I have stumbled upon a BIG opportunity. I am an attorney and a very good office location has opened up. Obviously, I am going to be borrowing a fair chunk of change. Unfortunately, I just paid my taxe$ and put a decent amount in a retirement fund. I have been collecting guns for about 20 years and I am going to need to sell a large chunk of them to get up enough money. I have already started the process, but am starting to run low on guns that lack “meaning.” I am right about to have to make some serious decisions.
Help me choose which guns to sell.
Glocks. I have a few Glocks and accessories. They won’t generate a lot of money, but are very easy to sell. I also have a good number of mags and parts. 1.2k
Custom 1911s. I have some top drawer 1911s (some Colts and two Novaks). I also have a LOT of accessories including magazines, Marvel 22 conversion, etc. Basically this should generate about 4k (lowball). The only drawback to this is it would involve a lot of individual sales since 1911 folks are notorious nit-pickers.
P7M8s. I have three of these and a ton of holsters and parts. I am guessing I can generate a minimum of 3.5k for these.
AKs. I have two and a bunch of mags and parts. 1k.
Surplus guns .5k
A Vang Comp and a Novaks shot gun. About 1k
A Marlin 45/70 customized by Brockman and a lot of 45/70 1k
A few S&W Revolvers and accessories. About 1k
Some other guns worth about 2k total.
HK 416 upper and parts. 2k plus.
If you were going to “boil it all down” what would you do?
I am absolutely keeping my Colt AR and my NFA stuff. I am concerned that the NFA stuff may end up being irreplaceable.
I would keep the rifles you want and have two pistols that are exactly the same or close to it. G19/17 etc. I wouldn’t keep the 1911’s as my few remaining pistols over glock.
I would definitely hang onto the Novaks, at least until the economy picks up a little more. Likewise with anything with historic/collector value.
If you’re not married to it, I would ditch the 416 quickly just incase they do become widely available any time soon. I haven’t been following the H&K upper saga, but if they are widely released you might lose big on that one.
Most of the other stuff will probably be worth the same ten years from now as it is today, so if you don’t want them just sell’em.
P.S. I suggest an M4C exclusive auction when you do decide to sell.
Basically, I wonder if the smartest move would be to keep my G17 and G26. They both have excellent sights and I can practice cheap. Plus, the won’t generate much money.
I agree, you should pick one of your 1911s to keep and get rid of the rest, those would seem to generate some good dough seeing how they are more on the higher end.
these are the only two pistols i sport anymore. between the two, they fill every handgun need i might have. i keep a smith J, just because it fits so nicely in the pocket of my vest, but i haven’t carried it in months. not even sure where it is.
i sold everything else a year or two ago, and really dont miss any of it.
I wouldn’t sell the Glocks. The likely return just isn’t worth parting with plastic guns most of the time, unless you strongly dislike them.
I don’t know how much cash you absolutely need, but in your situation I’d keep:
the Glocks
my favorite 1911 (sell the conversion kit)
one shotgun
surplus guns (same issue as Glocks - whatever you’re going to get back isn’t worth it)
plus the AR and NFA you’ve already stipulated.
And honestly, I could see ditching the favorite 1911. If you find yourself wanting one, you could get yourself a custom, dream 1911 down the road when your finances are settled.
If a Garand is part of your surplus rifles, I wouldn’t sell that simply because it is an iconic American rifle, and not to mention fun to shoot. I agree with you on keeping one of the Glocks, your AR, and of course all the NFA stuff.
Inquiring minds want to know what you have for sale…
Caveat: I have no interest in “collecting” and frankly find the practice odd, so my conclusions may not be the same as some.
I am a firm believer in (at least) two of everything, but generally not twins. The Glocks you have are great in this regard.
I would apply the same thing to the ARs and sell off everything else. One 16" and one SBR and dump the rest.
No idea what kind of NFA stuff you have but if you have an M16 that would be very likely to generate the most capital and IMHO is one of the least useful things to have money tied up in.
I’ve had the “what would I sell/keep” conversation in my head a few times, and I’ve always come up with two G19s, my flattop 6520 and one 6933. In a real pinch I’d go the other way and keep one G19 and the AK.
I totally agree on your opinion of collecting. I am guilty of it, but have decided the practice is a waste, and possibly a bit nutty.
I don’t want to sell my M16. My reasoning is that, although there is a large amount of $$ available there, I don’t want to sell it because (1) I enjoy shooting it (especially with the .22 conversion) and I am afraid that after the recession is gone the price will creep up so high I can’t replace it.
