Kick Myself Later Deals

[giggitygiggity]

What are some current deals or what are some items that a day, a month, a year, five years, 20 years from now, we are going to kick ourselves if we didn't take advantage of. For instance, SKS rifles were $100 a piece in the 90s and are now selling for $300 for the beat up Chinese variants. 5.45x39 was $150/1080 rounds a couple years ago and is now $225 if you can find it. CZ-82s used to be $200 and now are $300 if you can find them. I think the Bulgarian Makarovs that just came to market in the last month that are in excellent condition and selling for $300-330 are something to currently take advantage of. In a year, they will be sold out or dealers will be asking for $500 each. What do you think?

 

[DougW]

Used to buy .303 Enfields for around $69 and M44 rifles for $39. Should have bought a lot more than I did. Guess I figured the well would never run dry!

 

[CLP]

100$ SKSs? try 50$... I give my Dad grief to this day for not picking up a few of those grease laden combloc rifles laying in their original shipping crate. I think $40 lowers will be something that we won't see again ever- at least pending the upcoming election or reaction to the next sensationalized mass shooting. $90 Mosin Nagants are already a thing of the past and most are now $150 or higher. The $350 K31s are done with or near so. Those are just a few.

Ahh, to have been around in the 60's when you could buy milsurp 1903s and Garands for next to nothing...

 

[Quick Shot xMLx]

I'm not a mil-surp guy but if you want any mil-surp gun you're better off getting it now because they'll never be cheaper(in the future). As the supply dries up and importation bans are decreed(Chinese, now Russian) the prices will creep up and the availability will decrease. I'm kicking myself for not getting an SKS. They have shot up almost $100 just in the last 4-5 years and as you stated almost everything available right now is pretty beat up.

The same thing can be said about Mosin Nagants; the prices have almost doubled in the last couple of years and the ammo cost has shot up considerably as well.

 

[jcwit]

LOL, When I was a young pup I remember British Enfields and Jungle Carbines selling at surplus department stores for $10 bucks. They were stuck in steel garbage cans muzzle first.

 

[Jeeping]

mils spec 7075 forged lowers for ~$40.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

mils spec 7075 forged lowers for ~$40.

Ain't that the truth. We're in the good old days for AR15s right now.

 

[pharmer]

The cheap SKS's from 25 years ago were great but around the same time, I remember a guy at one of the Orlando gun shows coming in with S&W Model 10's on pieces of tie wire; all you want and take your pick $99. Discount if you bought quantity. I'd like one more shot at those. Joe

 

[SlowFuse]

$60 500 round cases of the 7.62x39 monarch at Academy. This was about 6 years ago. Should have bought all they had, it didn't last long.

$79 dollar mosins, I actually like them and wish I would have gotten a couple more when they were that price. Same with SKS's. A shop near my house had Chinese models for $150 and Russians for $225 all day long. Should have gotten more Russians!

Bricks of 22 Blazer for $11.99 a box. Im only 29 so some of the stuff some of you older guys quote makes me cringe, or maybe a little jealous is more like it!

 

[joem1945]

I think everyone has had that problem of not picking up deals when they are around. I was buying Turk 8mm surplus ammo for $70.00 for 700 rounds. I bought a bunch but I shot a bunch also. Russian M44's, $69.00 and 91/30's $79.00 cheap , but should have bought many more.

 

[Bullseye]

Regrets .... Two words .... Colt snakes
Guns now that will be later regretted ? I think some high grade pre-64 Winchester lever guns will continue to shine and appreciate in value.

 

[HGM22]

$89 Swiss K31

$99 Marlin 795

Edit: $200 S&W Model 10s

$200 Saigas (ALL Saigas)

$300 WASRs

 

[steveracer]

Yeah. I had a chance to buy 20 of the FBI's old 3" S&W model 13-2 revolvers for $350 each.
I bought two.
Seen the prices on those lately?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

CMP Remington 40x in .22lr when they were about 400 bucks.

 

[mnrivrat]

OK - going down memory lane are we ?

I bought my first military surplus rifle the day I took my induction physical in 1967 . 1903A3 new in cosmo for $25 just down the street from the induction center in a little surplus store.
Remington Rolling blocks for under $10 . British Jungle carbines for $10 . Police surplus S&W M&P for $15 right out of the towns municiple building. (cash and carry) Great deals on M1's and 1911's via NRA & CMP and the NRA usualy loaned out those weapons as well to shooting clubs.

I went into the gun business for awhile in 1988 -89 , about the time the first Chineses imports were coming in. Used SKS'd $60 my cost, new ones as low as $85 . Surplus German made Mauser 96 and Bolo's for $65 . AK's - bought the first one for the shop at $250 incuding a case of ammo. Poly Tec. Dawhoo (sp) $265 .

Yep - things were cheaper then I think even when the value of the dollar over time is calculated.

 

[Ignition Override]

QuickShotxMLx:
Even though there are plenty of Chinese 'commercial market' SKS right now in excellent condition, and many Russians ($550+),
trying to find Yugo M59s is also possible for approx. $400-450. Gunbroker even has a very nice Romanian for about $425.

The original Yugo 59 was manufactured with No grenade launcher. SOG recently had (or has) some, and might have been imported from Slovenia.

Maybe you checked Gunbroker lately? During the last major panic ARs were the supposed targets,
and most SKS were the 'sleeper guns'.

The outlook for Russian, eastern Euro and Czech guns in 9x18 will probably depend on whether our politicians and apparatchiks ever ban imported Russian 9x18 ammo, or place a high tariff/"punishment tax" on it.

 

[bannockburn]

When I was a kid (many years ago), I can remember a LGS having German made Mausers from WWI stacked inside a big cardboard barrel going for like $50 each. I would say any kind of decent price you could get on a mil-surp nowadays would be good deal for the future.

 

[mnrivrat]

When I was a kid (many years ago), I can remember a LGS having German made Mausers from WWI stacked inside a big cardboard barrel going for like $50 each.

In the early 1970's Herter's was located near me here in south central MN. They had a closeout biulding attached that was always fun to look around in. On one visit they had a 55 gal paper barrel full of finished barreled actions on close out. The J9 action was Mauser and typicaly FN , and the U9 action was a BSA action. They were nicely blued and included the floor plate and magazine.
I bought a J9 barreled action in 7mm Mag. That was $25 . A slightly flawed 90% inleted cherry wood stock cost me another $10 .

Times are changing as well as laws. The UN small arms treaty along with other factors has already effected the surplus market. It will never be what it used to in either price or availability.

 

[MADDOG]

I bought a Bulgarian Makarov for $67. I still have it and shoot it often. Who would of thought they would of go up that much. I saw one last week for $429.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Of the old stuff, just about any C&R is a good investment as long as they are still being imported.

Currently available? The Polish P64 comes to mind, though I personally dislike the gun. Polish and Romanian Tokarevs. Moisin-Nagants have doubled in price, but are still a bargain. CMP Garands...the instant those dry up, that $700 rifle will double in value.

I'll add something else, a regret I do have...buy one of everything when they are cheap. It might not be of interest to you, but once the supply dries up, you can trade it for something else that you are interested in.

 

[Capybara]

Late 2015 Christmas Shopping List...

All of the ammo you can afford - the shortages will begin in a few months, not sure if we will have a repeat of 2013 but it will get bad, everything is available now and prices are the lowest they have been in quite a while.

All of the reloading components you can afford - great pistol powder availability right now as well as everything else. Ammo restrictions are coming, those who reload will be insulated, at least for a while. Everything is available now and prices are the lowest they have been in quite a few years. Reloading components dried up for quite a while during the last shortage.

Swiss K31s - plenty of them out there now, they will appreciate at least $150.00 to $200.00 in the next year. Well made, accurate, the barrels are always nearly new, great history, big community of enthusiasts. Easily the best milsurp rifle under $500.00

Polish P64s - I love shooting mine, great little pistols. Pristine, like new ones are still out there for under $300.00. When they dry up, these will appreciate nicely

CMP Garands - best bargain on the market, get 'em while you can. Garands will go way up in value as soon as the CMP runs dry next year

Makarovs - These pistols are super cool, cool name, cool looking, fun to shoot. They are reasonable at the moment, when this latest run is gone, they are headed back to $400.00 to $500.00 when you can even find one for sale.

Tokarevs - Still a few around, still cheap, see them for under $200.00 for the Romanian TTCs. Grab a couple, they will appreciate.

SKS - I am on the fence. I bought quite a few right before the last shortage, they went way up during the shortage but I kept them and now they are still selling for what I paid two years ago. Definitely grab one as a shooter but as a short term investment, probably not the best idea. I see them hovering around $299.00 - $349.00 still. Then again, if states like mine try to ban detachable magazine fed semi-autos, these will skyrocket in price here as they are one of the few internally fed semi autos around.

 

[hso]

ARs right now are at a low in price and probably will go up %25 within a few years as some of the manufacturers that jumped in fall by the wayside and supply starts to adjust to demand. We'll be kicking ourselves pretty hard if we didn't lay those in or their receivers and uppers and quality bolts and internal kits.

 

[HoosierQ]

• In cosmoline enfields, wrapped up like mummies in paper: $60.
• A minimally bubbad Springfield '03A4 (the one with the rear peep sight) for $175 with pristine metal, a pristine bore, and a where the only bubba work was the stock was cut down. Metal untouched.
• Ruger Security 6, 6" $299.

 

[Sunray]

Six weeks up already?
"...303 Enfields for around $69..." Pricey. Used to be sold by the pound up here. snicker. What I didn't buy was the BAR, the absolutely mint Portuguese K98 at $215 and the M1C and 'D' for about $250Cdn. The BAR because I had just been laid off. The 'C' and/or 'D' because I shoot left. The K98 due to no interest.

 

[BSA1]

Ditto the comments about anything that is AR and .223 / 5.56 ammunition.

At last months gun show a dealer was selling Anderson stripped lowers for $ 45.00 each. At that price a person does not need to skip too many Cokes and Starbucks coffee to buy one a month. I don't see any way to lose money on them.

Ammo is sure to go up in price sometime next year as Obama will be targeting gun owners again.