doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Double gun prices with soaring stock market

Very much the same here in the U.K. with bargains galore. I put it down to youngsters these days not going into fishing or shooting but spending too much time on their smartphones instead of going outdoors and doing things. High end guns are still up there but decent middle of the road; but still desirable stuff, is going very slowly. Recent local gun auction had a leather H & H gun case that I was mildly interested in with a guide price of �100 to �120. It had various oil bottles and bits and bobs in the case though not marked H & H. I was going away at the time of the sale but thought of leaving a mid range bid. In the case was, believe it or not, a free gun to go with it. A plain and well used; but still sound, in proof and with clean bores, Belgian box lock ejector. Case and gun fetched just �70! The oil bottles alone were worth about that. Wished I had bid on it now. Same sale was a very nice, clean, tight little lightweight box lock non-ejector 12 bore by E. Anson of Birmingham in its original case; guide price �220 to �250, so I suppose a reserve of around �200. It didn't even get a bid. I did buy a 16 bore box lock non-ejector by the Midland Gun Company in its factory canvas case and about 95% original colour hardening for just a bid of �120. Great little gun that would have been three times that price 25 years ago. Hammer guns are just about holding up if they are in decent condition as are small bores. Strange times! Lagopus.....

Prices remain high even when demand is relatively low. If you spend time browsing and visiting various shops...you�ll notice most of their stock has been sitting for YEARS. And if there is a price drop...it�s extremely minimal, almost laughable. I don�t know exactly how some of these guys remain in business to be honest. What kind of business can survive when things sit on your shelf for years??
I have noticed that there is a huge uptick in gun services though...most Gunsmith-gunmakers I know are thriving and have more work (mostly big jobs, the expensive kind) than they have had in many years. People are making money...they�re just not buying vintage guns en-masse like they were in the 90�s and early 2000�s.
Another observation...even though most doubles do not seem to be selling at a fast pace, prices do seem to be increasing, especially on over/unders. Used guns that were selling for 1k a few years ago...have climbed into the 1.5 to 2k range.
Explain that.

Gun shops do tend to keep slow moving guns for what I would agree is way too long. But we are thinking about the Walmart high turnover marketing model and many gun shops don't. If they turn over the black guns fast enough they can be happy to keep slow moving items on the racks for a very long time. Last year I was looking at two Ithaca 28 ga. pump guns which had been on the racks since the current maker took over making '37's and brought them out in 2009. We are talking about the next best thing of a decade. Brand new, without the box guns, on the racks for years. If he had the boxes I would have bought them just to sit them aside. The owner seemed in no hurry to move them and he was selling other guns while I was there. He sold three long guns and several hand guns while I was in the shop. His price was decent on the 28's but his prices are his prices and he does not come off them which is his right. His business model seems to work because he has been open for decades.

Another reason gunshop owners don't sweat selling slow moving guns is because some are consigned rather than owned by the shop. Gil

Stock market doing great money very good many classic guns will be coming into the market so looking for special needle in a haystack of guns will be fun. The top prize is the pinnacle of gun making skill of time past where least steel was used to make gun pass proof be durable and safe to use. The contestants come from StEtienne or Birmingham. Who will win?

An overlooked factor seems to be the California Effect. With over 38 million people, this gawdawful state represents more than 10% of the country's population, and that is a huge section of the market. The state gummint has done everything it can think of to make buying guns and ammo as difficult as possible, not just with the paperwork but also with increased costs. Many shops and FFLs either won't do interstate transfers at all, or they price the service so that it makes no economic sense for the buyer to bring in a low to mid-range gun. Buying a parts gun is almost out of the question because it can easily cost $200 in fees to bring in $150 worth of parts. The state's ban on lead ammo for all hunting statewide (fully effective 7/1/19, I think) is making many older and small bore guns essentially useless for hunting in this state. And forget about ordering specialty ammo from RST or Polywad or anyone else, because the state has banned internet ammo sales effective 1/1/18. Local dealers don't stock about half of the factory ammo I use, and what they do stock is grossly overpriced compared to online stuff. And after January 1 it will be illegal to bring in more than 50 rounds from out of state. Load your own? I'm not going to load steel .410s for doves with my full choke Model 42. So the old guns are getting less and less use, and my two recent purchases are Winchester Black Shadow gas semi-autos in 12 and 20, because they will take any ammo I feed them. We are screwed, and I suspect that is affecting the market for doubles.

Voting in local elections for state legislature and other representatives is really important. Inability to get shells to the door and mandate for non-tox shot use for upland gunning would have significant impact on this already struggling segment of gun market.

I'll have to agree there. I see a lot more states going from red to blue than I do seeing states go from blue to red.

You are right, Treblig.

I think the reason for this is because the majority of blue voters arent conscientious voters. They are asked whether they want more of something, and ignorant of how those things get paid for, they always enthusiastically say YES. Its just so much easier to vote blue...MORE of EVERYTHING! Yay!

This is whats happened to New Hampshire...the "Live Free of Die" state.

People in Taxachusetts started noticing how much cheaper life in NH was (no income tax and no sales tax, legislative reps have offices at home, and only go to the capital to vote on something).

So they move north in DROVES. But then they start voting for all the same nonsense that drove them out of MA in the first place! They are like locusts, and they dont even know it.

Texas is experiencing this now too. All the major cities are now blue, as are some of their suburbs.

We have to educate people how govt works, because ultimately if you get away from the dumb voters they will follow you and not even wonder why its better where you are than where they left.

The public has been dumbed down to the point that polls indicate they have no idea how the govt even works. Couldnt even tell you the 3 branches and their supposed functions.

NDG

I have a good friend who just picked up two Boss guns at the Julia's Auction for under 20K.
Now these are not collector's guns mind you but still at Best Guns London made.
They need some tidying up but to buy a Boss 16 for under 10K you have lot's of room for making improvements.
Now I own four nice English guns and wonder if I would ever be able to see me getting at least my money out of them based on this last auction.