My first hunting rifle then and now... how much would you pay for a memory?

how much would you pay for a memory?

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The ones I remember the best cost me the most, and those aren't even good memories.

Maybe a pre-1964 in excellent shape is...................JMO

You didn`t mention what year that 94 in your local gun shop was. If it`s as above, absolutely.

Condition ,cal and pre-1964......... that`s the money shot.

That is not that bad a price especially when factoring inflation in over the years.

How many times can an old hunter revisit his younger days? I traded off a S&W 27-2 8 3/8" .357 40 years ago. I found one last year in nice condition. I bought it at today's price. It lives mostly on my desk at home. Every time I look at it I revisit great memories long past. Yes, it was worth every penny I paid for it.

Hokkmike wrote:
...how much would you pay for a memory?

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My first center-fire rifle was a Universal M1 Carbine. I actually ended up with two. I sold one to finance my purchase of an Iver-Johnson Carbine in 5.7mm Johnson and my father disposed of the other one. To replace it today with one of like kind and quality would cost more than $500. I've decided that for that kind of money, I'd rather not live in the past.

Hokkmike said:

1955

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Made in 1955. "Very well kept specimen". Being reacquainted with some fond memories. $895.00? Yeah, I think it's worth it-would be to me, at least.

New stuff is just that.....new.
In the early years, when weapons were assembled, hand fitted, checked and rechecked, they were
finished off with pride by craftsman.
If you own older weapons, say pre-1964 they reflect that . Just look at the re-sale prices on older weapons. If the condition is there ..........worth every penny. JMO.

It would be worth it to me....however.

Some people view things as just things....nothing more. You don't sound like one of those people.

I would say if it was me i would jump on it.

Get one. If not that one, then

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/645370425

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/648595849

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/648248174

As examples.

I sold one, early Nineties manufacture, NIB about 5 years ago on GB for $725.

Hokkmike said:

But, that 94 does have some nostalgic appeal. Problem is, is it worth almost 1K? What do you think?

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It doesn't matter what I think, Hokkmike. Is it worth "almost 1K" to you?
What I mean is, when it was all said and done, I paid close to $3000.00 for my beloved .308 Norma - for mostly nostalgic reasons that I won't go into here because I've explained them before on this forum. But will my custom .308 Norma do anything a regular, off the shelf, Winchester 70, 300 Win Mag (or for that matter, a 30-06) won't do? Nope.
But what my custom .308 Norma is worth to someone else is not the point. I wanted it, I could afford it, I like it a lot, and I don't expect anyone else to understand why I paid 3 times what they paid for their "just as good" rifle.
Of course there's always the argument that I actually use my custom .308 Norma, while, from what I gather, you're probably not going to use that .32 Special, Model 94. Is that correct? I still say it doesn't matter. What matters is how much nostalgic value that rifle has to you - not me, or anyone else.

I can answer this and for me at least, it was for the exact same rifle.

For Christmas in 1984, my father bought my brother and me a pair of pre-64 Win. 30-30's They were our first "real" hunting rifles. Like an damn fool, I traded that gun 15 years later to a good friend for some work I needed done. He then sold it to another mutual friend and that gentlemen used it for the next 15 years. Fortunately for me, I kept in contact with both guys and was able to "buy back" my first hunting rifle a few years ago. I paid him the going rate for well-used pre-65 Win 94's but I would have happily paid 2x that much to get my first deer rifle back in my hands. So for me at least, $1K isn't too much for the right gun and the right reasons.

I also happen to still have my very first "gun" - a 20 ga. H&R single shot that my father bought me in 1979. I gave it to my mother to keep around her house for "varmints" around 1990 and it came home to me after she was killed in a car wreck a few years ago. The fact that it was my first gun and that she put every mark on that gun that it proudly wears today makes it priceless to me.