Keep cardboard gun boxes?

[herrwalther]

I don't see any reason to keep cardboard boxes. Plastic and wood, maybe. Firearms can go back to the manufacturer in plenty of other, better secured containers. FWIW my highly collectable Henry came in a cardboard box and I didn't consider for one second keeping it. It got tossed in the fire pit with all the all the other stuff. I did check it a few times for goodies first though.

 

[SterlingBullet]

The original boxes are very important for collectible firearms. Especially in identifying firearms.

For some Colts and Smiths boxes can add such value that there is a significant problem with fraudulent boxes that have been constructed from new materials and artificially aged.

Having the original box for ordinary firearms can facilitate a sale at a local gun store.

If you decide not to keep the box, remove and keep the box end that has the full model name, serial number and production information for later reference.

 

[AK Hunter]

The pistol boxes I keep but the rifle boxes I will keep them for a few years but then I toss them out because after a few years if I have a problem the gun will go the the gunsmith not back to the manufacture.
Pistol boxes have value by themselves you can sell them to other gun guys that want to add a little value to their collection.

 

[Otto]

It can be hard to sell a NIB gun when there's no box.

 

[nofendertom]

The plastic cases make good storage compartments for motorcycle trips like tools, first-aid or small items that normally get lost in your saddlebags..

 

[Legionnaire]

Been a while since I bought a new rifle, but I keep the boxes if a gun comes in one. I don't expect them to add any value since I don't own any real collectibles, but they do seem to make it easier to sell the guns if/when the time comes. If space was at a premium, I'd dump them without hesitation. Handguns are a different story; I have very few, even purchased second-hand, that DON'T have the box.

 

[BreechFace]

It can be hard to sell a NIB gun when there's no box.

I guess if one buys guns and never uses them?

But that is not me, my guns get used. But I guess if I ever became that person then yes keeping a corrugated paper box that costs $0.20 to make, I guess makes sense. I've never understood the fascination of people applying value to a cardboard box.

 

[dogtown tom]

....I've never understood the fascination of people applying value to a cardboard box.

I've never understood the fascination of people applying value to a cardboard photo of a baseball player. Yet they do.

 

[Crosshair]

I keep mine in the rafters of my garage.

 

[BreechFace]

I've never understood the fascination of people applying value to a cardboard photo of a baseball player. Yet they do.

Agreed. I applied value to baseball cards when I was 8 years old. I grew up and realized that's silly; and pretty much how I feel about a cardboard box that a firearm shipped in; although to be honest I apply more value to baseball cards than a cardboard firearm box.

 

[AlexanderA]

I guess if one buys guns and never uses them?

For me, an example of that would be my Colt M16A1. I've kept it, unfired, with its box and accessories. That condition probably adds up to $5,000 to its value (in other words $30,000 instead of $25,000).

 

[BreechFace]

For me, an example of that would be my Colt M16A1. I've kept it, unfired, with its box and accessories. That condition probably adds up to $5,000 to its value (in other words $30,000 instead of $25,000).

Difference between a collector and shooter. These two groups have very little overlap. I'm not going to warehouse a firearm for 50 years keeping moth and mouse away. But more power to you.

My collection pieces are firearms that served their duties in war along with all the scars, mud and worn rifling that comes with them.

I'm glad that you have that piece, I really am; it just doesn't appeal to me in the least.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

.... A dealer once told me that the box I burned up for a Colt AR-15 SP-1 would add about $120.00 to the sale price of the gun.

Original Colt AR-15 SP-1 is an uncommon gun, worth more for being an SP-1 than for being an AR-15. Original box & literature is a plus for an uncommon gun like that.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

Getting ready to move, the bangsticks are locked safe, I'm wondering if I should hang on to the cardboard boxes some of them came in, does that add future value?

It only adds value to those who think it adds value.

Which, of course, is the way these things work.

But I don't think it adds significant value. I've heard $20 or so in some circles. I think I can do without the clutter of hanging onto a cardboard box for untold years for a $20 bill when I'm selling the gun itself for hundreds.

Now, if you had some kind of historical antique or something...that might be another thing. Figure the odds of anything you have ending up as an example of such.

I think I have one cardboard pistol box in storage somewhere. Nothing special about it, just never got tossed. Some day when I clean out storage, it'll get tossed then.

That said...you wanna save 'em, have at it.

 

[AlexanderA]

Difference between a collector and shooter. These two groups have very little overlap.

Here's what I would suggest: When you buy a gun to shoot (presumably, one that you really like), buy two of them. Put the second one away, in its original box, and see what its value is, 10 or 20 years later.

You can be both a shooter and a collector.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

This box not only is a compact storage for the gun and accessories but is a total gun owning experience in itself.

This .22 Mag pump rifle is usually in a carry case. Locating the box I realized there are the keys to that internal hammer lock I have never used. If it somehow gets activated, I know where to look for the keys now. Good thing I did not toss the box.

Just a box and the original paperwork

For most of my guns I don't have the original boxes but I do have a notebook binder that I keep the owners manuals, parts schematics, and such.

I did keep the original colorful logo box for my Ruger MkII and the shipping sleeve cover. The Ruger box might not be worth anything in itself, but it might impress a future buyer.

 

[dogtown tom]

Difference between a collector and shooter. These two groups have very little overlap.

There's HUGE overlap.
It's rare for someone to be just a collector, almost all collectors started collecting BECAUSE they were shooters.
If I hadn't been a shooter of the FN/Browning Hi Power, I most certainly wouldn't have been a collector. Same with my Colt Woodsman and Remington /model 51's.......shooting led me into collecting.

I'm not going to warehouse a firearm for 50 years keeping moth and mouse away. But more power to you.

I will. Only two of my safe queens are NIB, unfired except by FN. Both are 511 series FN Hi Powers with tangent sights. Shooting them won't increase their value. I have another dozen Hi Powers if'n I feel the need to shoot.

My collection pieces are firearms that served their duties in war along with all the scars, mud and worn rifling that comes with them.

Yup, got plenty of those too.

 

[grter]

I was thinking of using a never fired Santa Barbara Remington 1858 to shoot holes in the styrofoam lined cardboard box that it came in came in. The box really looks like a toy gun box with that cartoon like picture of the gun on it.

Can anyone estimate the value that would be shot away in such a shooting session.

 

[The Happy Kaboomer]

I toss "em" in the attic. I very seldom sell a gun. Guess I should toss "em" in the trash.

 

[tark]

I will. Only two of my safe queens are NIB, unfired except by FN. Both are 511 series FN Hi Powers with tangent sights. Shooting them won't increase their value. I have another dozen Hi Powers if'n I feel the need to shoot.

I hear this!! I have a C-96 Broomie that has never spit out a bullet since the day it left the factory in 1913, with an interior full of cosmoline to prove it. It is a 99% gun. I have been criticized for not cleaning it up and shooting it. Not gonna happen! I have a second, less pristine C-96 that I shoot.

 

[Charlie98]

I keep boxes for certain firearms, ditch ones for others.

If I go to sell my Browning 71 .348 carbine... which will never happen, by the way... the box would add value, so I keep it.

I kept my M1a box in case I ever need to send it out for repair or modification.

I kept my Dan Wesson box... it would add value to the pistol if I ever sold it... again, not likely to happen.

I junked a bunch of my Kahr boxes... I had about 8 of them. I think I kept 2 or 3 of them just in case I sell one, or have to send it back to Kahr for some reason. I don't think a box for one of my Kahrs would add $5 to the value of resale.

I kept a Kimber box... but the likelihood of me ever selling one of those is about like that of my Browning. But... if one of them ever needs to go off somewhere for something.

Soooo.... at the end of the day, I don't really keep them to increase their value, I keep them in case I have to send them off somewhere. The firearms that are actually worth something are firearms that I don't think I'll ever sell... so it's a catch 22.

 

[BobABQ]

I am one of those people who keep the boxes. A recent purchase of a Vudoo barreled action made me glad that I kept the box it came in. I need to send it back to have a different barrel installed. Having the original box has been great since it came padded to hold everything.

 

[rust collector]

If it is a minimalist cardboard box, the end is removed and it is recycled. If it is more elaborate, it is kept in an out of the way place. Many guns had no boxes when received, or were left in a grease-stained generic box on the deck. Boxes and ephemera are important to collectors and speculators, but to me are just more stuff to store at a time when most of us have too much stuff (George Carlin reference).

I did sympathize with my buddy whose daughter's dog chewed the corner of a super grade pre-64 box, costing him at least $150 loss in value.

 

[TRACON]

Getting ready to move, the bangsticks are locked safe, I'm wondering if I should hang on to the cardboard boxes some of them came in, does that add future value?

I NEVER sell ANY guns, so for me, it’s a “who gives a s**t” question. That’s just me though.