Picked up a new one today, W/ unexpected problem...

[Remllez]

Since YOU have not owned the gun since it was NEW it would be unethical to sell it as unfired. It sounds like it is in high condition but certainly not unfired! It has been polished so it's not an original factory finish.

Those two facts alone devalue the gun as a true collectable. I'm not sure why you bought the gun, but if you don't want to shoot it, sell it and buy a gun you will be comfortable shooting.

 

[Krogen]

I guess one of the reasons I like guns is that they have aesthetic value >and< can be used. Quite unlike a painting that might have aesthetic value but can only be viewed and certainly not "used."

I have the opposite frustration from OP's. Grandpa's old Iver Johnson 38 S&W breaktop sits in my safe unfired by me. It wasn't well-built to begin with - it's pretty loose now. Likely it was wasn't terribly safe even with the black powder loads of the day. Yet, I'm itching to fire it. It bugs me that I "believe" I can't do it safely. To me, guns are to be fired and this one is the only one I haven't shot. I'm thinking of trying some primer-powered wax bullets in it just so I can "fire" it.

 

[CraigC]

Another entry: Have been offered a Browning B-92 Centennial, NIB, 6000 produced in 1978. Priced right, 33 years old and never fired, the lever has never been cycled, the saddle ring still has the plastic sheath on it. I could double my money in short order. I like them better than the Rossi or the 1894 Marlin or the '94 Winchester. Shoot it????????

Shoot it!!!

Maybe I just try not to overthink it, which is a feat for me. It is a gun. I has an intended purpose. If the price is reasonable to me and it will do what I want it to do or has a certain appeal, why should I care what a collector thinks it's worth? Present or future???

I bought a NIB Winchester 94 NRA Centennial Rifle for less than the cost of a new one. It languished in its original box for almost 30yrs. It's one of my favorite hunting rifles.

I bought a NIB Browning 53 that languished in its original box for about ten years. It's a wonderfully accurate shooter and small game popper. It looks pretty good too!

Other limited production guns that are often found NIB that I would love to have, shoot and hunt with include:
S&W's Elmer Keith commemorative .44Mag model 29
Winchester's Chief Crazy Horse 94 .38-55
Winchester Theodore Roosevelt Commemorative 1894 .30-30, in both lengths
Winchester Buffalo Bill commemorative 1894 .30-30
Winchester John Wayne commemorative 1894 .32-40
Winchester Canadian Centennial 1894 .30-30
Browning 1886 rifle (not the carbine)
Browning 65 .218Bee
Colt 125th anniversary SAA
Colt Alaskan Pipeline SAA
A 4" S&W 24-3 to match my 6½" above

I could not imagine denying myself the pleasure of owning, shooting and hunting with those guns because a collector thinks they should stay pristine. To put it another way, why would you let a stranger dictate how you use your own property??? I'm not saying that my purposes are any more or less noble. I'm just saying that either is equally viable.

 

[Old Fuff]

Another entry: Have been offered a Browning B-92 Centennial, NIB, 6000 produced in 1978. Priced right, 33 years old and never fired, the lever has never been cycled, the saddle ring still has the plastic sheath on it. I could double my money in short order. I like them better than the Rossi or the 1894 Marlin or the '94 Winchester. Shoot it????????

Personally I think that this business of "YOU HAVE TO SHOOT IT!! GUNS WERE MADE TO BE SHOT!! is a bunch of hooey. The rifle in question was made to be a collectable, and I absolutely love collectors that have deep pockets and spend money accordingly.

If you can actually double your money (which is something I have done, and then some), why not do it and then use part of the money to buy an acceptable-but-ordinary B-92 to use as a shooter? I have always regarded collectables that continue to increase in value (some of course don't) to be excellent investment and trading stock when something I want more comes along.

Frankly, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot most of the guns on CraigC's list, because I don't see them to be anything more then "manufactured commemorative" level collectables, but I wouldn't consider that to be the case with the Browning, which offers more then fancy cosmetics.

I much prefer to enjoy shooting on one hand, while I can make money on the other. Now do whichever you choose.

 

[harmon rabb]

With that logic I hope your wife or girl friends were not or are not virgins.... That would be a liven he'll for sure...

Do you buy your underwear used too, ya know not to clean and never used?

lmao. nice analogy on the women

 

[TYFOOON]

Wow!

What a beauty!!!

Reminds me of one I have in my safe. It was my granddad's and my grandmother gave it to me the day we buried him. He shot it some but I don't shoot it. I carry it from time to time but never pulled the trigger. It just feels right to keep it as is. I have lots of guns to play with so I like to just have it.

19-4 S&W .357 Magnum

Fooon

 

[Guillermo]

Old Fuff is, of course, right.

Shooting stuff just because it has a bang switch is silly.

Some should be preserved, some should be considered investments.

Of course I don't own any of those.

Closest I have is a 100% Python but since I do not plan on selling it...

 

[CraigC]

It's a decision you have to make for yourself. You have to weigh the collector premium against the value you place on it for your own needs. Such as the above-referenced 24-3. It was still less than a new "Classic" and I had no reservations about throwing away the $200-$300 that it lost when I shot it. Which is what happens with any new gun. What difference does it make how old it is? None, to me. On the other end, there is the NIB 3rd Model Hand Ejector Target that a guy inherited from his father in law. This is a little different because you have a true collectible. A very rare S&W, rarer than most Triple-Locks, that is worth several thousand dollars. In this case, it might make more sense to sell it at a profit, to fund a suitable replacement. Personally, I would've gotten top dollar from a collector and funded several more .44Spl's that I could enjoy. Without fear of losing $2000 from holster wear or $5000 if I dropped it on the ground.

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot most of the guns on CraigC's list

The point is that many would 'perceive' it as foolish to shoot any of those guns, strictly because they 'think' they're collectible and that they gain some level of sacredness because they've been kept NIB for a period of time. In reality, they're not collectibles. At least not the kind that will appreciate to any respectable degree during one's lifetime. I'm just trying to urge folks to punch through the fog of their perception and look at them more objectively. What they really offer are fancy finishes, uncommon configurations, barrel lengths, barrel profiles and chamberings. Folks shouldn't be afraid to enjoy them for those characteristics because others 'think' they're collectible.

 

[Guillermo]

we can all agree that there is some level of rareness that makes a gun unshootable.

say a Remington Model 53

the other reason is investment...if there has to be the potential for profit.

of course each of us get to make the decision as to how rare or how much potential profit there is to make it unshootable.

as to the OP, for me, it falls into neither category

 

[CSA 357]

If your not gona shoot it you just as well take a picture and hang it on the wall and sell the gun! all my guns are shooters, if i cant shoot it why even have it?i have a very nice 629 no dash pinned and recesed its gets shot i take care of it but it has had manny lbs of home cast bullets down the barrel.had a colt saa i shot it too, even carred it in a holster, a little wear on a nice gun is ok. now go shoot that smith! lol

 

[Remllez]

I'll explain it this way, you've worked overtime, scrimped and sacrificed to obtain the most collectable unfired pristine gun that you've always wanted. It's been carefully oiled and admired on a regular basis.

You've repeatedly defended why you don't shoot it and that it's going to be worth 50% more than the same gun that's been fired some day. Then one day you hop in your car to go for an ice cream and screech boom!!! Your hit by a car and killed instantly

Your wife that's always hated those dam* guns and your kids that could give a crap about your collection let alone the time and sacrifice you've put into your hobby sell those guns to pay for your funeral or take a nice trip to remember good ole pops.

And your setting there with St. Peter saying "you know if I had to do it all over again I would have shot them guns and had some real fun with them, instead of deluding myself into thinking they'd be worth something to anyone but me some day".

I'm not trying to be a smart a** here or start an argument just giving food for thought.

 

[Old Fuff]

Ah, but again you miss the point. Nowhere is it written that you have to sit on everything until St. Peter calls. On occasion I have doubled my money in 48 hours. I have a friend who's record is 15 minutes . Sixty days in not unheard of. It boils down to what you have to pay to get (whatever) and how much you can get by turning it - now or later.

Put simply - again - I would much rather sell a collectable to a collector, and take him to the cleaners , then go out and shoot it, and thereby reduce it's value to that of a shooter. Why do that when I can take the $$$ I made from the collector, and use only a part of it to buy a similar or better shooter? The opportunity doesn't happen very often, but it does happen if you know what you are doing. I don't believe that ignorence is bliss...

It depends on what you go out and buy, but in my view anybody that shoots anything they get regardless of what it is, simply doesn't have the knowledge that's necessary to do better.

 

[MMCSRET]

Old Fuff has it, same as I do. I own a number of new and used guns that I have never fired. The Browning B-92 I mentioned earlier, I think I'll probably pick it up tomorrow, I'm not going to shoot it, I'll show it off for a while and then let it out that it might go away for the right price. For a limited edition that is highly desirable thats all it takes. Inducing envy in other people that presumably have deep pockets is fun, more fun than shooting that Browning. I would loose 300$ by firing it once. Not a good exchange in my mind. Owning, buying, selling and trading guns is fun, and sometimes profitable.

 

[Guillermo]

The Fuffster is usually right.

He tends to only want to shoot his gun with Speer plastic target rounds and doesn't mind if any gun is rendered DAO, including 3 inch Pythons.

But on matters like this, he is spot-on

 

[Iramo94]

If you look very, very closely at the first picture, you can see that there is a tiny, faint, shiny line where the ring normally is. Now, that may have just been the test shots at the factory, but it doesn't matter. The gun is imperfect, so just shoot the darn thing already.

 

[Old Fuff]

Owning, buying, selling and trading guns is fun, and sometimes profitable.

Indeed! And when it's profitable it provides funds to buy more guns that otherwise might not have been bought. Where is it written that you can't work both sides of the street?

He tends to only want to shoot his gun with Speer plastic target rounds and doesn't mind if any gun is rendered DAO, including 3 inch Pythons.

The Old Fuff's problem is that he has a bunch of neat, but old stuff (like himself ) and he's careful about how he treats it because getting parts to repair something may be hard and costly. Also he seldom finds himself in a potential situation where any sort of extra power is called for. In smaller revolvers his idea of a Plus-P .38 Special or .357 Magnum is called a .44 Special.

Ever since I met Bill Jorden and discovered that his favorite 4" Model 19 didn't have a hammer spur I've been of the opinion that hammer spurs should go. But I need guns to practice on, and I understand that Guillermo has a bunch of them. The only time I ever got into a problem was when I was part of a plot to de-spur an engraved, .44 Special, Colt Single Action Army - that didn't belong to me.

But that another story.

 

[Remllez]

Lol Fuff,

I think it's you that misses the point....St Peter can and does call anytime he wants, I never said you have to hold onto any "collector gun" for years in my post. In fact your name may very well come up on the way home from buying the next gun you plan to exploit some "deep pocket" shlub with!

Put simply these unfired pristine investment grade guns you use to "take people to the cleaners with" matter only to you and the shlub you are sticking. And being greedy has never felt right to me so I leave that to people like you and never waste my time or money buying a gun I'll never shoot or enjoy for the purpose it was made for.

And like I said I wasn't trying to start any arguments with my post but you seem to take exception to anybody that doesnt agree with everything you say. So no doubt you will have a witty reply to what I've said and by all means please feel free to share that with us all.

 

[thefamcnaj]

If you plan on keeping the gun for ever than shoot it. It doesn't matter if the value goes down if you shoot it, because it will always be yours. If you hope some day to flip it and make some money then I would just keep it polished up and put away.

 

[Guillermo]

And being greedy has never felt right to me so I leave that to people like you

Buying a gun and selling it at a profit is greedy?

Wow, you could be an Obama cabinet member.

As long as the gun was not used to threaten the buyer, I assume that they want to buy the gun. We mutually agree to a price and goods and money changes hands. Called "free trade."



As far as the "Fuffster" and witty replies...that would be a first

Just keep him and his bench grinder away from my Diamondbacks!!!

 

[Remllez]

Guillermo,

Read post 61....you do see the words "take him to the cleaners". Maybe greed and free trade can be defined differently by you, but to me those 5 words are the textbook definition of greed. LOL on the political attack by the way....when all else fails use politics to deflect the facts.

 

[Guillermo]

to deflect the facts

If the buyer willingly purchases the gun there is no reason for guilt.
(unless one does not believe in free trade)

That is the salient fact...period.

No deflection.

As to your definition of "greed"...communication is impossible if we all have our own definitions for common words.

greed [griːd]
n
1. excessive consumption of or desire for food; gluttony
2. excessive desire, as for wealth or power

 

[CraigC]

There is nothing wrong or immoral about getting top dollar from someone who knows EXACTLY what he is paying for. Period.

 

[Guillermo]

There is nothing wrong or immoral about getting top dollar from someone who knows EXACTLY what he is paying for. Period.

Craig,

You always say things with accuracy and brevity.

The exact opposite of my verbose manner. And, of course, like on this thread I offer many opportunities for deflection and tangents. Your way is better.


(tipping my hat)

 

[BigShep85]

Buying for shooting and buying for selling

I, like some others here, enjoy just as much if not more the art of buying and selling guns. I enjoy placing rare or hard to find guns in the hands of collectors who enjoy the guns. Kind of like a charity, some people look for certain guns for years, say like some of the guns mentioned above or a mint condition never fired 629-5 for whatever reason (maybe because it was one of the last before the lock, or maybe they had one as a child or something). I enjoy helping people find guns they have been searching for whatever the reason, I have been searching for a reasonably priced ruger vaquero birdshead 45 lc in stainless steel for over a year now with no luck, I have found some which are outrageously priced which I am not willing to pay that price for but others are, more power to them, if they got the money and want it that bad so be it....but I am not. It is an art, a game, a hobby, it is just as enjoyable as shooting for some. I think this is an overlooked aspect of guns that some dont neccessarily understand and is sometimes overlooked.

 

[CraigC]

You always say things with accuracy and brevity.

That's just a nice way of saying that I usually piss people off.