Gun Raffle

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SocialAnarchist

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Hypothetically, let's say you were a member of a small volunteer fire department and were going to run a gun raffle for a fundraiser. Let's also say you had roughly $3000 to buy the guns with. If you were going to have 5 guns and a cross bow what 5 guns would you want within the cost restraints mentioned?
 
I'll play.
The 'big gun' would be a Springfield Armory Range Officer 1911 in, of course, .45 ACP.

After that I think I'd fill things out with a Ruger LCP, Ruger LC9s (maybe the 'Pro' version), and a couple of S&W pistols.

I've seen the LCP for $200, the LC9s for $300 and I know there's some rebates going on with the S&W pistols so I think this stays in your $3000 ballpark.

For some reason I was thinking just handguns. If you've got a hunting crowd there in Wisconsin then maybe an 870 shotgun.

Ruger Mark IV .22 handgun and S&W Victory .22 handgun might be in the mix too as well as a Ruger 10/22 rifle.
 
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5 firearms plus a crossbow equals six items to be procured and raffled off. That's an average of $500 per item.

I'm not directly answering your question but, IMHO, that's either too many prizes or not enough money. $500 doesn't buy much in the way of "nice" firearms these days. Sure, you can get lots of guns, new, for $500 and even less -- but they may not be the kind of guns that a lot of people will buy raffle tickets for.
 
Instead of the hassles actually buying, owning and transferring guns to new owners, how about auctioning credit coupons (or something similar) to local gun shops and sporting goods stores.
Then the winners of the coupons can deal with and choose what they want at the stores themselves.
Saves a lot of paperwork and maybe the stores will donate some things to the auction, too.
Just a thought.
 
I'm gonna go with Aquilla on this one and say that's a either too many prizes, or too little money. If you want to have a good raffle, either buy one really nice gun with 3000, or 3 max. That way you can spend $1k on each. Or if you want 1 nice one and 2 of lesser value for the "runner ups".

If that is the route you take, I'd say an M1A, an AR15, one of the higher end models(nothing over $1k), and lastly a semi auto shotgun. Or you could swap out the shotgun with a nice handgun, I would go with a revolver, but anything really. The price breakdown would be something like: M1A - $1300-1500, AR15 - $700-500(depending on M1A), and shotgun/pistol $1000. But you could always come down a little on the last one if you were so inclined.

Why a crossbow? I think they're cool, but if I'm going to use arrows to kill a deer, I'm just going to use a bow. They're quieter and, I think, more fun. Connects you more with nature and requires you to be a little closer. I really loved bow hunting. Never got a great shot at a deer as I ended up being on the other side of some brush pretty much every time, but I still loved it.
 
First, if you are going to raffle guns you can get local dealers to either donate firearms or give you a heavy discount on them. This is easier if you have a 501C3 organization. The number of raffle tickets sold has to be enough that it covers the costs involved (guns, tickets, awards dinner and so forth) I have seen ticket prices go for from $15 to $100 with the most common at $50. People tend to spend up to about 20% of the value of the gun on tickets so you can sell a lot more tickets for $20 than you can for $100.

Choose guns that are popular in your area and stay with guns that have available ammo in your area. Nobody wants a 500 nitro express but at the same time everyone in your area may already have an AR 15. It just depends on what there is a market for.
 
Okay, we just ran a gun raffle and we had a Henry .22 Golden boy, S&W MP 9mm, Bushmaster QRC 5.56 with a mini red dot sight, Mossberg Scout 7.62mm, CVA .50 caliber muzzle loader, and a 10 point Ranger crossbow.

We get good prices but no offers of donations of guns or other items.

We need to meet the needs of a couple different crowds, hunters and I guess preppers or SHTF people.

I wish we could afford a .338 Lapua and a big bore revolver like a .454, .460, or even a .500. Then add some lesser priced guns in on top of that.

We have made money the last 2 years doing this and I am just looking for some ideas for changing it up a bit.

Just remembered this, I wanted a Springfield Armory Range Master 1911 but got out voted.
 
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That's an average of $500 per item.
Click to expand...

A Mossberg 500 and a Rem 870 can be had for less than $500 each leaving more for a really nice gun as a grand prize whether rifle, shotgun or handgun.
 
Please be careful to follow any applicable laws. Raffles are often heavily regulated, and even when they are legal, it can be complicated to fully comply with all the restrictions.

Ok, what guns.

You'll sell more tickets if the guns are guns that people aren't especially likely to have. If your prizes are all guns that are common and very reasonably priced then anyone who really wants one probably already has one.
 
We are 100% legal on the raffle and we never touch the guns so that part is handled by the gun store. In order to pick up their prize they contact the gun store and present them with paperwork showing they won.
 
Okay, so we discussed this the other night at the fire station.

Here's what was bantied around, either a Springfield Armory M1A1 or an AR-10 or a Benelli Shotgun as the "Grand Prize", and for the additional prizes a .17hmr rifle, .22 pistol old west style revolver, a Taurus PT111G2 9mm, and a cross bow.

Now the big question is would you spend $10 on a ticket for those prizes?
 
We have always sold them for $10. Your response is why they are $10, people often pull out a $20 and say I'll take 2. I have sold 10 at a time too. We feel we don't have enough guns to go to a higher ticket price.
 
Then I'd keep it at $10. People don't like change and if you've always sold enough to make money, no reason to change it. If you do change it I'm sure you'll get questions of "Why the price hike this year?"
 
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