doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Brit SxS market.

A recent thread here caught my eye, it was the buyers market one. I had an idea that the market was down but was surprised to hear a story today. A gunshop owner I know was planning to sell a nice sidelock at auction, the well known auction house gave a valuation without even seeing the gun (which I thought was strange) the price given seemed a bit low so the shop owner questioned it, only to be told....
"English guns don't sell anymore"
A bit scary don't you think, up until recently, given that interest rates are at rock bottom over here, the advice was, buy a quality Brit gun for a sound investment.

Doesn't surprise me since fewer hunters are in the field, preferring the clay games where heavier guns are usually seen. Most of my Brit guns are just mid level boxlocks and I haven't seen those prices increase any in the past decade. (However, quality American guns continue to climb with collector demand.) Oh well, Brit shotguns are still the finest upland guns in the world. Never intended them to yield a return on investment anyhow.

Was just discussing with a friend, lot of very nice sidelocks floating around with good names being sold by dealers in the 6K range. Prices drop any more and I might have to actually buy one and elevate myself from the BLNE camp.

Yeah . . . nice used SLE's out there for less than the price of new ones from Spain.

The small bore market seems fairly good for nice guns to me but the 12 market is differently very soft. Good guns are slow to sell and low level ones very hard to sell around here. A dealer friend has stopped taking doubles into his shop for consignment sales and what he offers for them in trade is almost nothing. At his current sales rate he won't need more inventory for a long time. Dropping prices does nothing to stimulate interest. Low grade gun in anything but mint condition just draw no interest. Maybe closer to hunting season it will pickup but I doubt it.

Non model 12 pumps are slow movers unless set up for urban combat. I just bought a Ithaca solid rib Skeet gun in 20 ga for a song. Better than 95% condition with uncut stock. I haven't seen so many bargains in guns I like since 2008. Now hand guns, black guns and big name collectible guns like Browning, Winchester and Parkers are selling well around here. Cash is king and with it you can improve your collection of shooters very nicely right now.

On the other hand several dealers told me everything with wood and steel vs plastic was selling pretty darn well at Tulsa last weekend.

It hasn't stopped me building my collection but I have to laugh whenever I see guns described as investments.
I strongly suspect that the money I've spent would yield measurably greater returns on more traditional investments like stocks and bonds.
But I can't take my 401K out for a bit of rough shooting.

Jeremy

Guns as "Investments"?

Hypothetical situation:
You bought a decent double gun several years ago for $2000 and sell it for $3000. Do you report the $1000 gain to the IRS as income?

You bought some stock several years ago for $2000 and sell it for $3000. Guess who will be knocking on your door wanting their share of the profit!
Jim

I do. You've got a week to do the right thing.

I guess now (or in the near future) may be the time to buy that SLE you've always hankered for. There is a flip side to every coin. Perhaps it's just a lull, good to hear they were selling well in Tulsa though.
Good point about the tax man too, maybe that was the thinking behind the guns as an investment idea.