Shoot it and value drops

I would shoot it too. I don't buy guns not to shoot them.

I am with you. My gun are tools and/or toys, NOT investments. I despise the idea of safe queens and guns too valuable to shoot. I have no interest in owning a firearm that would fall into that category. All my guns get shot.

I wouldn't mind having the king's musket and respecting it as a museum piece, but there's nothing too valuable to shoot at least once.

It depends on the gun. Some guns made 50-70 years ago that are still unfired and in the box with all paperwork truly are worth the money compared to an identical gun that has been used. And 50-70 years from now there will be the same for some production guns made today. You see the same with knives and other collectible items. The value of some old Case knives that are still like new and unsharpened is considerably more than the ones that have been used.

If you don't need to use it, I have no problem with it. Most people that do have plenty of other guns to shoot. Many of them buy them just as investments and have no plans to ever shoot them. And with some guns firing just a few rounds through them will only reduce value slightly as long as they are in otherwise like new condition.

I have a one of 500 Marlin rifles produced in 2005. I still have the box and all paperwork, but I did fire a single 3 shot group with it. Unless I tell you, you'd never know those 3 shots were fired. Remember, they fire a few test shots through all of them before they leave the factory.

I don't plan to sell it, one of the grandkids will get it. But I could easily sell it for somewhere between 3X to 4X what I paid. In another 50 years who knows.

Just one more "gun financial myth." Much like "MGs are an investment."*

If you are talking about a $300 Savage, sure, shooting it means you are not going to get $300 for it again. Might get $250; maybe $150 selling it to the LGS (or a hundred at the pawn shop).

But firearms that actually increase in value are pretty rare.
Let's say a person had a 1920s Luger. The possibility of it being unfired is infinitesimal. And, it will be worth a dime or two. But, unless you inherit the thing, you are going to be hard pressed to actually realize a huge gain out of it.

What's an unfired $1500 Sako worth? About $1500.

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*The myth is that a $50,000 MG is an "investment" is entirely like saying a $50,000 plane is and investment. An investment, in financial terms is something that earns 10% in compounding interest. Not something you shelled out $45,000 for and sold for $49,000 (and burned $15K in ammo through).

Mostly no.

I know a few guys who bought the commemorative Winchester lever guns when I was a kid, kept them in the box, showed them off. Said they would never fire them, because they were collectibles. Ok. Here's the thing though. It is pretty rare that things that were manufactured with the INTENT of becoming collectible actually become collectible. It's usually the circumstances that happen AFTER they are manufactured that makes them collectible. Gibson "limited" (to however many they can sell) guitars. "Collector's Edition" comic books. Any coin bought off late night TV. NOT a strong investment. I haven't heard of any of those commemorative rifles going for big cash. MAYBE some of them hold about even.

I have a commemorative Para SF-45A I bought as part of my deployment to Iraq. But I never thought for one second I wouldn't ever shoot it. (The things are for sale all over the place, btw. Not worth any more than any other similar Para.)

What I see growing in value are guns that are A: famous for their iconography, and or B: either no longer manufactured or in very limited production. Things like the Bren Ten, The Automag, original Pythons, etc. I just think that if you go around buying guns planning to have them appreciate, it will be hit and miss, with the emphasis on miss.

My most valuable guns are the M-1 carbine, 1917 Enfield, and 1897 16 ga I inherited from my grandfather. I am going to restore the Enfield to original field issue condition (it's sporterized now,) and the '97 needs a full barrel replacement and restoration. I will do it, and I don't care about the dollar value AT ALL, because they are never leaving my family, and my grandfather would smack the back of my head if he thought I never planned to use them.

I don't worry too much about the appreciation/depreciation in value of my guns, because I'll never sell any of them. And they will appreciate, even if I shoot them, due to inflation if nothing else. My kids will get more for them than I paid for them, which will be all profit for them anyway, since they didn't buy them. Many of my guns are unremarkable and not really old, like my 1911's, so they will not increase much over the next few years. My S&W revolvers are all in the 50-55 year old range, only one is unfired since the factory test shots. They've already gone up in value since I bought them.

I have one that I do not shoot. Actually, I have fired two shells. Got it from my wife's step dad. He bought it new. He fired one box of shells through it. I've had it for about 25 years now. It's a Pietro Beretta Silver Hawk made in 1959. When I show it off to someone, usually their mouth will drop open and their eyes will bug out and they will say????1959????. I would say it's upwards of 98% original condition.
It's not a money investment to me and I'm not overly concerned with what it's worth today.
I want to leave to my son. If he wants to sell it, So be it. If he wants to leave it to his son, So be it.
Just me.

What's the point of owning a great gun and wanting to shoot it but won't because you're worried about depreciation? You miss out on the enjoyment of operating it. It's like owning a sofa and keeping it covered with a plastic cover.

I have shooters, not collectors. My Colt SAA is fun to shoot. My original Winchester 1892 is fun to shoot. My Winchester 1894 is fun to shoot. All could be collectible, but I find that value is just what people will pay, and that changes like the wind.

My opinion on this topic can be best summed up by the first target I shot with my brand, spanking new Colt SAA:

Only new once….if that is your gig, enjoy it. I am not in the position to buy a firearm with the hope of appreciation - not my gig. Sort of do what you do attitude here on this….

sequins said:

I wouldn't mind having the king's musket and respecting it as a museum piece, but there's nothing too valuable to shoot at least once.

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I actually have a museum quality, custom Long Land Pattern King's Musket. It's as historically correct a reproduction as you can have made for the muskets that were issued to British soldiers in the colonies during the Revolution. The parts were cast from original pieces. The original owner kept it as a safe queen and only shot blanks from it, scared perhaps to devalue it. I had other ideas for it.

My only concern would be parts replacement for certain collectables. Or if the firearm had specific historic significance.

Other than that, I shoot what I own.

RetiredUSNChief said:

My opinion on this topic can be best summed up by the first target I shot with my brand, spanking new Colt SAA:

View attachment 1041309

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Man, just another sign that colt really doesn't want people shooting their firearms....

I don't look at my firearms as "investments" and shoot them all.

I don't mind people who buy guns for collector's value. More power to them...it's as good a reason as any.

Frankly, if I had more free capital, I may have bought another Colt SAA for that...but this was one of my dream guns from early childhood and I wasn't going to get one and NOT shoot it!

CapnMac said:

*The myth is that a $50,000 MG is an "investment" is entirely like saying a $50,000 plane is and investment. An investment, in financial terms is something that earns 10% in compounding interest. Not something you shelled out $45,000 for and sold for $49,000 (and burned $15K in ammo through).

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Depends when you bought it and what it was. I paid $800 for my MP5 and sold it for $15K. Wish I held out another ten years, as they are going for about $35K now.

The bazillion rounds through it over the years is just "ammo", some I paid for, and a lot I didn't. Ammo costs don't count towards the guns, and the guns are cheap in comparasion.

I've got a friend who up until a year or so ago, had owned a LGS for the last decade or more. Prior to that he was an FFL dealer without a store but would order things, do transfers, etc.
He doesn't hunt. He very rarely shoots aside from his carry gun and that's not often. He has at least 10 BHP's unfired, in their original box (27 total, but he can't remember exactly how many are unfired) including a couple very early built ones.

His earliest Colt 1911 is from somewhere in the 1930's...he told me, but I can't remember. It has its original box and could pass as unfired, but no way to verify. He has close to 20 Colt 1911's that to his knowledge have never had a round chambered.

Most of his stuff isn't necessarily rare, but not so commonly found (or afforded) in unfired condition. The stuff he likes, he wants the best examples of. He's the same way with coins. Granted, some guns he's had for 30-40 years...but they're all worth a significant amount more than he paid for them.

Far as I am concerned, a gun that is never fired does not have any value. Ask a comic book collector if he has ever read any of his comics. Those guys are nuts.

The value to my mental health and enjoyment far exceeds the value to my wallet. Too many people are all about money. Glad I'm not one of them....

It is a curiosity for sure. I have 3 friends who are "collectors". All very different guys. Each of them have a few unfired weapons, all pistols. They examine them and show them off with the very same reverence. As they examine them, for the umpteenth time, they seem mesmerized by the beauty, craftsmanship, and sheer pleasure of handling a pristine firearm that belongs totally to them. I confess that it is a mystery to me, but those guys really cherish those weapons. More power to them.

I would no sooner own a gun and not shoot it than marry a supermodel (yeah....like that would ever happen...) and not, ummm, "enjoy all she had to offer".

Is that THR enough?

Bill Raby said:

Far as I am concerned, a gun that is never fired does not have any value. Ask a comic book collector if he has ever read any of his comics. Those guys are nuts.

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I was the same with Pokémon cards when I was a kid, I didn't ever play the game and to this day I don't even know how. The fun it it for me was acquiring them, hunting them down and trading up. I had a very impressive collection of first editions, had just about every card available at the time and in some cases multiples.

I gave the whole collection to some kid when I was around 17 and had long been out of the collecting phase, I realize now I gave away a future fortune. Those original cards go for crazy money and I don't even look now because even though it's been 20 years, I still remember what I had...... it pays to hang onto stuff sometimes....

I have some decades old unfired models with the boxes and docs. They are worth more than I paid for them. I have no desire to shoot them. I like owning them. When I get tired of owning them, I plan to sell and put the money in something else that I want.