Ammo is insurance not savings

[Ignition Override]

Let's just get down to it.
Ask your girlfriend/wife/sister (whoever) about what fraction of the original value she can get on used purses, shoes.
I asked my wife exactly that, and she had no response.

That will put it in a very clear nutshell. Life is too short to mess around.

 

[justice06rr]

That's a good definition of price, but not of value. Value has nothing to do with money and nothing to do with what anyone else thinks an item is worth. Value is simply the reason one decides to possess an item.

In other words, an item has value to someone simply because for that person it fills a perceived need. Value comparison is nothing more than deciding whether Item A has a higher usefulness to resource "tie-up or depletion ratio" than item B.

This relates to ammo very directly. Having plenty can be either savings or insurance, and it can be both at the same time. Savings, in that it could be bartered or converted into cash. Insurance, in that it's a hedge against an unknowable possible future occurrence.

For most people, there is value in holding ammo as savings and/or as insurance, but there are limits. One's ammo supply is valuable only to the point where he perceives that its usefulness as savings and/or insurance is outweighed by the amount of resources it ties up, precluding those resources from being used for something else. Economists call this "opportunity cost."

Good explanation.

Price and value are not necessarily the same at all times. I would compare this to vehicles too. For example I bought a motorcycle for $10k in 2006 and sold it in 2012 for $5k (true story). The value of the motorcyle to me is always $10k because that is what I paid for it down to the penny, but the price has depreciated to $5k when it sold.

On the other hand most guns appreciate in value and price. Even your $89 Mosin Nagant is now $119 or more.

Ammo is an expendable item, therefore when its gone its gone. You can reload of course, but that is a different story and costs money just the same. Firearms themselves can appreciate or depreciate based on time and quality.

 

[justice06rr]

Let's just get down to it.
Ask your girlfriend/wife/sister (whoever) about what fraction of the original value she can get
on used purses, shoes. I asked my wife exactly that, and she had no response.

That will put it in a very clear nutshell. Life is too short to mess around.

Even worse are used wedding dresses and some jewelry. Why would someone buy worn items? Lol. Jewelry can be resold of course, but in lower value most of the time

 

[PabloJ]

I just realized that while guns are like savings, ammo is like insurance.

Guns are like savings because if you buy good used items at auction prices you can put them in your safe and sell them down the road for about as much as you paid. And they are a hedge against inflation. Not a way to earn a living, but a way to salt away hard assets.
E
Not so ammo. Ammo can be had at auction price from big volume online sellers, but the turn around is not so easy. It does ,however, provide insurance that ammo will be available for shooting.
G

Few new federal and or state laws re sale or ownership and your investment goes down the drain. Something like coin collecting is far safer bet and can be sold world wide if you choose to do so. Unless one shoots on regular basis buying excessive amounts of ammo is basically throwing money away. The funds could have been used for other necessities and the stuff does not improve with age.

 

[bushmaster1313]

Unless one shoots on regular basis buying excessive amounts of ammo is basically throwing money away. The funds could have been used for other necessities and the stuff does not improve with age.

Very true.

Few new federal and or state laws re sale or ownership and your investment goes down the drain. Something like coin collecting is far safer bet and can be sold world wide if you choose to do so.

True again

But I am hoping that something like the status quo continues, and I am not counting on any funds tied up in firearms.

 

[JohnBT]

" buying excessive amounts of ammo is basically throwing money away"

- Huh? Where? All of my ammo is worth a great deal more than I paid for it.

"The funds could have been used for other necessities and the stuff does not improve with age."

- I have money for necessities. Ammo may not improve with age, but it doesn't get worse. Ammo lasts for many decades if stored indoors.


"Something like coin collecting is far safer bet"

You need to take a long hard look at the collector-grade coins coming out of China. They're 100% fake and so are the grading-company slabs they come in. This has been common knowledge for years in the coin community. Google it and you'll find interesting videos of some of the operations. Large operations. I'm not even talking about the loose bags of 1909-s VDB fakes and bags of 3-legged Buffalo nickels, etc. I've seen them first hand.

My ammo has gone up in value much more than my guns. I don't have any guns that have doubled (or tripled, etc.) in price in the past few years. Ammo has.

John

edited to add a link to a 2008 article on a counterfeit coin operation, with 24 pics. Page 2 has pics of the storeroom. Yikes.
http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/Chinese-Counterfeiting-Ring/

 

[22250Rem]

Back in 1992 I got a couple of thousand round spam cans of 7x57 made by Kynoch in the U.K circa 1937; (brass case, berdan primed,) Took until about 3 years ago to finish up the first one. Even saved the non-reloadable brass for the scrap value cause now scrap prices are up. Opened the second one last December and it's just like the first one. Shoots great and looks like it was made yesterday and packed in 50 rd. boxes on strippers. Back then the stuff was about 160-180 bucks delivered and I know it's worth a lot more now. Also have a few spam cans of circa 1960 7.62 NATO that must be worth a lot more than they were in 1989. I figure I'll never lose money on any of it if I don't get around to shooting it and someday maybe my son will inherit it and he can sell it. That's why there's also a couple spam cans of 7.62x39 and a few thousand rounds of it in G.I. ammo cans. Mostly Russian, some Chinese, steel case stuff for the SKS's. Can't see losing any money there either. Most of my ammo is handloaded but this stuff is just for keeping around in case of whatever and some occasional plinking.

 

[beatledog7]

Mods, please indulge this EOTWAWKI "ammo has value beyond insurance AND savings" point:

In a post-acopalypse world, four strangers meet at a crossroads. One has a wagonload of food and water. The second has a wheelbarrow full of cash. The third has a big bag of gold and silver coins. The fourth has a gun and ammo.

Since there is no law but that of the jungle in this world, and survival is paramount, Mr. Four leaves the crossroads driving a wagonload of food and water, counting many stacks of cash, jingling with coins, and reloading.

I'm not advocating violence, just pointing out that insurance and savings are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the value of a firearm and ammo.

 

[joeschmoe]

The premise here is flawed. The value of ammo has significantly outpaced the increase in the price of guns.


I paid
less than 19 cents for .223, premium American, re-loadable
about 20 cents for 30.06 Greek, re-loadable, non-corrosive
$8 for .22lr, 525 bricks
Shipping/tax included.

I bought in bulk years ago and still have most of it. I could sell a single crate of 30.06 and recoup all my "investment" in ammo for the last 10 years, but I won't.

 

[justice06rr]

While coin collecting/precious metals is great, IMO its never a guarantee of barter in the future. You would rather have food, guns/ammo, gas or medicine in times of societal collapse or weather-related tragedy.

In fictional tv and movies its always ironic (and funny) that victims are always weapon-less and helpless when a BG comes. A simple firearm in their hands changes everything.

I have never lost money on selling a firearm I have sold in the past, even if it is used. I bought a Glock19 Gen3 last year for $360 that I could've sold for $600 during the panic. I also have a Draco AK47 that used to cost $350, that now costs $1500. I'll probably never sell both unless I really needed the $ for emergencies.

 

[beatledog7]

I've heard the term "hillbilly precious metals" for lead and brass. Too funny.

I'd say they're critically important to many demographics. That's the great thing about gun owners--people from every conceivable demographic are members of the club.

 

[bushmaster1313]

I'd say they're critically important to many demographics. That's the great thing about gun owners--people from every conceivable demographic are members of the club.

The ranges I frequent are truly egalitarian.
Other than "Hunter" versus "Shooter," the members could not care less about demographics.
All that matters is safety and having a good time.