Aren't guns a better hobby investment than most others?

My wife told you years ago that I should get into cars, not firearms. Have you looked at the cost of tricking out a Mustang 5.0?! I told she had not idea what she was saying, but I did take the opportunity to buy that 25th Anniversary Mustang LX 5.0 for us. Turns out, she didn't want it tricked out. She just wanted a sporty car. I'll stick to firearms collecting. Cool thread idea!

Geno

Maybe, but they're a son-of-a-gun to sell, at least for me anyway. I've been buying silver as a hobby lately. Now, so far that's worked out real well.

I have quite a number of varied hobbies.

From what I've seen, firearms are one of the few where you can purchase something, enjoy using it for years, then sell it for something close to or exceeding what you paid for it.

I go for older firearms in general, and almost every one I've purchased is worth more than what I paid for it. And that is anything over 6 months old in my collection.

You won't necessarily get rich (unless you get lucky), but for a hobby, I don't think there is much that is better.

And don't say cars; I've got a few classics and they don't appreciate much at all compared to my firearms. I don't own any Ferraris, then again, I also don't own any machine guns...

I considered selling some silver to get a new gun. Didn't sell my silver, still got a new gun.
Life is short. Have fun now, and plan to have fun in the future.

IMO, aside from aside from gold and silver, guns are the next best thing after cash.
You always see people selling things "Will trade for guns etc.".

I would suggest that the proper way to measure the return on the hobby is how much joy it brings you, not how much you can sell the items for later.

As has been mentioned in dozens of threads here, if you want a good return on your money, there are many better options. But to me, a hobby is about doing something I enjoy, not maximizing monetary returns.

There are certainly many hobbies you can spend more on and many that you can spend less on.

ladies might have little luck reselling shoes or purses for near 90%

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I don't really think that is an apples to apples comparison. Last time I checked, purses didn't require ammo or other supplies. It seems like to really compare the cost of a hobby you need to do something more like a "total cost of ownership" calculation. You buy a gun for $500. You shoot 200 rounds out of it a month at a cost of $50 for the ammo, $10 in range fees, and say $2 in miscellaneous things (cleaning supplies, ear plugs, targets, etc) every month. At the end of the year, the gun and the cost to shoot it work out to $1244. You sell the gun for 90% of what you paid and get $450 back. You are down $794 for your hobby for the year. A lady buys $500 worth of purses and gets the same amount of joy from those purses you got from shooting. At the end of the year, she sells the purses for a mere 5% of what she paid. As that hobby has no additional expenses, she's only down $475 for the purse hobby and still about $300 ahead compared to the first gun example.

I suppose that math doesn't work for those who don't actually shoot the guns they buy, but I'm not sure how much enjoyment those people get.

Car audio equipment can retain its value pretty well. Some of the older models sell for a premium and there are people that just buy it to collect.

Most of my guns that I have sold retain value pretty well. If I lose out on some money on a sale, at least I got some fun/experience worth of money out of it.

Yeah, but if you put $794 in a purse and carry it around for a year, what fun is that?

I have 3 sets of golf clubs in the basement, minus a few putters and wedges that I gave away. I couldn't sell them at the church garage sale. I'm quite sure I wouldn't have the same problem with my guns.

If you want a hobby with the least cost and most benefit for your money spent - buy a good pair of walking shoes and go get fit. Guns are NOT a good investment vehicle. This is a fun hobby, but is costly with all of the consumables involved - even golf is less expensive from that aspect.

If you enjoy shooting, then do it for the fun aspect, not for any investment aspect

With the exception of my old '72 Blackhawk 3 screw, all of my revolvers would sell for more than I paid for them. And I still wouldn't sell the BH for what I paid for it. Older revolvers in good condition seem to be increasing in price around here the past 2 years or so.

It entirely depends on what guns you buy.

I bought a Walther TPH made by Interarms 22LR 6 years back. It's appreciated in value, at the very least retained it's value.

However, if you buy something years back and it's now selling for $100 more, some of that is inflation. That eats away at your return with everything. With guns you also have the transfer complication (with modern guns) - that fee cuts into your return on investment.

Precious metals seem to have a lot over guns for an investment. However, both precious metals and guns seem to be very liquid investments - you can probably sell them easily. You just have to hope for a buyer when it comes time to sell!

As one random example, I've seen the AR15 market fluctuate quite a bit since I started shopping around for one. They go up, they go down.

oneounceload said:

If you want a hobby with the least cost and most benefit for your money spent - buy a good pair of walking shoes and go get fit. Guns are NOT a good investment vehicle. This is a fun hobby, but is costly with all of the consumables involved - even golf is less expensive from that aspect.

If you enjoy shooting, then do it for the fun aspect, not for any investment aspect

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I like the walking idea!

If you buy smart, used guns not in production anymore etc..No reason you cannot buy as many as you like.

Through all my ups and downs Ive owned alot of things. And looking back now, my guns kept their value and more importantly gave me something to do I enjoyed. Same for my watch collection.

I have no problem filling my safe with more vs. stocks and other headaches.

I'd venture to say firearms beat used golf clubs and used golf balls.

Given enough time, anything will increase in value.....just look at Antiques Roadshow, American Pickers, and Barret-Jackson.

Geno,
25th Anniversary Mustang?.....Ford never officially really built a 25th Anniversary car. They just put a 25th Pony badge on the dash of all of them made from April 1989 thru June 1990....I've got one sitting in my garage I bought brand new.

Anyway, I think that as far as a hobby goes, guns make a good investment.

Aren't guns a better hobby investment than most others?

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I don't really care for using hobby and investment in the same context.

A hobby is a hobby and an investment is an investment. (Unless, like some people, investing is your hobby. eTrade, anybody?)

But if you're suggesting that buying guns as a hobby is less wasteful than, say, owning a boat, then yes, you're correct. It depends largely upon how shrewd you are in buying the gun. If you buy a gun as soon as it hits the market and pay suggested retail, you'll recover less of your money spent than if you wait for a decent deal.

I've been collecting/selling guns since the early 70s and if I had to live off the profit I'd be in trouble. Yet if I had been into high dollar boats I'd probably be even worse off.

While it's true that ammo is costly, the guns themselves are inexpensive considering the market value they retain, which counts for something. One of the best examples I can think of are high-end astronomical telescopes that while pricey can be enjoyed for decades and then sold at close to the price of a new one of like quality. There probably aren't many others, though.

teumessian_fox said:

I don't really care for using hobby and investment in the same context.

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Maybe guns shouldn't be looked at so much as an investment that implies an expected profit, but as equipment that doesn't cost as much as it may first appear. As for using this in the same context as hobbies, well, what's a hobby to you is an "investment" for your future heirs.

Workaday firearms are a second form of cash, no question about it. Like gold and silver they also tend to go up in value as the economy falters.

True investment-grade firearms are another matter (antique Winchesters, Colts, antique flintlocks, etc). Those may go up a lot in value, or they may go down. And you're looking at very high prices to buy them in the first place.

For a "TEOTWAKI" (or as you know it for that matter--job loss divorce etc) investment the workaday rifles and handguns are a better bet. You can get food for a .30'06 or for ammo.

This topic sounds an awful lot like "justification" to me.

Guns tend to at least keep up with inflation, if not better. That's a lot better than you'll get from most sporting equipment. Try getting as much as you paid for it out of a 5 year old pair of skis.

Ask your wife what percentage of her investment she could get out of her shoes.

I look at it this way...Of all my hobbies, buying guns is the best investment because it is the only hobby that protects my family and myself. Yes, a golf club can ward off a wannabe burglar, but only guns will stop a murderer effectively if they show up in your house at 2 a.m. Other investments & hobbies rely on my gun collection to keep them from being taken from me. So, my gun collection is my best overall investment.

...Plus what other investment can protect me from an over reaching government that might decide at some point in time that I can no longer possess gold or guns? I'll give up all of my other hobbies & investments before I give up my guns. As Obama so eloquently put it: I am clinging to my guns & religion because I am scared and can't understand what is going on in the world. Poor ignorant me.

Key ingredient is missing in this discussion....

Sure a gun costs money to actively shoot, but you guys are overlooking one of the biggest benefits of this "hobby"... THERAPY! Since $800 was used earlier in this thread we will continue with that number

So we assume that it costs $800 a year for you to shoot
-Ammo
-Targets
-Misc supplies, ect

Shooting supplies relief from a stressful day for whatever reason. Get a big enough gun or shoot something reactive and you get a big old grin sometimes even the giggles.

A therapist can charge that ($800) in ONE session and you dont get to destroy anything and you sure as heck aint smiling when you write the check.

I look at shooting as an investment into my sanity. Reloading helps even more.

My wife has come to realize this and leaves me alone to it because she knows that when Ive had a good day she can get away with whatever scheme she has cooked up during my absence

P.S. I got her to give the OK on a CMP Garand as an "investment". Good sell eh?