Value of C&R Firearms...

[Don Lu]

Many surplus weapons are very inexpensive....will the value of these go up when the supply in the market dries up ? I recently purchased two milsurps at what I believe to be great prices. Just wondering if they will become items of high value in years to come ?

 

[Nate C.]

Not too many guns depreciate, if properly cared for.

 

[machinisttx]

It really depends on what they are. An uncommon variation will be more valuable(such as Finnish rebuilt Nagants), but it's unlikely that a more common version of gun x will appreciate sharply.

I don't think Yugo made Mausers will appreciate much, at least not in the near future.

 

[Don Lu]

im thinking specifically about the cz-52..acording to estimates there were between 150,000-250,000 made...that's not a lot, spread worldwide. they are selling 56 years later for under 200 bucks...why is that ?

 

[cracked butt]

The countries/governments these surplus guns come from don't have either the means, the customer base, or the will to sell their old guns. They can either sell them for scrap metal or maybe sell them to an importer/exporter for a little more than scrap metal prices. The importer brings them into the country, and now has to warehouse x number of pallets of old guns. They sell them at a price point where they make very good money, yet at a low enough price that they can sell the entire inventory in a few months to a few years time.

Sure a K-31 might have cost $1200 in today's money to make, but if you are sitting on 10,000 of them that you might have paid $20 ea for to purchase and import, you aren't going to sell them for $1200 ea- you'll lose money because you'll never sell more than a few, and will still have to carry the rest in inventory.

 

[jws527]

I wouldn't purchase them as an investment, but I do see them as sound purchases nevertheless. Look at it this way: if you take care of a particular rifle, it will at least hold its value, so you're essentially getting "free" use of it (assuming you ever decide to sell it!).

 

[Chipperman]

It really depends. Supply and demand is in effect, as always.

My M44 that I bought about 7 years ago is worth exactly the same now as when I bought it. Supply is still high.

My East German Makarov I bought about 9 years ago is worth about 300% more than I paid for it. Demand for these has far outstipped the supply.

CZ-52s are kind of funny. They were cheap, then went up for a while when supply dired up. They fell again about 2 years ago when more were imported. I think they will rise again wehn that supply is gone, but won't attain the same high demand status as EG Maks.

 

[Vaarok]

They pretty much just hold their value if they're representative examples. Some do appreciate rapidly, but by and large you're not going to turn a profit faster than the bank. Buy the best quality firearms you can, treat them well, and you'll never lose money.

 

[buck00]

I don't think Yugo made Mausers will appreciate much, at least not in the near future.

It all depends on if they can keep them coming in. When something is plentiful and easy to get, people often don't value it. Think of how cheap Russian and Chinese SKS rifles were in the early 90's. I am sure there were many gun owners who said "hmm, a $50 rifle, probably junk...." not understanding the concept of surplus.

Fast forward, and people today are paying $450 plus for a Russian SKS still in the box.

 

[RenardSubtil]

I thought about this question a well, I only started collecting a few months ago but I think the posters have it on the money...these types rifles aren't going to be worth much unless they've well taken care of, unique, bought in quantity (kinda like stocks!), and I also imho how easily attainable "cheap" ammo can be had for it.

 

[Justin]

Guns are generally a terrible investment. For the most part, they don't depreciate, but they tend not to increase in value so much.

 

[Don Lu]

I didn't purchase them as an investment, I was just curious about future value. im new to the "collecting" side of gun ownership. I thought the EG Makarov and CZ 52 were good guns to start a C&R collection.

 

[Bartkowski]

The prices of Yugo SKS's have doubled in the past year and half.

 

[Soybomb]

The prices of Yugo SKS's have doubled in the past year and half.

For that particular example though I think we've probably seen the most growth we'll see. There's a limited collectors market for the yugo sks I think and at some point most people will be more interested in spending $350 on an AK.

 

[Prometheus]

A mosin nagant is a bad judge for appreciation/depreciation because there were tens of millions of those things made. Similar thought should be given to any sort of 'collectible".

I don't look at my c&r guns as investments, but worse comes to worse can anyone name me any other hobby/collection where you can buy something, USE IT and get your money back (plus possible a bit more) for it later? Sure we can talk about inflation and the plummeting us dollar, but lets focus on hobbies...

Golf clubs? How well do they hold their value? tennis rackets? computers? XBOX? PS3? VCR? DVD? TV?

If you are going to collect (and use) something, firearms are by far the smartest 'investment'.

I wouldn't go buying most milsurps trying to make speculate the market in another XX years, but knowing they'll always be worth at least what you paid for them... makes them a pretty smart hobby and lets you sleep better at night knowing how many you own

 

[Moonclip]

Depends on the gun but I see many types of C&R rifles go up in price very quickly once they are no longer imported.

I bought Swiss K31 rifles for $100 in 2003-2004 and they are sold for around $200 these days or even more.

 

[justin 561]

I'm sure 50 years from now the value will go up on a certain weapon. Look at the flintlocks and 100+ year old guns. Its all a matter of how long you're willing to hold on to it.