guns as a "commodity"

[Sparks1957]

Point well taken, Bud. I was trying to make the point that guns were not a good investment in that sense.

[joyflnzz]

I started this thread asking a simple question about specific brands and calibers and did not intend for it to examine motives, ethics or other factors. So far no one has specificaly answered my question... What brand and calibers of handguns would be best to own long term from the standpoint of holding value and being easy to sell later. Simple question. Any answers?

[thallub]

My question is... what handgun or class of handgun would be the best investments?

Antique Colt revolvers.

[checkmyswag]

Whatever people want in the future. That's probably why you haven't got a lot of the type of responses you desired. You're asking us to predict the future and know what will become collectible or desirable in the future. Its hard with things being manufactured en masse. And many firearms (unlike hemi cudas) are just lightly used and put on a shelf in the closet for years so there may be 50,000 nice examples of a pistol in 2050 that you buy today but only 2 left of the 7 plum crazy hemi four speed convertible AAR cudas (or something).

[cambeul41]

He says that "come the revolution",,,
Those buried revolvers will be worth more than gold.

Uh, "come the revolution," he might not have control of, or even access to, the property where they are buried.

[3kgt2nv]

I think collectible and affordable are two ends of the spectrum but most of the ultra high end stuff is past military and as the garands and lugers are today's market the future i think will be early model military issue m16/ar and other firearms that have seen service. people tend to collect what they grew up with and we have a current 40+ year group of people that went to war and put their life on the line with the ar platform. where there are many civilian models because of the active use the military models are still unavailable.

think of past military firearms and tell me collect ability wise there isnt a pattern

1873 about any firearm thats from this era is collectible that the military used
s.a.a
Springfield trapdoor

moving thru history
30-40 krag
1903 rifle
garand
m1 carbine
m1a /m14

i think the next generation will be the Vietnam era ar's with the triangle handgard and the birdcage flash suppressor and no case deflector or forward assist.

[RLWII]

I remember years ago reading an article by Col. Cooper about hoarding ammo. He advocated having large amounts of .22lr as trading fodder. His assumption was that most people have some type of .22lr firearm in their inventory, and if the time ever came, having plenty of .22lr to trade might get you something you need.

[TXAZ]

Joe,
I don't think anyone is trying to *not* answer your question, but a high quality answer really depends upon the specific scenario of the (possible) dollar devaluation relative to other currencies. There is not a single simple answer:

If it's devaluation because of very high inflation, you may want to consider buying an authenticated historical sidearms or other historical collectibles, as most collectibles tend to track inflation when. The highest quality historical collectibles (like George Washington's sidearm) typically will appreciate much more than you're great-great-great grandfather's civil war pistol.

If it's devaluation due to a lack of governance or the gross failure / collapse of a central government that is dollar denominated, then any popular, easy to use handgun would likely command a very pretty price, as would shotguns and others that could be used to put down civil insurrection in your neighborhood / city in the absence of other legal authorities. Tasers would also probably be an excellent investment.

Is this helping any?

There are numerous reasons why currencies have devalued, a lot more that I can probably post here. Lack of relative long term productivity, significant debt, currency manipulations, setting a fixed / unsetting a fixed exchange rate to another currency / commodity, market or government fear, investor loss of confidence, etc etc etc. If you could provide what you believe the mechanism that will cause the devaluation that will help better answer your question.

Good luck!

[44 AMP]

What brand and calibers of handguns would be best to own long term from the standpoint of holding value and being easy to sell later. Simple question. Any answers?

Common duty class handguns from reputable makers. Colts, Sigs, GLocks, S&W, Ruger, etc.

These are the guns that will be in demand, and will hold value, in the future, just as they are today. If you are looking to make money, buy something else. If you are looking for something to hold value (not necessarily dollars), good quality guns do that.

Twenty years ago, you could get a good dot matrix printer or a used .38 S&W/colt, etc. revolver for a couple hundred bucks. Which one of those could still bring you a couple hundred buck (adjusted for inflation) today? Odds are it wouldn't be the printer!

Get some police trade-ins, get a couple hundred rounds per gun. Stash them away, and when you need to sell, I'd be willing to bet you get the value you paid for them back. The actual dollar number will likely be different, but the relative value will remain the same.

Other than for actual collector category guns, they don't increase in value much, but they don't lose much either. That $300 pistol bought then might be $800 today, but then gold was $800/oz and today its $2000+! Good guns keep their value. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of our currency, currently.

[joyflnzz]

TXAZ,
I think your last paragraph describes the devaluation factors that "could" be in beginning stages very soon. I think I would rather invest in quality non- collectibles firearms rather than a couple of high value collectibles. I had not considered .22 caliber, but you and others on this forum make a lot of sense suggesting .22. I will add .22 target type pistols to my short list.

[joyflnzz]

44AMP,

Thanks for the excellent advice! I think you have grasped what I am looking for. Any caliber recommendations.

[22-rimfire]

I would look buy firearms you personally like so that if you don't make any money, you're still happy.

Buying and selling firearms is not an easy business unless you buy very low and sell high.

Some people suggest you buy the imported inexpensive military weapons. If you did that, I would buy by the case.

Firearms are poor investments in an overall sense. They are not liquid assets. If you had to pay the rent in two weeks, you would be hard pressed to get market prices on a gun, any gun, that quickly and turn it. Hence you would likely be late on the rent or the price you would get would be about $0.75 on the dollar at best. Not much of an investment when you can buy stocks and quickly sell them.

[joyflnzz]

not looking for an investment as my main business is buying and selling basic rental houses of which I now own enough of to never look at another dollar based investment. I am looking for an alternative to gold as a hedge against inflation and dollar devaluation. stocks will have little value in such a market and gold is already high priced in anticipation of the probable coming dollar devaluation. I have made up my mind to invest in guns and ammo. I am now just trying to do it in the most educated manner as to the brand, model and caliber to look to buy on my local used market.

[Tom Servo]

He has several (10 or more) inexpensive (Heritage brand) .22 revolvers buried around his property,,,
Each one is sealed inside a piece of 8" PVC pipe,,,
Along with several bulk packs of ammo,,,
And a few minor medical supplies.

I know a guy who did that with an SKS back in 1992 or so. He buried it in (what were at the time) the woods. The interment apparently took place late at night, and it may have involved alcohol.

In any case, he remembered it around 2000, and when he went to retrieve it, a subdivision had been built. His TEOTHWACKOZOMBIE rifle is now beneath somebody's in-ground pool.

As far as buying for appreciation, there are better investments. I only have a few guns that have shown a marked increase in value over the last twenty years. If I factor in the initial capital investment, the maintenance, and the time involved, the rate of return is truly wretched.

[kilimanjaro]

Whether guns or ammo, be sure to stick to calibers that will be in universal demand. 9mm Luger, .38 Special, .45 ACP, stuff like that. Strictly for a barter item, pick up 10 bricks of .22 LR as soon as you can, tuck it away.

[jmr40]

I've bought/sold/traded quite a few guns over the years. Made a few dollars on a few, lost some on a few. Any time I've ran across a great deal on a used gun, and had cash to spare I've bought it, even if I didn't want it. I've owned guns less than 24 hours before selling them at a $100 profit. Never tried to make cash, just used good deals as trade bait to get into a better quality gun.

It is like playing the stock market and is risky. Gun values fluctuate up and down depending on lots of things. During the AWB I sold used Glock 22 magazines for $100 each. After the ban ended they could be bought new for $12.

Right after the 2012 election I could have doubled, maybe tripled my money on my AR's. Today you can buy them new for $600. Good quality used bolt rifles made by Winchester, Remington, and all the big name companies are now selling for next to nothing because of the number of budget bolt rifles flooding the market and selling for $250-$300.

On the other hand I have about a dozen Winchester and Marlin lever guns that I paid well under $200 for, that are now selling for up to $500.

I wouldn't look at it as an investment for future income. I'm sorta like a kid trading baseball cards that never grew up. Except I've been a gun trader. If I were to sell off my entire collection, I'd probably show a small profit, but that was never my goal.

[bikerbill]

The value of a firearm in a situation where, for whatever reason, no new ones were being made, would be as a weapon, which I'm guessing all those gun haters will be kicking themselves for not having ... In that case, it's value would be based on the need for it and the scarcity ... if just for an investment, value is based on the scarcity of the item ... if there were a billion '57 Chevys, you get get one for a few hundred bucks ... we're stashing 9mm ammo, a case or so every few months, as a possible source of barter ... if all is well, I can always shoot it ...

[Nickel Plated]

Since you mentioned buying "practical" guns for some "SHTF" situation and not "collectible" guns for "investment", then I would guess it depends on what kind of S you plan to be HTF, if you get my drift.

In the case of some collapse of law and order, anarchy reigning the streets, rampaging mobs raping and pillaging, then I think practical combat weapons would be best. ARs, AKs, and Glocks. Infact forget the ARs. Just stick to one type of gun, easier to deal with and I would pick the AK. 5.45x39 for the AK, cheaper surplus ammo that comes in weatherproof spam cans so it's easier to store. 9mm or .40 for the Glock, I'd go with 9mm. However some have mentioned if it would be entirely wise to be selling off guns in a situation like that. As Nicholas Cage in Lord of War said: "The first and most important rule of gun-running is: Never get shot with your own merchandise."

Although the more likely scenario is simply an economic collapse. The government is still around to keep order, people are just broke and can't buy basic things like food. In which case, sell nonperishable food. Once that's out, sell simple, practical food-getting guns. 22s and shotguns for people to hunt with.

[Tom Servo]

SHTF, zombies, dogs and cats living together, and all the bad grammar, caps-lock abuse and borderline conspiracy theory we can muster in two pages. I'm ashamed enough for all of us.

Read the rules. We don't do TEOWHACKAMOLE or conspiracy stuff here.

Closed.