The Value of Your Firearms

[Bobson]

I was reading through the Gun Safe or Hide Them? thread, and by the time I finished reading what's been posted so far, I began to wonder, how much does the average gun owner really have invested in firearms?

To be fair, I don't know a huge number of firearm owners. Probably fifteen people come to mind off the top of my head. Then again, I'm not a super social person either, so I guess I don't know that many people very well, either way.

My guess is that the average gun owner spends more time shooting the guns he has, and not so much time constantly buying new firearms. So I would think the average person has considerably less than $10,000 invested in firearms (probably closer to five grand is my guess, but I'm trying to be liberal).

So the question is, how much do you have invested in the firearms you currently own? Offer your best guess, if you would; and thank you.

 

[medalguy]

I lost all mine in the proverbial boating accident. Really, I wouldn't want to disclose that, here or anywhere else.

 

[Gunnerboy]

^ yeah gotta agree there mine were all taken by aliens

 

[Bobson]

I lost all mine in the proverbial boating accident. Really, I wouldn't want to disclose that, here or anywhere else.

I thought about that while typing up the poll options. I apologize in advance if anyone is offended by my question. Was just curious what the average person really spends on this hobby.

 

[medalguy]

The anonymous poll is fine. I just don't want my wife to see anything in print, know what I mean?

 

[ATBackPackin]

Waaaaaaaaaay to much according to my wife. I kinda agree, but I cannot help it. It's a sickness.

 

[2WheelsGood]

The anonymous poll is fine. I just don't want my wife to see anything in print, know what I mean?

So you don't want your wife to see the value, but you don't mind her seeing this post?

 

[rule303]

It really doesn't take much to add up to $25k. If your average hunter owns, say a mid level o/u for pheasant hunting, an auto or pump for waterfowl,a decent deer rifle, a .22 or 2 and perhaps a pistol or revolver for home defense, that's 5 grand right there, and most hunters aren't really "gun people". As for the wife seeing this poll- I will put her in the hunter category, and admit to owning a "few" more than her.

 

[medic-rod]

The Value of My Firearms? MY LIFE!!!!!!!

 

[hso]

My guess is that the average gun owner spends more time shooting the guns he has, and not so much time constantly buying new firearms.

Your guess would be wrong. Most gunowners hardly ever fire all the guns they have (and that includes the folks with one gun). You just can't use yourself as a sportsman as the model for everyone else.

 

[rcmodel]

Currently, I have about $13K invested and a $30K replacement cost at todays prices.

rc

 

[scythefwd]

It really doesn't take much to add up to $25k. If your average hunter owns, say a mid level o/u for pheasant hunting, an auto or pump for waterfowl,a decent deer rifle, a .22 or 2 and perhaps a pistol or revolver for home defense, that's 5 grand right there, and most hunters aren't really "gun people". As for the wife seeing this poll- I will put her in the hunter category, and admit to owning a "few" more than her.

Most hunters I know are using pump or semi-autos (rem 870 or 1100, mossberg equivilent) instead of sxs or o/u. Most have one or two rifles, with mid-level scopes (usually something like a rem. 700 with a leupold vxII 3-9), a couple handguns (beretta cx, 92, 1911, hp, or something in that line). Most I would guess are under 5k on the comfortable side.

 

[forindooruseonly]

I don't know. I know the individual values, but I refuse to total it up. I don't think I want to know, and beyond that, it isn't particularly important to me.

 

[General Geoff]

Last time I tallied approximate value was a couple years ago when I switched home insurance carriers. It was about $5000 then, and I've added another grand or two since.

 

[Zach S]

I haven't bought much in the last 5 years or so, but have about $13k invested. Most of my handguns were used, so I could sell them for what I have in them, or more, considering I paid $500 for one of my Kimbers.

This doesn't include magazines, holsters, etc. Its initial purchase plus whatever I added to put it in it current configuration. That would be night sights on the front of most pistols, lights on long arms, EOTech for the AR, M3 for my Glock, etc. Due to the sure fire fore end, I figured my $350 Mossberg 590 to have close $675 invested it in...

 

[AlexanderA]

Your question is unclear, in that the amount "invested" could mean either the cost basis or the current market value. For example, one could have bought machine guns for modest prices years ago (before May 1986) and they could be worth fortunes today. I take it, from the context of your question, that you are more interested in current value than in original cost. But, in a further twist, the "current value" of a machine gun is not relevant to a thief. A stolen machine gun (now contraband) has a minimal value to a thief; it can be argued that it has a negative value to the thief, since he's looking at a long prison term if he's caught with it. Something like 90% of the value of a registered machine gun lies in the registration papers, not in the actual hardware. And it's pointless for someone to steal the registration papers.

 

[JSpear]

Most of mine were used, so I'm well under the 5000 grand mark,

 

[Sistema1927]

More than my wife thinks.

 

[DMH]

Priceless! Hard to replace gifts given by family and friends who are no longer with us. I would be in a bad way if I lost my guns. Some are just shooters and have no sentimental value, those are easy to replace, but others are impossible. When I first read this post I was thinking it implied that the value was low enough they did not warrant the use of a safe. The Safe keeps guns out of the wrong hands as well as protection from theft.

DMH

 

[Sport45]

I have more money in firearms and paraphernalia than I like to think about. I'm just glad I have enough in savings and income that I don't have to think about selling any of it.

 

[Murphy4570]

Less than $2,000, by a whopping $30.

 

[TexasRifleman]

The firearm value is nothing compared to the amount of money that has gone down the barrel over the years.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Your guess would be wrong. Most gunowners hardly ever fire all the guns they have (and that includes the folks with one gun). You just can't use yourself as a sportsman as the model for everyone else.

Agreed.

Also, the gun is often the smaller part of the expenditure; With ammo costs these days, it doesn't take too many range trips to pour as much $$ in ammo out of the barrel as the gun itself cost.

I have some that get shot very frequently, others that haven't been fired in years.

 

[1911 guy]

I'll admit that most of my guns are best described as "pedestrian". Mossberg pump guns, Savage and Marlin bolt guns, etc. But when figuring in the cost of a custom 1911 (pushing a couple grand there) and the odd AR types that go for almost a grand each, the cost jumps considerably. I am firmly in a category higher than my initial gut assumption.

 

[doc2rn]

Since I started collecting after my time in the service, I would guess that I have almost always upgraded. I have roughly $10k in just three collectors pieces. That doesnt include the other 25 that fell overboard.
I would also have to agree most only have one or two favorite hunting rifles, a shotgun, and one or two pistols in the average home usually totalling under the $5k mark.