Moving to Cali. How to get rid of my current collection? What 45 to get out there?

[CPS1]

Hi all. Long time lurker, very occasional poster… Wondering if I could trouble you for some advice? Recently I got a job that I have to take in California. I’ve been collecting rifles and handguns for a little bit. While I hate to see them go, Cali being what is I’m probably going to have to sell them off. Right now I’ve got to sell an unfired SA 58 carbine, an unfired 870P Max, a Remingon 597 and a Glock 17. The SA58’s illegal and the Glock would have to use 10 round mags (lame). And well the 870 & 597… I just don’t see myself using them Cali enough to justify the shipping...


So here’s the first of many questions: should I sell online or just sell to a store? I’ve sold a rifle online before, but that was just one rifle, and I’m a little leery of dealing with the headaches of selling all this stuff online, especially as I set up for a big move.

I've never sold to a store before, and I don't know what is reasonable for them to offer. Is it a bargaining process, i.e. they low ball me, I high ball them, we meet somewhere in the middle, or do they just quote me a price, take it or leave it?


Will the difference in price between selling to a reputable store and selling online be enough to justify the time?


Does anyone have any idea how much I should ask for this stuff if I sell online (lower estimate, as this stuff has to move fast), and how much I can expect from a store for the same?


Finally once I do get to California… I would like to buy a single stack 45. Should I get the Sig p220, a high end 1911, a Smith and Wesson 945, or wait for the new HK45?

I know these are a lot of questions to ask... thanks for your time.

 

[CountGlockula]

You may not have to get rid of them.

Make sure you check: http://certguns.doj.ca.gov/

Your SA and Remy can be modified to CA compliant guidelines, i.e. modified fixed mag and pistol grip. It may be a hassle, but you have some great rifles there.

Regarding your Glock 17, just destroy your 10+ magazines and you should be good to go.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

The Glock and the SA are high-ticket and popular items. You will get a much better deal selling here online.

The SA is particularly easy, as you can send it via USPS. Just post a sales ad on THR, have someone mail you payment and FFL slip, and box and ship. Ditto the 870

The Glock might be a little more pain since it has to go UPS or FedEx instead, and from a Main Branch, not a little strip-mall franchise. You can also post the Glock on THR, but list it as "FTF" face-to-face, meaning that you'll only sell locally. If it's legal to sell without an FFL in your state, just do that. Otherwise, you can meet the buyer at your local gunshop.

The 597 will get you almost nothing from a gunshop, and would be hard to sell online because the shipping and FFL fees would add up. Might need to sell that locally.

inally once I do get to California… I would like to buy a single stack 45. Should I get the Sig p220, a high end 1911, a Smith and Wesson 945, or wait for the new HK45

Once you have moved to CA, you can _only_ buy handguns on CA DOJ's approved list. If you want a custom gun (which are almost never on the List) you had better buy it _before_ you move to CA. You can bring in guns that aren't on the list, you just have to fill out a form and pay $25 or so to register it.

Hope this helps,

-MV

 

[vynx]

Actually it is only handguns on the Cal DOJ approved list but this is very important because only currently manufactured handguns get on the list and not all get on. For example kel-tec is not on the list.

certain shotguns and rifles are considerred assault weapons and are not allowed - stupid rules like pistol grip on the shotgun when comined with some other feature. I am not up to par with all the rules but I do see pistol grip shotguns offerred for sale here in Cal.

check calguns.net for California info.

Older Colts and S&W's are not on the list either so if the model number has changed the only way to get one of those guns is to buy it from a private person or consignment sale at a gunshop.

If I was moving to Cal. I'd bring lots of older handguns that are collectable that I could sell/trade when I got here - but there are limits to that also. You can't sell over a cetrtain number without being an FFL - just remember that.

 

[hrgrisso]

If you decide

If you decide to sell that FAL let me know... Arizona has no such silly requirements about having fixed magazine and it would be such a shame. May I ask, what would drive a gun person such as yourself to move to PRK?

 

[hso]

Do you expect to never leave California? If so you may want to convert or sell, but you could store the guns until you return to more reasonable climes.

I don't know what would be required to convert the FAL, but you can contact DSA and ask.

As to the others, if compelled to get rid of them you could just post them for trade here at THR and trade into a California approved handgun.

 

[CountGlockula]

I'll take the Glock IF you get rid of the 10+ mags. Shoot me a personal mail. Thanks.

 

[ArfinGreebly]

Frankly, I wouldn't sell them.

You've got some good stuff.

Unless you know that you're going to spend the rest of your life in CA, I would find somewhere to park them (the ones that can't live in CA) in either AZ or NV so that you can visit them from time to time.

Then, when your stint in CA is over, you can reclaim them on your way to civilization.

You have them now, you don't need the money, and it's possible that once you've let them go you might have the devil's own time trying to get them back.

Find a way to continue to own them, even if you only get to visit them occasionally.

There are THR members in both NV and AZ who would be sympathetic to your cause.

 

[Zundfolge]

I'm sure you can find someone out here in free America with 10 round G17 mags who will gladly swap all your full capacity mags for their nutered ones.

As for the FAL, I don't think you can take that at all.

The shottie could easiliy be converted to CA legal.

I wonder if you can find an inexpensive place to store the weapons outside of the PRK just in case you decide you don't want to (or have to) live there anymore.

With the threat of another national "Assault" weapons ban on the horizon you might want to find a way to keep them.




Anyway, I hope that job is worth your freedom

 

[CPS1]

Thanks everyone for your helpful replys. I think I'm going to have to let them go... sad but storage costs a lot and I plan on being in Cali for a long, long, long time. As for why I'm headin' to the forbidden grounds... I work in advertising, and my dream agency just offered me a job out there. So yeah... I gotta go. I would take the glock, but I've been wanting a 45 for a while now, and swapping out the glock for a 45 now just seems to make sense. That new HK45 looks pretty sweet.

 

[Zoogster]

It seems he already has decided he does not want the guns, not know how to properly nueter them to partialy function and be CA legal.

I agree a glock 17 becomes pretty pathetic if you restrict it to 10 rounds as high capacity is one of the main things it has going for it.

A fixed 10 round mag on that rifle would be pretty pathetic.

However as others mention, it is legal to bring off the list handguns when changing residency to CA. So you have a one time ticket to legaly bring off list handguns (must pay a fee to register them with the DOJ though upon moving into CA). Obviously you want a powerful chambering/compact package as your limited to 10 rounds.

Importing for the purpose of selling is illegal, however if you import something off list and at a later date do not want it you can legaly transfer it to CA residents and since they cannot legaly aquire such items retail in CA, they command far more than market value. Make sure they have a 10 round or less magazine capacity and do not qualify as assault weapons by having something like a magazine outside the pistol grip, barrel shroud, threaded barrel, blah etc Or you would be an evil sub-citizen felon.

If it is a .45 you want many of them are offlist so you better get one prior to moving. Also choose according to overall size, as since your limited to 10 rounds there is no purpose in having the bulk of something that can hold more.

New onlist pistols are getting harder to add if they drop off the list. They as of this year require a magazine disconnect (extra link in chain to jam, no longer one ready to go during a tactical reload) and a chambered round indicator for a company to even pay the fees and try to add one.

 

[cdcmj]

PM me for the 870!

 

[nplant]

If you're a Front Sight member, by chance, you could probably store the so-called "Assault Weapons" for free. I'd do that instead of sell them, if you have the chance.

Or if you have family out of state, you could store the guns with one of them, maybe. I would, personally, do whatever I could possibly manage short of selling them to keep them. Maybe you sell to good friends or family, even, with the rule that if they in turn want to sell in the future, you get first refusal rights, and/or the right to designate the buyer. Seriously, good luck. I've lived in California all my life and it's just going to get worse unless people wake up and start voting against idiot legislation.

Which brings up a slightly off-topic request, but it's important:
When you do get here, MAKE SURE TO GET INVOLVED IN LOCAL AND STATE POLITICS. Register to vote ASAP, and contact your representatives, telling them that you believe in the Second Ammendment.

 

[Mannlicher]

If you are not planning to stay in California for ever, you could just store the guns in a footlocker, and keep them with you. Just don't take them out to play, and you should do just fine.

 

[CountGlockula]

I would take the glock, but I've been wanting a 45 for a while now, and swapping out the glock for a 45 now just seems to make sense. That new HK45 looks pretty sweet.

Sell me the G17 and I can sell you a G30 .45ACP subcompact.

 

[Shear_stress]

Frankly, if I was you I would sell the FAL and use the money to buy several used handguns that can no longer be transferred into California. By this I mean that you can *move* into the state with these guns, as long as they are not "assault weapons" or have high-capacity magazines. However, once you live in California, you can no longer have a dealer transfer any handgun into the state that isn't on "the list". In other words, you can *move* into California with, say, a nice 3" Model 65, but you could *not* order the same gun from CDNN once you live there. If you ever wanted another 3" Model 65, your only choice would be to find one in the state (good luck) and do a private party transaction through a dealer (a rather fee-intensive process.)

Guns, both new and used, tend to be more expensive in California. Buy all you can now! Just dump the high-caps at the border.

 

[CWL]

Welcome to CA! Too bad you have to get rid of your toys, but it sounds like you have made-up your mind.

If you want M1911 .45s, most of the big-name makers like Colt, Springfield, Kimber, Wilson, etc. have CA-legal ones in the flavors you'd be able to find elsewhere. Also shouldn't be many problems getting Sigs, H&K's etc. In fact most pistols would be legal in CA if the manufacturers bother to submit to CA testing costs.

Shame you want to sell some stuff that you may want to buy back sometime in the future -although if you shop around in CA, you will discover that prices here are comparable to lower than other parts of the US, this due to volume of gun sales in CA.

Are you sure that you you wan to get rid of the 870? Shotgun + .45ACP are a mighty fearsome combo?

 

[Zoogster]

If you want M1911 .45s, most of the big-name makers like Colt, Springfield, Kimber, Wilson, etc. have CA-legal ones in the flavors you'd be able to find elsewhere. Also shouldn't be many problems getting Sigs, H&K's etc. In fact most pistols would be legal in CA if the manufacturers bother to submit to CA testing costs.

You DO NOT have to get a CA approved handgun if you are a resident out of state moving to CA. As long as it does not break other CA laws like assault weapons laws. So "finding one that is CA legal and submited for tests and approved" is unnecessary. You simply must pay like a $20-$30 per handgun or some such registration fee to the DOJ(which applies for any imported handgun, and is done automaticly for any handgun purchased in the state).

Get whatever you want now while you still can BEFORE you move into CA and it is legal as long as it is not specificly banned, and has equal or less than 10 round magazine capacity.

You have a choice no CA resident has in picking a handgun right now, and legaly bringing it to CA.

 

[SoCalShooter]

Wait aint the 870p legal? Its not classified as an assault weapon. Granted it has a pistol grip, it does not have a detacheable magazine nor is it a semi-automatic weapon. You can legally own that weapon according to the DOJ.

 

[Shear_stress]

You have a choice no CA resident has in picking a handgun right now, and legaly bringing it to CA.

Absolutely. This is what I was trying to convey in my post. For example, I made a nearly 100% profit on a Dan Wesson I brought with me when I moved to California a few years back. The price reflected the fact that few California owners are willing to part with these guns because their chances of finding another in the state are zip to nil.

Buy what you want now! At the least, you won't be stuck with 10-day waiting periods and DROS fees.

 

[Rumpled]

If the SA58 is a FN receiver, then it is illegal. (Sell it on the open market in your area or store it) If not, then you could bring it with slight modification. There are those among us working on finding a way to get a proper tool to detach the magazine legally.
The 870 is totally legit in CA, bring it.
Basically any handgun you bring is OK, w/o +10 capcity mags.

You've gottne some good advice and legallity answers here, make your decisions.

 

[punkkin]

you've got mail

 

[Guy B. Meredith]

There are a lot of good gun ranges and clubs in this blue state.

I am a member of three clubs here that sponsor just about everything except machine gun shoots. There are another four or five ranges that I am aware of.

Bring all the "legal" firearms and be ready to enjoy the shooting here.

 

[Uenoparker]

IMO you're making an unethical decision by choosing to abide by constitutionally illegal laws in CA in order to take a job in that state. As a CA ex-resident, I respectfully suggest that you think carefully about any decision you make to voluntarily relinquish your fundamental rights.

 

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

How much are you looking for for that 870?