You ever get tempted to sell off rare guns?

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stephen426

New member
Is there ever a point where prices have climbed so high you guys feel tempted to sell of some of your rarer guns? Prices have gone through the roof on Sig P210s and H&K P7M8s lately. The P210 was discontinued for a little while and then Sig brought out the Legend edition. According to Sig's website, the P210 Legend has now been discontinued. H&K has discontinued the P7 series and has not made any indication that it would bring it back. Another gun that has gone up considerably (I don't own one) is the Colt Python.

Prices have gone through the roof on these guns. I purchased my first Sig P210 about 5 or 6 years ago. I bought the 50th Anniversary Edition (brand new in box) for about $2,400. I could not bring myself to shoot it so I bought a pre-owned P210 for about $2,000. I shoot that gun and enjoy it, but I was lured by the beauty of a P210 Legend in Silver. I love the American mag release and the big beaver tail (that doesn't bite my hand). Question is I don't know if I will ever shoot the P210 50th Anniversary Edition so do I just leave it in the safe or just sell it for a nice profit? I would even consider parting ways with the used P210 based on how high prices have gotten. Prices on the H&K P7M8 have gone up significantly as well. I bought mine new for about $1400 about 6 years ago. I shoot it every so often, but it is just a safe queen. I would never carry it (too impractical). It shoots well, but it is not a target gun (especially compared to a P210).

I know it may be difficult to get these guns at a later date, but there isn't that much of an emotional attachment to them. I could easily make enough profit on them to buy the Sig MPX I have been eye balling. Thoughts? I guess the question is how much is too much and does the object really bring any joy. I love my Les Baer Thunder Ranch Special which I bought pre-owned. I ended up buying a new 1911 Monolith Heavyweight with the 1.5" guarantee a few years later, but it doesn't shoot as well as the Thunder Ranch Special.
 
I just traded away a couple of unfired collectible Colts (I was the second owner). I got no joy from them so traded for something I could shoot and made a decent profit doing so. But it's an individual decision.
 
If you have a "shooter" P-210, selling the special edition version (for a considerable profit, if you wait a while) seems like a smart thing.

I had a P-210-6, and it was a marvelous gun, but I was shooting gun games a bit, and it didn't work there.

[ hated the P-210's mag release on the heel of the butt, and had to round the edges on the sights, to keep from bleeding during matches. I also hated the cost of magazines ($100+ back then) -- and couldn't bring myself to buy as many as I felt I needed. A friend had two P-210s, one with a matching .22 kit, and they ATE HIS hand [hammer bite], and he sold his after a number of painful range sessions.

I sold P-210, along with a very nice S&W 52-2, and a pristine WII Luger Bring-back. Those three guns bought me a nice used pickup when I badly needed a second vehicle and didn't want to get in debt. I'd like to have all three back, but not enough to spend the money needed...

(I have an unrired S&W Model 17-3 in my gun safe, in original box, papers, etc. and I am so tempted to shoot it. I have avoided it, thus far, because I may need it to help buy another vehicle, some day.)
 
I've never had an exceptionally rare and collectible handgun. I did have a transferable machine gun that I traded when the price went high enough.
 
Sure. Within the last ten years...

I have sold:

--a pair of consecutive serial number P7M10s (had to break up the pair, so they went to different owners).
--my P7M13 (my favorite of the half-dozen-plus P7s I've owned, and probably my favorite 9mm ever).
--a GunCrafter Industries .50GI 1911
--a gorgeous 6" pre-M-17 S&W (.22LR revolver)
--a gorgeous 6" M-57 S&W (.41 Rem Mag)
--a gorgeous 6" M-27 S&W (.357 Rem Mag)
--a gorgeous 6" M-25 S&W (.45LC)

...and others....those are the more memorable ones.

Hey, you can't own them all (not at one time, anyway).

I consider myself a serial collector. :)
I'll buy something nice, keep it a little while, shoot it a a bit, sell it and buy something else.

If I drop dead tomorrow, I don't have to worry about my wife selling a whole bunch of valuable guns (and perhaps getting taken to the cleaners by whomever).
 
I have done it. Sometimes rare isn't as important as useful, or neat.

So, yes, I've sold rare to pay for something more useful, or better.
 
Sold a very rare I frame 32 SWL S&W R&P Target - one of only a few hundred made - I was made an offer I couldn't refuse. Won't get rid of my P7, it was a gidft form my wife and she has laid claim to it anyway......:eek:
 
Somehow I ended up with two safe queens that I haven't shot yet and still can't figure out if I am ever going to actually take them out to the range.

I have a nearly perfect second generation SAA and a never been fired Turnbull open range revolver that are just taking up room in my safe.

I keep bouncing back and forth between selling them and taking them out to the range...

edit- oops, this is the Semi forum....
 
I've sold off my entire collection, or most of it. None of them were "rare" but they were all nice. Most were revolvers. A Python, several Official Police 38's, Smith & Wesson 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 64, 66 and probably some more I've forgotten. Most of them more than one or two examples. A half dozen 10/22's, a Marlin 39, Parker, Hunter, and Lefever shotguns...couple of SKS's... You get the idea.

They're your's. Sell them if you want to. They're just things, made to be bought and sold.
 
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I have never sold a gun. I traded my brother 2 long guns in the late 60s and traded a Hi-Point for a Taurus revolver with my neighbor a few months ago. My "collection" has inched up to 11 and I think I will die with them.

I don't have any rare guns of value anyway. I just want guns to shoot and enjoy.
 
Generally only if I don't care about the gun, it's not too hard to replace, or I have duplicates.

Things I have that are virtually irreplaceable, like the Dardick, Delta AR Top Gun, Mateba MTR8s, Walther P5 Lang, etc. will never ever get sold.
 
I buy guns to shoot. The few I sold/traded weren't fun to shoot any more, so off they went. Several of my guns will likely be in high demand in a few years. As long as I enjoy shooting them, they have a home with me.
 
For the right price everything is for sale. Sold a bunch over the years with zero regrets. I have a few less common guns that I'd sell in a heart beat. Just waiting on the right price.
 
The question isn't if it's for sale, but rather when. I'd sell when you think the value has peaked. Or, if you have no heir and no desire to preserve your value, whenever you can buy something you want with the money.
 
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Yup. They were literally too nice and historical to shoot. But they wouldn't impress most folks who wouldn't know what they were if you explained it to them. Sold them to someone who could appreciate them for what they were for a massive windfall. Don't miss them in the least.

Sometimes you miss guns you've sold. It's funny that the only ones that I miss were not the valuable, rare, or noteworthy. If anything, I only miss the rather mundane, workaday guns that I've sold.

Selling guns is not a big deal. Don't drag around what doesn't work for you because it's a gun. The market is active and there are always buyers and sellers. Try new things, learn more about what works for you, and move on if it doesn't work. Quality of a collection always outweighs quantity of a collection.
 
DanTSX said:
Selling guns is not a big deal. Don't drag around what doesn't work for you because it's a gun. The market is active and there are always buyers and sellers. Try new things, learn more about what works for you, and move on if it doesn't work. Quality of a collection always outweighs quantity of a collection.
Click to expand...

That says it very well!

Guns are tools, the ownership of which is guaranteed (at least for now) by law. If you want a different gun, get it -- and if one doesn't fit you, sell it. When that happens it simply means the "tool" didn't fit your hand or do the job the way you hoped it would -- but that's sometimes hard to know, without using it for a while.

As DanTSX said, it's about learning more about what works for you, and moving on if it doesn't.
 
Thanks for all the great feedback guys. I am most likely going to sell the 50th Anniversary Edition Sig P210. There is no sense in me shooting it since I have an original P210 that I shoot. There is a possibility that may drop the original P210 as well since I hate the European mag release and the hammer bite issue. I only have one H&K P7M8 so I will most likely hold on to it for now.
 
RE: P-210 hammer bite...

You might consider buying a second hammer, and having it bobbed a bit (and recontoured). That might fix the hammer-bite problem, and you'd still have a stock hammer if you ever wanted to sell it later.

I never had a problem with hammer bite with mine, but was a bit put off by the 8-round mags and mag release. (I only shot IDPA, so 8 vs. 10 rounds wasn't that big an an issue -- but extra mags [at $100 a pop] was.)
 
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Funny you mention the P7

I bought one that was a police trade in about 5 years ago when you could get them for around 600-700 here. I wanted it since I was a teenager and it serves as my bedside gun (pick it up and it works - no safety, etc.). Now that they are bringing 1200 - 1500 here I have "thought" about selling it for the tidy profit, and then realize I would probably never have another one. And my wife is comfortable picking it up when things go bump in the night also......

J
 
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