Your Opinion ...on Gun Values - Used guns

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BigJimP

New member
I'm in my 60's now ...and have around 50 handguns...25 or so S&W revolvers ( mod 18's, 27's, 29's - 66's, 686's, 629's... - values on a lot of them are around $ 1,000 today ) ...and a lot of higher end 1911's from Ed Brown, Les Baer, Wilson Combat...used values $ 2,500 or so ....

My son's are in their 30's ...and I've "Indoctrinated" them to reflect my attitudes...( no poly framed guns, stainless is good, Nickel is good, S&W revolvers are good, well made 1911's are great guns, etc )....

But my grandkids ( from 10yrs old - 21 yrs old ) ...don't look at my collection the same way. They are much more into the newer poly frame guns ...XD's, FN's, Black Rifles....and I don't think / they, as they get to be over 21 yrs old ....will be interested in buying older revolvers at prices like they are today ( $1,000 or more ) ....or high end 1911's for over $ 2,500.../ and I think the bottom may drop out of the used gun market - on the old revolvers and high end guns that I like very much ... I even see some young guys in their 20's and 30's now ....they don't want to spend more than $ 750 for any gun...they look at them simply as tools...

What do you think ? Will value on old S&W or Colt revolvers continue to go up ? Will high end 1911's still demand a premium price over $ 2,500 ? Are guns like the Sig X-Five at $ 2,100 -- or any Sig over $1,000 a market that will increase ?? or will all of these high end guns - end up in a niche market ? Will the values on these guns crash ...like baseball cards did from the 80's and 90's when they were hot ...vs today / when they're almost worthless... / what will happen when all of us Baby Boomers are gone ...will the market change ??
 
High end firearms will always retain a good part of their value. Some rare ones may beat inflation.

I don't think the introduction of poly guns has hurt the value of steel guns except at the lower utilitarian level.

Baseball values collapsed because there was a sudden influx of new suppliers. The cost of producing baseball cards is pretty much the same for all suppliers and quality is pretty much the same.
Professional baseball killed the golden goose.

That isn't possible where production costs are so different and production isn't kept artificially low.
 
IMHO . . . there will always be collectors for such firearms. I'm your age and enjoy the "traditional" (steel) guns as well. There will always be those who prefer revolvers over semi-autos and vise-versa.

That said . . . over the past couple of years I have liquidated my long-guns as I have no children and I didn't want something to happen to me and my wife be faced with having to do it - she's not a gun person. Many of them were nice collectible Civil War weapons, etc. I consigned them to a dealer and he put them up on GB. Did they bring what they would have a few years ago? No . . not overall but I realized a gain over what I had paid for them years ago. I went into it with the philosophy that they "were worth what they brought the day they sold". I could have put a high reserve on them and they would still be sitting at the dealers waiting for someone to come along who couldn't live without them . . . but let's face it . . . the economy now "is what it is". I sold my mother's house a couple years ago acting sitting vacant for almost five years . . it didn't bring what it would have before everything took a dump either.

I guess my point is that hopefully your grandchildren will grow to love them as much as you do as time goes by . . if not . . you have enjoyed them, your children have enjoyed them and those are the important things. After you are gone, the value of them has little to do with anything . . . they will be worth what they are worth and some one will enjoy them as much as you have/are.
 
What do you think ? Will value on old S&W or Colt revolvers continue to go up ? Will high end 1911's still demand a premium price over $ 2,500 ? Are guns like the Sig X-Five at $ 2,100 -- or any Sig over $1,000 a market that will increase ?? or will all of these high end guns - end up in a niche market ? Will the values on these guns crash ...like baseball cards did from the 80's and 90's when they were hot ...vs today / when they're almost worthless... / what will happen when all of us Baby Boomers are gone ...will the market change ??
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I think that there will always be a high market and that it currently is and will always be a niche market. When you look at the total gun sales these have always been the minority of sales.

That does not mean they will not hold their value. Look at the price of GI 1911s. The reality is that guns like the older S&W and Colt revolvers are no longer being produced and that fact alone will keep their value high. The Sig high end market IMO is much more susceptible to deflation. They are still being produced and they really only appeal to a minority of a minority. Look around even on this board and others like it only a few own a pistol of that caliber.
 
I'm not whining about the values of my own guns...its kind of irrelevent ...and I've enjoyed and shot every single one of them many times..../ they'll all be passed down to my boys ...and some of them to the grandkids.

I guess the point I was trying to spark some discussion on ...is whether these older - well made guns - will continue to go up in price / or at least maintain their current prices...( even in this economy / they've done well ) ....but if the economy improves...will the kids, young shooters...still pay these values, or more....10 yrs from now, 20 yrs from now, 30 yrs from now...long after most of us in our 60's today are gone / or we have at least quit buying guns probably ???

As you respond....if you want / tell us your age...maybe it'll help us understand your perspective...
 
I guess the point I was trying to spark some discussion on ...is whether these older - well made guns - will continue to go up in price / or at least maintain their current prices...( even in this economy / they've done well ) ....but if the economy improves...will the kids, young shooters...still pay these values, or more....10 yrs from now, 20 yrs from now, 30 yrs from now...long after most of us in our 60's today are gone / or we have at least quit buying guns probably ???

As you respond....if you want / tell us your age...maybe it'll help us understand your perspective...
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I am not old but I am not young either. If all goes well I will be buying guns for another 30+ years. I own some tactical plastic but most of my guns are steel or at least alum. I think there are a lot more of me out there than you are accounting for.
 
I hope you're right WV ....but I still don't know...

( I'm shooting a tactical course of fire tonite for a few hours ....triple taps, some reload stages, drawing every stage from a holster..../ and I'm shooting a high end 1911 in 9mm ...and a model 27-2 Nickel S&W 4" ( with full power .357 mag reloads) ...with some speed loaders ) and I expect to have a ball.....and I'll shoot the course 3 or 4 times with the 1911 ...and 3 or 4 times with the revolver...

I suck on the reload stages with the revolver...but I have no problem carrying a S&W K, L or N frame for defense if I wanted to ....because, if I had to pull a weapon - at a threat probably at between 6 - 21 Feet, it'd probably be over in less than 10 sec...with less than 6 shots fired anyway.../ and I know all 6 of mine, will be center mass....and pretty quick !
 
Jim, my friend, I wish I had a crystal ball and could tell you what's going to happen. As with anything else, used gun prices respond to the laws of supply and demand. We've all witnessed, with guns, the political atmosphere has a lot to do with the demand side of the equation.

A lot of what's going on is a generational thing. When we graybeards were kids we could occupy our selves for hours with very little. The video game generation seems to have a very short attention span. I've seen newbies get frustrated because they can't master shooting their first time out.

Since 9-11 there seems to have been a significant shift among shooters. When I started shooting handguns, the object was to get all your rounds in the 10-ring with as many Xs as possible. I'd spend half a day working with a .22, .38 and .45 -- typically shot at 25-yards (and sometimes at 50-yards if the range allowed). Then there was the era of practical or combat shooting. Now, many shooters just want to put as many rounds as possible into a silhouette at pepper spray distance.

Back in the day, civilian target practice was generally to increase our chances when hunting. Organized shooting activities developed from hunting practice. These days, it's tactical this and tactical that, the emphasis seems to be practicing to improve your chances of shooting another person. We've seen changes in the shooting sports from hunting related activities to war games. There seems to be a general post 9-11 paranoia. If you want to sell a used gun, then you'll do better if you feed the paranoia. Hopefully there will always be a market for higher-end guns.
 
That's what they said about the hoards of Glocks in service during the 1980's. Your local PD paid from $255-295 for a new Model 17 or 19 back then. With the finish half worn off, those guns will bring more resale than that today. Ruger has raised their MSRP thru the roof every year, though their quality is basically the same as it was 30 years ago. As long as S&W insists on selling their old designs for $1000, they're heading for a huge crash like Colt did. Winchester sold out to foreigners after laying off all our American friends. Remington is owned by a conglomerate intent on flooding the market in order to maintain a numbers monopoly. What we need is a new American gun company that will stay dedicated to American shooters. That's where my money would go--maybe.:mad:

-7-
 
I think the OP makes a good point. If younger people don't want high-end features, then it could be that prices will eventually fall out. There will always be some collectors though. I'm only 31. I carry a Glock and only own a few other firearms. At this time, at this age, most people I know simply can't afford to get into higher end guns. It might be that way for some time.

I would love to get my hands on a top end 1911...but I don't see that happening for many, many years. Unless some kind, older gentleman was willing to take a huge loss on one of those 1911's and slide it my way so that it could be loved and appreciated...
 
A lot of what's going on is a generational thing. When we graybeards were kids we could occupy our selves for hours with very little. The video game generation seems to have a very short attention span. I've seen newbies get frustrated because they can't master shooting their first time out.

Since 9-11 there seems to have been a significant shift among shooters. When I started shooting handguns, the object was to get all your rounds in the 10-ring with as many Xs as possible. I'd spend half a day working with a .22, .38 and .45 -- typically shot at 25-yards (and sometimes at 50-yards if the range allowed). Then there was the era of practical or combat shooting. Now, many shooters just want to put as many rounds as possible into a silhouette at pepper spray distance.

Back in the day, civilian target practice was generally to increase our chances when hunting. Organized shooting activities developed from hunting practice. These days, it's tactical this and tactical that, the emphasis seems to be practicing to improve your chances of shooting another person. We've seen changes in the shooting sports from hunting related activities to war games. There seems to be a general post 9-11 paranoia. If you want to sell a used gun, then you'll do better if you feed the paranoia. Hopefully there will always be a market for higher-end guns.
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When I read this type of post it makes me shake my head. This is the exact attitude which pushes a lot of the new young shooters away from the old school guns and those that shoot them. Look at all the negativity thrown toward the younger generations. Young people have no attention span? No discipline? No respect for shooting as a sport and only want to shoot people? Sorry but if I read this as a young newbie I would find it off putting and unwelcoming. With attitudes like that why would they want to emulate the past?
 
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Being in my 60's I like blue steel and walnut. However a Polymer pistol is what I carry most. The 1911 and S&W revolvers are my range guns growing old does not mean that you can't change with the times. The Black-hawk that i carried in my 20s is a lot heaver now. Quality firearms will always worth more. :D:
 
There will still be some of us young people who appreciate the older guns. I'm still on my 20s, but I was raised family members that taught me to appreciate the finer aspects of guns. I don't own any polymer pistols, I have a nice collection of S&Ws, a few Pythons, 5 High Standard target .22s, and 8 1911s. I definitely don't fit into the same category as most people my age. I take meticulous care of all my guns and treat them as if they were gold. I can't tell you how many times I see people (usually around my age) that say I'm stupid for being that picky with my guns. They say "it's a tool, use it how you want and don't worry about what it looks like". They totally miss the whole point. How many people with classic cars run them ragged as daily drivers? Just doesn't happen that often.

I'm not worried about the market value of these classic guns so much as I worry about the future condition of them. I hate to think about what kind of condition these guns will be in after they get handed down to the "tool generation". That's what keeps me taking meticulous care with my guns and buying as many classics in good shape as I can afford.
 
WVsig, you views of the changing firearms marketplace my differ form mine. Feel free to express your opinion; but, please, don't misquote me in the process.

With respect to your: "With attitudes like that why would they want to emulate the past?"
Who's asking anyone emulate the past? My point is the past is behind us and the gun market has changed drastically. I'm not making any value judgements, just observing change. I only hope there are more young shooters, like Olympus, who appreciate fine guns.
 
WVsig, you views of the changing firearms marketplace my differ form mine. Feel free to express your opinion; but, please, don't misquote me in the process.

With respect to your: "With attitudes like that why would they want to emulate the past?"
Who's asking anyone emulate the past? My point is the past is behind us and the gun market has changed drastically. I'm not making any value judgements, just observing change. I only hope there are more young shooters, like Olympus, who appreciate fine guns.
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Re-read your post. In what way did I misquote you? Sorry to break it to you but your post is full of value judgements. I think you need to take a deep breathe and think about what you wrote.

In the end believe whatever you want its all good but consider that your attitude might be part of the problem.
 
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Perhaps Zippy takes issue with your complaint that his post as much as demonstrated an "exact attitude" toward young shooters with

No attention span & No discipline. I ,iossed where Zipy said that.

Again, while you began by talking about a "type" of post, you then critcized Zippy for his "exact" attitude.
 
Wow a glass half empty thread. No matter if you like new or old, they’re all good, high end, low end. When I started buying firearms, I like many began with a limited budget as my life moved forward my budgets grew. So what started on the clearance table moved towards custom orders. I think this happens to most people. So give our younger shooters time and wait and see, they may just surprise you.
Some of what might be perceived as cheap plastic guns may be the collectable of the future. If someone has that crystal ball please let me know what will happen so I can buy accordingly. Some of my clearance items have done well so you never really know where the values will be.
 
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