I am just getting into all this C&R stuff and always have wanted to start a collection but due to my income in the past, I was never able to. Now that I have left the public service and finally found a job where I can make good money I can finally get into it all.
 
Thanks for the information guys. I am just getting into all this C&R stuff and always have wanted to start a collection but due to my income in the past, I was never able to. Now that I have left the public service and finally found a job where I can make good money I can finally get into it all.
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You were a dollar short, and now you're a day late. All of the great buys of the past seem to be over. I just don't seem to see many good deals at the usual online places anymore. Considering letting the C&R license die, and it's due for renewal in May. I do much better getting what I want on Armslist (local face to face deals only), and sometimes gun shows but they're pretty proud of their old guns at the shows too.
 
Noelf plus 1

359.00 for a Model 91.

When I was a kid (some ten years ago ;o0 ) I payed 19.95 from Swear and Sendback.
 
I've used Southern Ohio Gun, Classic Arms and J&G Sales in the past but I primarily use auction sites now.

If tracking is correct, I should be receiving my first Colt 1903 sometime today.
I bought a Colt Gov't 380 from the same site (Gunbroker), though that's going to my local gun shop to pick up.

I'm still in the market for a Colt 1908, Remington 51 and a few others, so I haunt Gunbroker often.
 
Snowdog said:
I've used Southern Ohio Gun, Classic Arms and J&G Sales in the past but I primarily use auction sites now.

If tracking is correct, I should be receiving my first Colt 1903 sometime today.
I bought a Colt Gov't 380 from the same site (Gunbroker), though that's going to my local gun shop to pick up.

I'm still in the market for a Colt 1908, Remington 51 and a few others, so I haunt Gunbroker often.
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Southern Ohio Gun closed.
 
I think there is at least a million more C&R eligible guns today, then there were 20 years ago...remember we are including the high production years of the fifties and sixty’s....How many Nylons did Remington make.
And Gunbroker sellers are great,,, Just got a beautiful CZ-52 this week..the seller had it listed, with all the usual gobblygook about’shipping to FFL, etc. etc.....I emailed him if he would ship to C&R? He’s reply. “Sure!” So got it. All I had to do is ask.

I hope all you naysayers continue to disparage the benefit of having a C&R,,, that just makes all the more guns available to me.
 
As onefreetexan said, C&R covers a lot of guns these days. Soon all the prime wood and steel days of the 60s and 70s will fall under C&R license eligible. It’s beginning to be a good bit more than old milsurps.

That being said, the heyday of WWI and WWII milsurps is past us. Even so, take a Swiss k31 or a nice yugo Mauser. The k31 can be found for sub 600, and the Mauser for sub 400 (assuming numbers matching, and looking around a bit). Good luck finding an all wood and steel rifle of similar quality these days for that price. We complain because the market isn’t flooded and they aren’t dirt cheap. Surely we recognized 15 years ago those prices would end at some point. I did, and started milsurp collecting then. Granted, I didn’t get that 90 dollar mosin because I thought it too crude. Now I realize I needed one for the collection, and lo and behold do I wish I would have picked one up for near pocket change.

Jgsales used to be quite good. These days they don’t have much that isn’t beat all to heck or quite expensive. Sigh.
 
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I find nearly all my military surplus and other C&R guns by haunting local gun stores. Occasionally I find reasonable deals at gun shows and through Armslist.

Once in a very great while I buy off of Gunbroker and so far I have been satisfied. However, nothing can beat being able to fondle a gun before you buy it. I went to a show last weekend and while there weren't a ton of great deals there I saw a Chinese Type 53 for $200 and a very nice type 99 Arisaka complete with mum and monopod for $400. There was a pinned and recessed S&W Model 19 with the box and docs for $550 and a matching number 1918 Erfurt Luger for $800. I picked up an all matching, (including the magazine) 1937 S/42 Luger complete with extra magazine, holster and loading tool for just over $1200.

What you need to do before buying any gun, is to familiarize yourself with the particular type and models of the guns you are interested in. You need to be aware of what you are looking at and what the average price is. One of the surest ways to lose out on a good deal is to have to go home and either think about it or ask the internet if something is priced fairly and then wait for an answer.

All the guns you mentioned have been faked or otherwise screwed with over the years to the point where a lack of knowledge can get you severely burned. I recently found a real 1898 Krag carbine (the rarest of of all Krag carbines) at a yard sale for $400, which is about one tenth of what is is worth, however there are tons of Krag rifles which have been cut down and are barely worth half of what I paid. Thousands of low number Springfields were refurbished by the government during WWII and, IMO, are only really worth the sum of their parts. Don't even get me started on K98k's, there are so many variations and values that you need to study carefully before you even think of investing in one.
 
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Some of these online vendors will select the best of ten for an extra fee.

Shouldn't they do that anyway?

Does it take a person making 10.00 per hour, two hours to "select the best"?

How do you know they actually selected the best and didn't just package the next one in line because the condition of the specimens in the entire lot is essentially identical? B--L S--t!
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Agreed. That's why I avoid vendors like Classicfirearms. More reputable online vendors will properly grade their inventory.

I've actually had good luck with Gunbroker. As long as you know what you are looking for, what you are willing to pay, and are patient, there are good deals to be found. And most vendors there are willing to answer questions and provide detailed photos if needed. If they won't, it's easy enough to look elsewhere.
 
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