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Old January 19, 2016, 11:09 PM   #26
gyvel
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Seriously? In the 70's I was buying German Mausers out of a 55 gallon drum at Gibson's dept. stores for 15.00, 03 Springfields weren't much more.
Hawg, are you sure you aren't thinking of the 50s??? I can remember seeing prices like that in the 50s (in Florida), but by the 70s, things were creeping up a bit.
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Old January 21, 2016, 09:59 AM   #27
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^^^ They crept up a whole $4. In 1971 my Mauser K98 cost $19.00 at Edelman's Sporting Goods. My dad bought 2. All had matching serial numbers. He also bought 2 Mauser barreled actions for $9.99 each. Can't beat that with a stick.
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Old January 22, 2016, 03:47 AM   #28
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As some other people have already mentioned, timing is everything. You all have heard the old saying "What goes around, comes around". People lose interest, a new magazine article comes out, a movie is made, and suddenly something else is collected. The high prices drive people away from collecting certain models and they move on to other things. If you collect for a hobby, have fun. If you collect just for an investment, you are rolling the dice.
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Old January 22, 2016, 09:08 AM   #29
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Hawg, are you sure you aren't thinking of the 50s???
Yeah, I wasn't born til Dec 56. I was 15 when I bought my first Mauser so that would have been 72.
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Old January 23, 2016, 11:28 PM   #30
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So, when are people going to lose interest in surplus ammo cans so the prices on those drop?
Wishful thinking all around.
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Old January 24, 2016, 01:19 AM   #31
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People that shoot a lot of ammo off don't need a rifle with matching numbers, but you are right, they need the ammo. You want to see a price drop on a gun, advertise it as a "Wildcat" or a handload only gun. Right now you can get ammo or brass for almost anything. It was not always that way.
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Old January 24, 2016, 04:04 AM   #32
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Yeah, I wasn't born til Dec 56. I was 15 when I bought my first Mauser so that would have been 72.
Geeeeeeeez. A Mauser for $15.00 in '72? That's just after I got discharged from the Air Force and a had a few extra bucks, but I never saw anything that cheap in Florida since the 50s and early 60s. Drat! Just my luck.
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Old January 24, 2016, 12:45 PM   #33
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Looking over the 475 page auction list for Samco's bankruptcy gives me hope that there will soon be many new surplus rifles on the market.
How does a person go about purchasing things from them? Their website is down.

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Just wait until CMP starts selling off all the surplus (100,000 or so ) M1911 and 1911A1's. It's going to be a freaking nightmare!
When will this happen? Anyone have an idea how much they will go for?
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Old January 24, 2016, 06:06 PM   #34
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You can't purchase items from the auction. The listing doesn't show when it will be, but my guess is soon. One or two of the big distributors will purchase most if not all of it.

At that point we should see some new milsurps on the market.

TK
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Old January 24, 2016, 08:50 PM   #35
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The listing doesn't show when it will be, but my guess is soon. One or two of the big distributors will purchase most if not all of it.
I've been to the Samco's site a couple of times or so but don't remember all those rifles, unless I didn't look in the right place.
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Old January 24, 2016, 09:10 PM   #36
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I didn't see them either, but they show on the inventory sheet. I have no idea what's there but some of the items look interesting and I hope they come to market. Over 6000 Spanish Mausers would be nice.

TK
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Old January 24, 2016, 11:33 PM   #37
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The CMP 1911's are reportedly going to start for around $1000 for the lowest grades.
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Old January 25, 2016, 12:07 AM   #38
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Over 6000 Spanish Mausers would be nice
Yes, it would be.

I noticed a bunch of Yugo SKSs. And a good sized batch of M1 Carbines. Anyone want to guesstimate how much we would be paying for this stuff?
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Old January 27, 2016, 09:45 PM   #39
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Lots of pictures here:

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...p-for-auction/

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Old January 28, 2016, 12:00 AM   #40
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Over 6000 Spanish Mausers would be nice.
I just thought of something. They may not handle commercial .308 loads. I think they were made when the 7.62X51 was loaded lighter. I don't know.


Thanks for the pics, TK.
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Old January 28, 2016, 01:50 AM   #41
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The owners were two Pakistanis, at last count.
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Old January 28, 2016, 10:18 AM   #42
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Those are some interesting pics. I've never seen pallets of rifles stacked 25 rows high. by my count that would be 250 rifles on one pallet. It will be interesting to see which outfit ends up with all of those.
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Old January 28, 2016, 07:49 PM   #43
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They may not handle commercial .308 loads. I think they were made when the 7.62X51 was loaded lighter.
Maybe the 7.62 CETME? CETME chambered rifles can fire 7.62 NATO a the ammunition will fit, but it is almost certainly not a good idea, especially repeatedly.
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Old February 11, 2016, 03:15 AM   #44
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I blame the Mosin! At the time when things started to go crazy the Mosin was the super cheap rifle getting a LOT of attention that everyone had to get. I feel like that drove a lot of the new gun guys spawned by the craze interest toward the lore of surplus firearms.

So it's YouTube and the Mosin Nagants fault!

But in all seriousness While I LOVE my surplus and the joys of shooting a piece of history I did also love the reasonable prices for nice firearms/ammo and at this point I am starting to wonder how much longer it is going to be worth it.

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Old February 11, 2016, 04:42 AM   #45
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Supply & Demand

Ever been to Simpson Ltd's store in Illinois? I could spend hours in there.

I think there is a difference between bulk surplus and surplus. Nagants, SKS's, & Mausers, & Enfields were cheap back in the day because they were available in bulk. Bulk surplus is bought cheap and sold cheap on that 1st go about in the market.

Now that all those guns are in private hands (no more bulk surplus) the price increases, doubles, triples, etc. They are now into a 2nd market where there is no more piles of rifles readily available.

I do note that 03 C&R guns always seem to sell for more $ than guns sold through 01 dealers. The idea that you can have a C&R handgun shipped directly to your door somehow means to sellers that it should be priced higher than the rest of the market.

With antique guns (no FFL required) that is even more the case.

Note I don't have an 03 license and except for that one visit to Simpsons Ltd - don't think I need one.

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Old February 11, 2016, 08:09 AM   #46
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Just something to chew on.
We may be reaching what I refer to as a roll over point.
Many very nice and large collections are in the hands of older collectors.
They bought these guns back when they were cheap and plentiful but now they are older; and have basically completed lifelong collections and now are in their twilight years.
Why I say this is I have two friend that meet this criteria and they are starting to sell off their collections. Partly due to lack of interest anymore, partly because no one in the family has interest and also to help fund their retirement or defer medical bills.
I’m one of those guys that bought these guns back in the day as a fun hobby and a long term investment.
Most of us that were there back in the day are reaching that roll over point.
Look at some of the collections you see here on this forum. When these collection come to market there will be hundreds of new “good quality” guns for sale and like I said many of us that were around back in the day are reaching that roll over point.
As for prices you pay what the market will bare. That's how capitalism works
and that explains prices today.
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Old February 12, 2016, 07:40 PM   #47
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I been into surplus guns for over two decades+. I was watching prices going up over night from $150 to $450 on mausers. As the prices went even higher I got off the surplus guns and went to newer guns.
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Old February 13, 2016, 09:57 PM   #48
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Has the price really gone up that much? I mean Walmart starts people off at $10 an hour and mosin are like 200 or 20 hours.
When they were $15... People were making like 75 cents an hour doing min wage jobs. So they cost like 20 hours of work then too.
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Old February 16, 2016, 09:09 AM   #49
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Good conversation.

Like ammo a few years ago, I still believe many that aren't really collectors have been snatching up milsurps because they believe prices can only go one way- up....

Funny, I remember having the same conversation with a business associate back in '07 that had been buying and flipping condos in SW Florida. Re-selling them for a profit before the closing docs had gotten cold. We all know those that kept saying the same thing about housing. Then 2008 happened and personal bankruptcy soon followed for him.

I don't know whether that tipping point is now- or some point in the future. But there is a tipping point- so it's just fool's logic to say they "can only go up in value" ad infinitum. I think it's just important to use some common sense, and it's necessary to buy smart these days.

Many "rules" that affect value seem to have temporarily (IMO) gone out the window- like CONDITION. I see rifles in NRA "poor" condition going for much more than they should- as though condition didn't matter. The buyer justifies the price he paid by saying all the nicks, gouges and rust on the rifle "add character" or are "battle scars". LMAO. On a rare piece, condition is less important- but it's everything on more common ones.

Just going on record- I'll look this thread up in a few years to see if I called it right
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Old February 19, 2016, 11:41 AM   #50
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I don't think it's a bubble, just a new price point for a finite supply of guns. No more made, no more imported.

Even surplus ammo, a product that is made daily, has seen price jumps not because of the "quality" of surplus ammo, but because of the finite supply. I doubt it will surpass the price of new ammo, but it might get closer now.
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