7.62 x 39 ammo...

[jonnyc]

mberoose, I'll just assume you can't read.

And Swampman, I'll assume you're just joking.

I realize those assumptions could be wrong, or open to juvenile ridicule, but to believe that adults can't rationally differentiate between value to shooters and value to collectors is laughable.
Done with this foolishness. Keep buying all that valuable and collectible Chinese ammo, I'm sure you will be rich someday.

 

[Swampman]

Me! Joking? Never!

Nonetheless, I'm fairly certain that nobody in 1860 thought that a box of .44 Henry Flat cartridges would ever be worth anything except to shoot...
The same thing goes for most of the "collectible" ammo out there.
Time is generally all that it takes to create scarcity, especially with consumable items such as ammunition.

 

[Torghn]

Some of you seem to have difficulty understanding the difference between intrinsic/shooter/hoarder value and collector value. The only people who see any premium value in Chinese steel-core ball ammo are shooters/hoarders. While there are those who do collect 7.62x39 ammo and boxes, Chinese ammo has been common and cheap hear for a very long time. It was imported in such vast quantity that anything unique or interesting has already been found by collectors, or is widely available on the collector market for very low prices. People who accumulate large quantities of identical items are hoarders, not collectors. Collectors collect collectibles, items that have some scarcity, variation, and interest. Chinese steel-core ammo in box lots just ain't collectible.
If this simple economics lesson doesn't resonate, well.....God bless you.

col·lec·tor
/kəˈlektər/
Noun

1 A person or thing that collects something, in particular.
2 A person who collects things of a specified type, professionally or as a hobby: "book collectors".

Source of value is irrelevant, so is scarcity or quantity. Mosin Nagants are collected, yet they are cheap and prevalent as well. This isn't a simple economics lesson, it's simple semantics.

 

[Reloadron]

Interesting thing about 7.62 X 39 ammunition is I likely have around 2,500 rounds of the stuff laying around here. Much of it going back to the old gun shop almost 20 years ago. As of today I have a single rifle that shoots the stuff and that is a lone SKS I seldom take out and shoot. I even found about 200 rounds of that E. German plastic bullet stuff in a can still packed in the 10 round packages. Why the hell can't that all be .223 or .308 stuff!

Ron

 

[Trent]

Interesting thing about 7.62 X 39 ammunition is I likely have around 2,500 rounds of the stuff laying around here. Much of it going back to the old gun shop almost 20 years ago. As of today I have a single rifle that shoots the stuff and that is a lone SKS I seldom take out and shoot. I even found about 200 rounds of that E. German plastic bullet stuff in a can still packed in the 10 round packages. Why the hell can't that all be .223 or .308 stuff!

Ron

Hah you probably had 10x that in 223 and 308 and shot all of it.

 

[jonnyc]

Torghn, let me guess....Harvard or Yale, right?

"Mosin Nagants are collected, yet they are cheap and prevalent as well. This isn't a simple economics lesson, it's simple semantics."

Your analysis is brilliant. That explains why every Mosin "collector" has dozens of exactly the same rifle, with no variation. Your lesson in semantics is most welcome and helpful. I'm going to run right out and buy a truck load of Pop-Tarts right now. Just think how "collectible" they will be in a few years.
Jeez!

 

[Reloadron]

jonnyc, I would avoid the pop tarts and focus on Twinkies. Your odds are better for a higher return on your investment I think. I have a case in the freezer and plan to ut the grandchildren through either Yale or maybe Harvard with it.

Seriously, people tend to collect things for a number of reasons. Last spring I went down to NC and a friend asked me to bring down a pile of .22 ammunition. I had a few packages of Remington stuff with 6 boxes to the package and a Remington labeled small flashlight. So I tossed them in. Went to a gun show while down in NC and don't you know a guy had a few of those same packages on his table for $40 each. Looked at my friend and told him I wanted my boolits back!

I guess if the guy ever gets his $40 each they were worth that much to someone as a collectable. I guess the same would hold true for someone buying old boxes of NORINCO 7.62 X 39 ammo. Personally I see the Twinkies as more collectable.

Ron

 

[jonnyc]

Hah!
I was actually going to use Twinkies in my analogy, but thought that they really might be collectible at some point. Even if they only get to eat your stash, your grandchildren will be lucky kids.

 

[dcarch]

I personally like Golden Tiger. Not sure how "collectible" it is. I seem to have collected a fair amount of it so far, though.