Firearms and friends as investments.

General General Discussion
1

I am making this thread not to ask a question, but rather just as a group discussion. Actually to be honest, I am making it to make myself feel better. As a person who has just started to decide to make shooting his hobby, I am feeling a little glum about the money I have thrown towards it thus far :P.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am happy for my choice. I am quite eager to ascend to the ranks of knowledge and skill that many of you here are at, and I know it is not an expensive pass time to say the least. Just staring at a $400 deduction from your bank account with one purchase of a consumable can kinda take you back though you know?

Anyways, it got me thinking, and I am interested in everyone’s thoughts on this. A well maintained firearm never truly loses a great deal of its value does it? I do not expect it to go “up” in price, obviously it will degrade overtime some. Just from my lurking I have watched prices over the years. I do not mean when a new rifle hits the market and it has a high mark up because of demand. Just take something like a 6920, except for time during gun grab scares, it seems to have remained at the same value. At any point, provided the firearm is well maintained and in good shape, it should still retain at least most of its value right? I say this because on gunbroker and what not, I see used guns in a lot of cases selling not that far off from new prices. Sometimes more due to the accessories that have been bought with it.

The same logic I thought could be applied to ammo as well. Because honestly, that is the most bitter pill I am going to have to swallow. I fully understand throwing money at a quality firearm, but throwing that much at ammunition and knowing I will do so in the future makes me a bit ill.

It did also occur to me though, part of what I bought was two ammo cans of Federal 5.56. If I just sit on those for a rainy day, chances are they will never truly degrade in price. I imagine I would always be able to get what I paid for them, if not a little more if times get a little tough.

Anyways, this was just one of those banter threads to pass the time before work. I mainly wrote this thinking of the value of black rifles in general. People are always saying to buy gold and do not invest in the dollar in times of economic woe and uncertainty. If ammunition does not lose value, then why not just stockpile that? :P. And yes, I am totally just trying to justify it anyway in my mind at this point as to why I can go and buy a couple more of those ammo cans before they go off sell.

2

In the long run, ammo can be worth its weight in gold.
Sometimes several times its weight in gold if you’re taking it from a person who has gold but no ammo.
Then you’ve got ammo and gold.

I know its likely a long way off, but there are forces at large trying to ban lead bullets or register ammo purchases.
Granted it may seem a little twitchy to worry about such things currently, but down the road wouldn’t it be nice to have some unregistered ball ammo to use for X purpose instead of $14 a registered bullet ‘green’ ammo?

Side note on the ‘green’ stuff.
NY already has bans in place for pretty much any ammuntion but lead, and are currently working on some environmental BS thing to ban that. Problem is not a lot of people know about the alternative ammo bans so jump on the ban lead bandwagon.
If they manage to do it, then literally every type of modern conventional bullet from straight lead ball through frangibles of any material will be effectively illegal.

3

I was never much interested in “stick and ball” sports though it was almost expected to play football at my high school and I played my share.

hunting, shooting, fishing, camping - those seemed like activities with a payback.

later as I developed more disposable income, I discovered motorcycle racing - talk about expensive hobby…

with my first child, the motorcycles got sold and golf took up my interest though it too is not a cheap sport.

as you go through life, you’ve got to decide what is important to you and understand that the money you give part of your life for needs to give back some of that life to you. otherwise, what are you working for?..

4

I wouldn’t consider a new firearm a very good investment. They’re like cars, take it off the lot and you’ve already lost 10-20%. Used firearms I think would make a great investment.

Here’s an idea of what I consider a recent investment. I purchased a used FN FNX-9. Brand new these go for $550+ all day. I picked mine up for $325, but why $325? The guy selling it thought that because it was duracoated tan, nobody would want it. I figured I’d try the gun and if I didn’t like it, sell it to a local gun shop known to give reasonable prices. I’m not sure exactly how much I can get but if I decide to sell it privately, I’m willing to guess $450 if I remove the duracoat.

Given these types of deals don’t come around often but when they do, there is money to be made.

I do agree with you on ammo. If you store it correctly, ammo will keep it’s value. If you wait long enough, I’m thinking it will go up in value. Metals are only getting more expensive in this economy. If you buy a bulk order, as an investment, I bet you could make plenty off it even selling it right away. Say 10k rounds of your favorite stuff. Find a place who wants to do bulk orders at a discount. Purchase, advertise, profit.

5

In my experience firearms are a very poor investment. I have made money once on a gun sale. And ammo is very pricey. It’s an expensive hobby. There are cheaper hobbies out there. More expensive too. Some hobbies are much more expensive. I have known owners of warbirds and they spend incredible sums. Just kind of depends on your financial circumstances and what you want. I am by no means rich but I can justify to myself and my wife my expenditures. A lot of women would not put up with my spending on guns and ammo.

6

to me, that’s the key phrase - you said ‘shooting’, not ‘collecting guns’. if you’re going to enjoy shooting, don’t worry about buying guns as an investment or whether they’re going to retain their value. shoot them and enjoy them.
the money you pay for ammo is the same as any other experience you enjoy - maybe like a good meal you treat yourself to once in a while. once you’ve eaten it, it’s gone. but you still had a good time.

7

I think this might not be for you.

8

Couple thoughts…

Most cars last 10 years or so, my last “Made in Mehico” TV lasted 5 years. Computers constantly need work and quickly become obsolete. VCRs came and went in a mere few decades.

But I have a 1911 that has seen three wars that is still running on original parts. I still shoot the 03 Springfield my father bought when he was in junior high.

There is a reason I like guns and I hate most other things.

But it isn’t for the faint of heart and $400 is hardly a lot of money. I have spent that much on magazines before. Of course I’m not sure I’d call what I do a “hobby” either. I have hobbies, firearms isn’t one of them.

9

I’ve been at this since age 12 when I shot .22 shorts at 50 cents a box, and thought it was a big deal to move up to the big load, .22 LR.

Shooting is a protean activity–it can be a lot of things depending on how wide you want to cast your net and what you are doing at a given time in your life. It’s given me something to do for the last 50 years of my life, given me good friends and a wide range of contacts; and steered me into a career and a good retirement. Hopefuly I have continued to evolve and so has this hobby. I’ve engaged in it when I had very little money and when I had some to throw away. I’ve been lucky in what I’ve been able to own, and I realize that someday it’ll all be owned and used by someone else.

I’ve made some money and probably lost more with guns, but that was never the object. To me guns represent “use value”–good ones serve a purpose and fulfill it for a fairly long period of time. It isn’t what they’re worth to a willing buyer at the end of all that, but what they added to your enjoyment of life while you had them. Just how that works out depends on who you are and what’s important to you. A single shot .22 might be more significant to me than a $10,000 shotgun is to someone else.

The hobby doesn’t have to be all that expensive if you keep your ego under control. I remember when someone with five guns was considered to be quite the gun person, and that the hobby was pretty much a do-it-yourself affair. Somewhere I have an old American Rifleman article showing how to make a powder measure out of an old Model T carburetor. Somehow that sounds like more fun than whipping out the old plastic for the newest gee-whiz digital powder measure and all the bells and whistles.

It’s a great hobby–no doubt about it.

10

If you think you’re dropping money now, wait until you actually know what you’re doing and buying and then you’ll see how much money you’ll actually start spending. I won’t blink at 900-1500 for a pistol and up to 3500 for a rifle…over 3500 it will have to be a damned nice weapon for me to pony up!
Ammo…don’t think of ammo as an investment. think of your ablity to use the weapons you purchased as the investment. If you have 10rifles and 5000rds (which may sound like a lot, but really, really isn’t), but can’t get lead on target when it matters then you just put together a nice little stash for some guy with 1 rifle, 100rds, and 10,000+ plus rounds of practive under his belt.

Oh and another thing! If you think this is expensive don’t ever buy a boat!

11

This is kind of silly.

If it makes you ILL, to spend money on it…then by all means, dont.

We take it pretty serious here.

You either have the “Bug” or you dont.

Like others have said, “Just wait till you know what youre doing and see how much you spend”.

12

Take it slow at first. Lots of money is wasted buying shit before you/we need it. Always try things out when you can. My biggest goof was buying a pair of AimPoint H1’s and mounts. They were awesome but the 4MOA dot does not work well with my eyes. I have a pair of M4s now. The 2 MOA dot works much better with my astigmatism. Stocks and rails are another thing money is wasted on.

Read the stickies here on m4c there is tons of great advice. Good luck and have fun!

13

You know, I didn’t even blink when I dropped 800 dollars cash on a scope and mount for one of my rifles, but buying 3 large bottles of DOT3 for my car made my ill looking at the 21 dollar bill before tax. What the fuck is in my water???

14

You’re relatively sane. I made an NJP-able fuss over a $2 incorrect value on a CIF item. I didn’t bat and eye about impulse buying an MD SR15.

15

Hahaha.

Were on the same page.