Things seem to be all over the place anymore. Black gun stuff is obviously being driven by fear, but what about the rest of it? Where are good, serviceable field guns these days?

They’re out there of course, but prices don’t seem to be coming down or even very reasonable in most cases. Guns that are clearly in the $1500 range have prices on them now in the 2 to 3k range. They aren’t selling very fast either. Lots of the same guns listed on the gun selling websites have been there a long time. Some as long as a decade. I’ve always wondered how dealers could sit on guns not selling for so long.
There are some deals out there though. Just have to weed through the bs and find em.

There is also the ammunition factor at play here as well, especially for the sub-gauge stuff. Since 16 and 20-gauge ammunition isn't as commonly available at the moment, you would think that would be a component as well, but I haven't seen that correlation yet, and since basic ammo costs have effectively doubled in price, that seems to have had an effect on the entire gun market as well. Trying times. Another component that is bothering me is the reality of moving a gun along these days, because once it's gone it's likely gone for good (hard to replace some things these days). All I ever seem to encounter in the local shops are newer (& lesser in my mind) versions that I'd never be interested in. Troubling...

I really like the mint Browning Double Auto Twentyweight 2 barrel set I picked up last fall for around $525. Weighs just a bit more than 6 1/4 pounds, weight between the hands. Nice gun.

I agree with the ammo factor. I'm interested in looking for a used 410 O/U but you can not find 410 shells anywhere. So why buy a gun you can not shoot. I would say the same for 16's.

nothing has really changed...

supply and demand, plus seasonal changes still drive prices...

no mystery...its been the same since the eightes, when i first started selling guns for entertainment and humble profit...

Lloyd, isn’t that a Delux Remington model 17 in the picture? If so, rare in original pristine condition. I have one too with integral rib. Minty!

Joe Wood: Not a Remington but a 1939 Ithaca M37 in 16. The prewar M37s look very much like the M17s they were derived from. This ones got the 26-inch Improved Cylinder choke barrel, making it a very good grouse gun as well.

I was in shock yesterday when I was cruising GI and saw a 16-gauge Model 12 Standard Grade with an after-market Poly-Choke with an asking price of $1099.

Edd the ammo problem isn't something from the 80s or happening since the 80s it's demand for ammo if you can't find 16 28 or 410 ammo why buy a gun you can't shoot the mfg. Say they are running full on to supply ammo. I have noticed some gun dealers starting prices high dropping the price the the gun goes begging

If a price is unreasonable then the gun just sits. I'm guessing that poly-choked M12 16 will be available for a long time on GI. Ed Good makes a fairly pragmatic point here(!), seasonal changes and supply & demand will cause many markets to oscillate (including old guns). There is also the theory of market saturation (as most older hunters already have too-many guns) and then...evolving use (fewer young hunters coming-on to buy these great old tools, combined with diminishing opportunities to hunt). I'm fine-tuning my present battery of guns at, shall-we-say... the maturation-end of my hunting career. I might get to play for a long time now or it might be abbreviated by some malady (most-likely health-related, but political or even economic conditions could screw things up as well). My crystal ball just doesn't work all that well anymore so... I'm just feeling my way through this. A good problem to have, right? Assuming everything continues onward in a fairly steady-state in this country of ours, then the tools of my little hunting hobby/lifestyle should serve me well into my dotage. A long-term continuation of this ammunition shortage we're presently experiencing, however, or something like the lead-ban in the United Kingdom happening here could really wreck the program. (I'm sure I'm over-thinking this.)

Don’t over think it.
Values ballooned because of inflation and the baby boomers.

Now they are at the end of the accumulation phase of their lives.

Enjoy what you want, and if you pay too much, who g.a.s.

There isn’t anybody or anything coming up the tube that will change the economics of the demographics..

See? CZ is right, endless navel-gazing is pointless. Analysis paralysis when nobody really g.a.s.

Demography is destiny, after all.

Lloyd, Would you deny yourself the pleasure of ownership of some thing because you felt it was $100 too expensive?

I just spent 100 bucks putting gas in my truck and putting gas in the lawnmower. It’ll all be gone by tomorrow.

People quibble about the wrong stuff.

I will never be desperately trying to recapture my firearms investment while preparing my deathbed.

Buy what you like and enjoy it.

zapper, you da man...

My real challenge is balancing the love of the beautiful with an innate need for the practical. It's fine to admire an old (historic!) and beautifully-wrought firearm specimen but I'm finding it hard to turn loose of long-held tools of impeccable utility. I'm also finding the fluidity of the overall sporting goods markets to be somewhat impaired these days. The free-wheeling markets of the even recent-past seem to be almost non-existent at the moment. "The times, they are a chang'en"...and not for the better IMHO.

About 3 times its real market value, I should think. I will Never buy any Model 12 with a choke device, even if was done at the factory. Never- RWTF

foxie, an ah bet you don smoke an you don chew...an you don run aroun wid goils dat do...

Well, you are right abou the first two, Edmundo. Dead right!! RWTF