Does stippling a gun add or decrease value for resale?

it does nothing to increase value, but try telling that to the guys that think that taking a dremel to their glock makes it rare and worth a custom fitted 1911 with diamond inlays.
 
I am not a fan of stippling my pistols but at the same time it is my opinion that a owner of an item can modify it to his satisfaction ( even if I cringe at the thought). I use my firearms and have no interest in resale value because I rarely sell one, often give weapons away to friends and relatives however. I was counting Henry golden boy .22's today and have given six as gifts ( four to under 12 youngsrers).
But I digress, stippling and checkering was very useful on my match pistols back when I did bullseye shooting and when I had it and other modifications done I did not even contemplate the eventual rise in value of the original condition GI 1911's that I was happily paying to have made into something that could never be returned to original.
To modify or not to modify that is the question.;)
 
It depends.

A sloppy garage soldering iron stipple job will absolutely destroy the value.

A professional job might not destroy the value, but it might not add to it very much either.
 
As I have never sold one of my Glock's, it matters not.

I met Gaston Glock, in 1984 in The Royal York Hotel in Toronto. One of the subjects of our conversation, was the smooth finish on the Glock 17 (we had bought the first 10 17s, direct from Austria to come into North America) our little gun company was called Practical Pistols Inc. Long gone.

Back to the too smooth finish, according to me! Gaston stated that the Police and Military testers liked it!
Then the Gen 4 finish came out? Exactly as I requested it, in 1984! By far the best none slip finish to date. IMHO. Carry mine every day.

A word to the wise, with the rise of ISIS Thank you Obama. And the lone wolf attacks all over the world, carry every day, and what we used to call Hi Cap capacity, at least 15 round magazines in your carry pistol.

The driving a vehicle into a crowd, and shooting, or stabbing by the Lone Wolf driver, the new norm, expect that coming to a Town near you, any time soon!

Stay aware, and armed.
Something we can do, the German and French Citizens can not do!

Merry Christmas all.
 
I would not touch anything that could not be put back in original configuration. Most $1000 custom jobs is worth -$300 to me.

Back in the 90's I saw an ad in the paper for a ZX-10 Kawasaki, called the guy and asked him if it was still in factory stock condition. Of course, 100%, he replied. When I showed up, it had a loud pipe, crappy custom seat and non original windshield. I told him "thank you for wasting my time". But it is stock, I bought it like that, was his excuse!
 
Stippling decreases value. Having said that, the polymer Glock frames are easy to get and are cheap. I think you can get them for about $150.
 
I doubt that stippling does MUCH to change the price of used weapon.

It might decrease the number of potential buyers, but the seller will probably get the same price as an unmodified gun -- unless the stipling is poorly done.
 
Stippling the grips, color filling the lettering, ceracoating, etc, etc all take away from a gun's value. (have you ever tried to get rid of color filling?) I'm not a collector so if I do choose to personalize one of my firearms, I really don't care if impacts the piece's vqalue or not. After all, stippling a Glock is not as though you are ruining a 150 year old Colt revolver.

I am guilty of removing the lawyer banner from my Ruger Vaquero's barrel and bisleyizing the trigger. So now this maybe $500 gun is only worth $400.

Big deal !!!!!
 
It matters not. Stippling is to increase tactical ductility for operations. It's worth it. I see there are some lazer beam stippling options these days.
 
"A word to the wise, with the rise of ISIS Thank you Obama"
And then you invoke a Christian religious reference when talking about violence...

What? What planet are you from?
 
(have you ever tried to get rid of color filling?)

Some solvents get that stuff out pretty easily. Or a little heat.

I don't generally pay extra for modifications, but their presence doesn't always turn me off or give me an urge to haggle for a much lower price. If the mods are functional and done well, etc. I might even like them.

About the only thing I'll pay extra for is mags, if they're in good shape and cheaper than their replacements. A good holster might be worth some extra $$ if I don't already have one that works and I like it's design.

Holsters usually come as a freebie -- because the seller no longer needs it. (I've picked up some very valuable holsters in purchases that way, that I later sold for much more on EBAY than I expected to get!)
 
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Alters originality -- decreases value.

So, if someone rips off crappy plastic Glock sights and installs better metal adjustable or night sights, and then offers the gun for sale, it's resale value is less than if he had left the factory sights on the gun?

I'll agree that the gun's value may not be increased -- but decreased?
 
Guns are valued IME based on 2 main things.....

Case #1: Adherence to an original standard...often determined by amount of original finish remaining and the specific model it was originally.....and how rare/great that model is considered right now.


Case #2: Other guns know as shooters are valued by their ability to perform a task. This task may be competition, a beauty contest, daily carry, etc.


If we talk specifically stippling on a current general model Glock/M&P/etc, it has no added value for case #1. It is just new value minus X for use. If it is correctly stippled, it gets some added value under case#2.

You guys talking about bubba'd work are right....it loses value as a shooter or an original. I can't believe all textured plastic guns are trashed. Some/many likely have increased shooting performance! That is why owners staple guns, right?
 
That is why owners staple guns, right?
Thats why I stipple mine.

I still have to wonder about all the nay sayers, if they have ever shot a gun thats been stippled and felt the difference in the way they handle.

I try to keep mine pretty simple, and prefer the fine type of stippling. Its give a cats tongue feel and looks kind of velvety to the eye.

This is a sample on my one 17......

ry%3D400
 
Yep Nathan - I agree under your rule #2.

Not a real good analogy, but compare stippling to stock checkering:

Checkering a stock can provide both a better grip and eye appeal.
Checkering can also ruin a stock.

My GS is getting up there in age.
He makes custom stocks but quit checkering them
because he says the effort isn't worth the $$$ reward any more.

If y'all were to google "stippling", you'll find lots more examples.
I see some I like, but have no feel for the cost.
 
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