Even now, are guns expensive?

[jmorris]

Some went up a lot and some haven’t.

Transferable machineguns have been the biggest winners, other stuff that is desirable but production stopped also, have had good gains. XP-100’s that were a few hundred new and go for $1k or more used now, $400-500 new Pythons that go for over $2k used now are good examples.

On the other side, I have several 510’s that are great shooting rifles that were picked up for $35&65 locally in the past few years. Not sure what motivation drives demand sometimes.

 

[Captcurt]

Bought a Ruger 77 Bi-centennial used in 1977 for $155. I was making $3 and hour. That was some serious scratch back then. The closest model now is a 50th anniversary model for $1200+.

 

[wcwhitey]

I remember leaving gun show in the 80’s where Norinco SKS’s were $49 and Ak’s $149. $2 a box of 7.62 or 5.56z. There was a time when things were dirt cheap. I could by any Model 10 S&W for $125 in 1996. But that was only some things. My son picked up a Maverick 88 Combo for $329 new the other day. That was a good deal, I don’t think any Mossberg was half that price in the 80’s or 90’s.

 

[tarosean]

I would say they ae pretty cheap compared to other consumer goods now-a-days...

Whats the shelf life on your phone in your pocket? computer? appliance, etc. etc. etc.

 

[commygun]

Walkalong is right. I noticed a significant leap in used gun prices in the late ‘90’s that had nothing to do with inflation. For me that was the end of the Golden Age of the Gun Show. I’d only been attending them for about 7-8 years so the change was very noticeable. From $100 S&W Model 10’s and the flood of cheap ‘n’ interesting Combloc guns to the same old overpriced crap in the space of just a couple of years.

 

[kalielkslayer]

Hard for me to even consider cost since the only 2 gun transactions I regret are guns I sold, both before I was 25. Browning Auto 5, 20 gauge my grandfather bought me for my 12th birthday. Sold it at 16 to buy a big guy duck gun, a 12 gauge. It was almost a trade but I still regret it.

1894 Winchester chambered in 30-30. But it cheap from a “widow” and sold it cheap. Wasn’t a lever fan back then but am now. But that transaction was the last time I “sold” a gun. Now it’s barter or nothing. Ironically, I’ve given more guns away then I’ve sold. But always to youngsters that would use it more than me.

Pretty sure I’ll go to my grave not regretting any gun purchase I’ve made, and only having Sold 2 guns in my life.

 

[FFGColorado]

Son bought a S&W model 638 yesterday for $429...BTW-BGC took 15 minutes..place also had Glock 48s and some M&Ps...Glock 48 was $450...

Sportsman's Warehouse.

 

[pairof44sp]

Shhhhh! They'll be next if we're not careful!

Every so often, a big shipload of cool surplus stuff will hit the shops, and that's about the only time I see any real bargains. Like those Beretta 81s recently-- I bought two (if a gun is 200, and the magazine is fifty if you can find one in stock, then what the hey, right? Plus now I have parts if I ever need them.) Or the Beretta 51s before that (bought one, decided I didn't want to add yet another chambering to my reloading setup, sold it.) Or the Star BMs (didn't buy one for the same reloading reason, but they seemed cool.) I'm just waiting to see what's next!

Keep looking for mags. I got 8 at 35 each from a lady who sounded like she had lots of them. They were orig.

 

[pairof44sp]

Keep looking for mags. I got 8 at 35 each from a lady who sounded like she had lots of them. They were orig.

Of course then you’ll need more brass. Which isn’t around

 

[bassjam]

Noisy, chic mufflers for trucks? What do those cost?

Tell young guys with guns to skip that fashion and save for when ammo prices finally spiral downward. That truck will never handle like a Porsche or BMW.

If I wasn't driving an ecoboost with an exhaust note that sounds like crap, I'd have a Bassani cat-back system on that truck right now and it wouldn't have affected the amount of ammo on my shelves. I had them on my last 2 trucks and it made me smile every time I turned the key. Exhaust systems don't make a truck handle better. They really don't even add that much hp, they just make them sound good.

On topic, my gun purchasing only goes back 20 years, but most firearms I've bought new is selling for about the same price now in stores, accounting for inflation. Except for my LCP, I paid $320 for that back in 2010 and those are certainly cheaper now. I guess it evens out though because Ruger replaced it after 10 years.

 

[AZAndy]

Of course then you’ll need more brass. Which isn’t around

Lucky for me, I got a bunch from Starline before all the crazy started.

 

[George P]

The $300 I paid in 1980 for a Remington 700BDL LH &mm Mag would cost $977 today
The $169 I paid for a Ruger MKII in 1984 would be $437 today

So, in reality, not a lot of difference when factoring in inflation

 

[pairof44sp]

Today you can get an excellent functioning polymer 9 for like 2-300 (at least, that's my understanding).

I bet all the "days wages" price guns in the old days were junk (except the surplus stuff).

 

[FROGO207]

To me was when the cheap surplus market dried up dramatically. The $50 SKS's and such. I wish I had purchesed a lot more than 3 back then. And I agree that these days the "cheap" guns are better quality than what was available back then.

 

[CapnMac]

Adjusting for inflation, I made more money in 2002 at age 37 than I do now at age 56, even though my paychecks now are "larger" numerically. Of course, I work in the commercial business world where paycheck stability is pretty much nil. Which means I've had massive pay cuts in lean times and had to work my way back up.

And, that's a real thing. My total wages peaked about 2000, then took a downturn (and collapsed 2008-2012), and I've rebounded to (in dollar amount) about where I was around 1995.
My buying power was higher in '95 [economically] than in 2021, but, I've found ways to make what I can afford be comfortable.

Transferable machineguns have been the biggest winners

And, really, that market has flattened out of late. The number of available items has decreased apace with the number of people who can afford the "floor" prices. To borrow an overused phrase, we have reached "Peak" MG. There's little difference, anymore, in getting a small field gun versus a heavy MG. Ammo costs are similar; range limitations are similar; costs & infrastructure are similar. A 37mm "mountain' gun is right at a similar ballpark as a Vickers MG (once you get all the 'bits' tripod, ammo boxes, loading machine, etc.)

 

[mac66]

Most of the differences in prices from the early 90's and 2019 seem to be due to limited availability, either back then or now.

Bushmasters with semi-auto BCGs were over $1000. AR's were not very common. AR's had a reputation for being expensive, accurate and fragile, like a sexy imported sports car that needed constant maintenance.

Chinese and combloc surplus guns were flooding the market and inexpensive. Nobody would pay $1000 for a semi-auto AK back then, but the AK had a reputation for being indestructible and reliable. We had no internet back then so reputations just stuck.

Pythons were selling for about $700, and on display for sale at most LGS.

But more common guns like the 10/22 were priced about the same, roughly $200, and Glocks were going for about $500.

Back in the 80's an AR15 cost $400 (Colt only) which was expensive, whereas a Ruger Mini 14 cost $265-300. Nobody bought ARs. A few years ago ARs where down to $400 and were dirt cheap at that price. Mini 14s cost $700+.

Minis are no longer cheap because of bad publicity due to them being used in some mass shootings. As I said before, there are a lot of forces in play on the market. Politics, economy of scale, overall economy, supply and demand.

 

[CapnMac]

whereas a Ruger Mini 14 cost $265-300

I can remember seeing Mini-14 in the Montgomery Wards catalog (about that time) at $149.95, and feelign they were about $50 over-priced at the time.

 

[Walkalong]

Two or three years ago when everyone was jumping off of the .40 S&W train you could buy them new or used dirt cheap. I don't even like .40, but my kids do, so used M&P .40s for them at Christmas, and I even fell pray to a screaming deal on a new FNS-40.

New school, meet old school.

 

[Reloadron]

Sort of amazing how my little $350 S&W Model 10 2" a few years ago is suddenly a $750 revolver.

One of my sisters called a few says ago because her husband decided they should have a gun in the house. I explained this is not a good time to be gun shopping. I agreed to loan then a good revolver. I collect Colt Series 70 1911 guns and most I have cost me under $1,000. Today I see them going for $1,500 plus. The only reason I look at the values, keeping in mind that any given gun on any day is worth what someone is willing to pay, is so if I check out my wife and kids have a clue.

Ron

 

[BillWM]

Considering old guns in excellent condition I look at it as if you invested the amount the gun cost, how much would you have say 40 years later with interest.
Many expect the gun will be worth similar as if the value was invested over time. That's why good quality firearms gain value and low end stuff moves much slower.

 

[BigAlShooter]

To me, guns are an investment, but not to make money. I've been adding to my collection for almost 20 years, but not to make money, but for shooting and adding to my collection. I've also invested in real estate and would say guns are not an investment to make money. Yeah, if you buy only rare and sought after guns, you may make money, same as real estate. But, it probably won't beat inflation. Real estate will usually stay with inflation or beat it if you know what you're doing. Real estate, it doesn't matter the house, you just have to time it right and buy at the low end of the waves. Guns, there aren't really waves, unless you overpay. You have to buy certain guns, which are only a certain really low % of guns to beat inflation, which I don't really follow those guns. I buy what I want, knowing it won't beat inflation, but won't lose money.

Like an AR-15. 10-15 years ago, I wanted an AR-15 that was about $700 if you shopped around. I finally found it, and probably paid too much for it at $825 a few months ago. Will it go up a lot in the future? Nope.

Guns have been so popular and they have made so many in the last 15 years or so, that I don't think "regular" guns are keeping up with inflation. So, even now, if you buy at regular prices, you are still getting a great deal. Maybe they will go up. No one knows, but I don't think they will ever go down in value. Maybe we at an all time low now...who knows. I think now is a good time to buy, if you buy at normal prices, considering the inflation coming...

 

[CapnMac]

if you invested the amount the gun cost, how much would you have

Ah, the grand myth of "guns as investment."
If you put $1000 away, at 6%, annually, for 40 years, you have $10,285.72
(see this calculator for how I ginned that up: https://www.calculator.net/investme...end&ciadditionat1=monthly&printit=0&x=69&y=12)*

Forty years ago, $1000 inflates to $3,362.24
(using: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm)
Colt SP-1 was around $500 in 1980. Probably could get $1500 for that, today, per CPI, that $500 inflates to $1,681.12 in 2021 dollars. So the present value is about 90% of the inflation rate.
But, as pointed out above, owning a firearm is its own reward, and has no real cash value.

So, really, the value of a firearm is not in cash. No matter what you told your Significant Other []

_____________________________
*Six percent annually is not a very good investment; eight percent quarterly is a much better deal.
$1000, at 8% quarterly, adding an additional $100 per month, for 20 years is $63,392.87--that's an investment.

 

[George P]

Ah, the grand myth of "guns as investment."
If you put $1000 away, at 6%, annually, for 40 years, you have $10,285.72
(see this calculator for how I ginned that up: https://www.calculator.net/investme...end&ciadditionat1=monthly&printit=0&x=69&y=12)*

Forty years ago, $1000 inflates to $3,362.24
(using: https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm)
Colt SP-1 was around $500 in 1980. Probably could get $1500 for that, today, per CPI, that $500 inflates to $1,681.12 in 2021 dollars. So the present value is about 90% of the inflation rate.
But, as pointed out above, owning a firearm is its own reward, and has no real cash value.

So, really, the value of a firearm is not in cash. No matter what you told your Significant Other []

_____________________________
*Six percent annually is not a very good investment; eight percent quarterly is a much better deal.
$1000, at 8% quarterly, adding an additional $100 per month, for 20 years is $63,392.87--that's an investment.

Where the investment comes from is buying quality guns that you can sell for at least what you paid for them, bonus if the selling price covers inflation so you basically got to shoot the gun for free all those years.

 

[BigAlShooter]

Where the investment comes from is buying quality guns that you can sell for at least what you paid for them, bonus if the selling price covers inflation so you basically got to shoot the gun for free all those years.

Yep, it's an investment in your own entertainment. If I have a gun I don't shoot and I can get more than like a $150 for it, I will sell it.
I think of ammo as a similar investment, except you shoot it all up.

 

[Reloadron]

Never looked at my guns as an investment. Investments are not something I was ever good at but fortunately I have Brenda or my investment girl. Brenda manages investments, it's what she does and does well fortunately. Never bought a gun thinking wow, in ten years this will be worth twice what I am paying for it today. My motivation in buying a gun is purely the enjoyment I get from shooting them, nothing unfired in my gun safe. If you want to invest toward a retirement there are much better ways to make money. Excellent post above by CapnMac. Numbers don't lie.

Ron