doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com best gun question?

With 100K, I'd be starting with a David McKay Brown sxs, and then go from there.
Not all the big fours have to come from Lewis Drake, try some of the more budget minded shops.
Ted, all you have to do is look at the bespoke Spanish guns - these pre-enjoyed beauties pop-up on the market at a real loss to the first time owners. Good shooters, bad investment.

There is a cornucopia of fine guns out there. BV1(Boss, H&H, Purdey, and Woodward)-OQ1(best grade SLE, but not extra finish)-CC1(pristine/best of 50) = $40,000 USA retail for a 12 gauge SXS of 1890ish to 1960ish vintage. BV2 is 3/4 this amount, BV3 is 1/2, and BV4 is 1/4. You can cut the price 2/3 to 3/4 by easing back on the Current Condition level. And, there are some very nice guns in "A" and "B" grades, also.

Above said, $100K will buy 3 to 5 very nice older guns. Or, the whole wad could easily be spent on one modern bespoke gun. A modern bespoke BLE, even a pair, could leave a good deal of wiggle room for future purchases. There are far too many ways to approach this to nail down one as "The" way.

Thanks for all the information,I was just learning about guns in the 70's and a good friend and mentor said you will have to handle at least $50,000 buying/selling/getting screwed in guns before you know anything.
I dont know what that would be in todays money but.What I have found is deal with reputable dealers.This guy just might want the fast track to learning.
Again Thanks for the input
Hampton

Thorny,
Order yourself a new Boss, or Purdey, sit on your ass waiting for a few years until it gets here, enjoy it for a season or three, and tell us all what you can sell it for.

Hint-It WON'T be anywhere near what you paid. So why the carping on the Spaniards?

Best,
Ted

Thorny,

All "shooters" are bad investments when you compare them to unfired or higher condition. Few investments are worse than gun when you use them. Maybe a vintage car driven to work every day is worse but not by much.

Spanish guns are a decent value if you stop and add in the increasing prices for new verse when the gun was bought. You will always loose if you sell very soon after the purchase. But shoot it, take care of it and keep it for several years and even those Spanish gun get to be at least a break even propisition.

British guns are no great value if you buy them new and sell them in a short time. Now if you hold onto them for 100 years then a 30 pound gun is worth about $1,500.00. But had it been sold the year after it was purchased and you might have lost 20-30% of your purchase price. Same then and a same now.

Selling land!
The first real non-restricted hunting land one hour from a metro area of 2.5 million land starved people.
Is the thing.
Forget 401s, stock options, the market and gold.
I bring up the Spanish guns Ted, because it has been posted about for years - and never a good deal for the seller.
Good American and Brit guns/rifles hold their own, but I've no head for business - just another pretty face.

Well, Thorny, I'm curious, because it is one thing to buy a Spanish gun (or, a Brit for that matter) and lock it away, and expect, for some reason, it to be worth more than what you paid in a few business quarters. I've always felt that was unrealistic.

But, the very, very great majority of us don't do that. We buy them to use. And a sad fact of life is we only get so much time to use them. Hence, I've always made it a point to separate the idea of a gun, and an investment. Sometimes we get a pleasant surprise, but, in my case, that has always been tempered by the fact that the time it took to get that surprise was time I was never going to get back.

Larry Brown is a great one for pointing up what a great deal used guns are (and you, by the way.) And they can be a great deal, just like a used car, IF you accept that the thing wasn't built for you, to meet your needs. Hence, it will never be quite exactly what you would have ordered. There may be exceptions, but, the sheer volume of used good guns out there leads me to believe otherwise.

I like to believe that the British liason that was going to spend a few years in India, or the French rubber plantation owner in Viet Nam didn't concern themselves with what the return factor was going to be on the guns they bought themselves to use during the free time they had on their assignments. Maybe they thought about it, but it sure doesn't matter today.

If I was to be offered the time back it took for a few of my motley collection of guns to be worth more than I paid, I promise you, I'd take the time and not the money. If you are honest, you will admit the same.

So, buy a gun. Spend enough time and money to make it exactly what you want and need, so you don't have to do it again. And then, use it every single chance you get. Travel with it, enjoy it, and do the very best you can to wear it out. Because nobody will be thinking about how much their gun is worth on their deathbed.

Not even you, Thorny.
Best,
Ted

Ten years ago you could buy a H&H Royal 12 ga in excellent shape for GBP5000. Today you can sell that gun for twice that sum of money and you will have had plenty of pleasure along the way. What makes that a lousy investment?

This doesn't require that you steal the gun. Just pay the going rate for a quality gun and you won't get hurt. And avoid buying a lemon by spending $100 to get a knowledgeable technical person to look at it.

There's also an opportunity to create instant equity if you buy smart. But this requires a few years' experience, esp. if you get off the beaten track a little. You don't find this kind of gun on a knowledgeable dealer's rack. You may need to go overseas to find them.

I suspect that our buyer thinks he can get into the latter category of purchase. He can only do that if he has a consultant who is willing to do a lot of looking around and be on call, for not much money.

He is probably going to need two advisors: a gunsmith to do technical evaluations, and a consultant to advise him on pricing. In my experience, good gunsmiths aren't that current on pricing.

Forget buying new. No matter who the maker, you can't make a return buying new doubles. They cost a lot more to build than they fetch in the secondary market.

My advice to this guy would be to pool his money with a similarly-minded but more experienced buyer, and then to buy whole estates or collections together. Then sell the guns off over time, keeping one or two each that fit/appeal. The keepers will probably be "free" unless you really screw up.

Ted, after the sale I put the bill away, and never think about it again. No matter how much, or how little.
...and they've been pretty little these days.
I'll wear these things out, about the time I wear out and not before - there are plenty of birds/game left in these legs.
When the fire does go out, I wouldn't mind one last look and know I've kept them up.