Resale value of your rifles- whats been your experience?

cloverleaf

cloverleaf

Handloader
Sep 10, 2006
4,595
1,429
So- I made the mistake of stopping by Cabelas yesterday. From across the store three rifles w/ Maple stocks caught mt eye. Two winchesters at $1800+ and a Browning for about $1500. (6.5 Creedmore) :eek: I Just dont have much experience selling rifles of that quality. Things that I have owned including my beloved 250 Savage, have little to no value to the big chain stores or even a couple of the gun shops here in the Metro area. My experience dealing w/ Cabels says they will buy it back for about 40% of what I might pay for it. IF a guy could sell enough plasma and other stuff out of the safe, do you think my kid could get my $1500 out of it when I'm dead?

Conversely, I'm also thinking about restocking (Boyds) a savage Model 11 w/ Maple. However because that's also an "accustock" so it will likely take some smith work and a recoil lug to make that work. Since Im into it that far then I wonder if that "Donor" rifle should finally get re barreled to 250-3000 savage. Suddenly, in rough estimation I'm north of $700 bucks there too and I'll probably never get my money's worth out of that.

All that said, I cant I cant get old adage out of my head, "the fastest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket!" I'm asuming I will sell Savage to finance the Browning if I go that route but I would likely come up WAY short of funds.

Back tio the original question, What value do you see/expect out of selling your rifles?

D@m% "Blondes" have always been my weakness. CL

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I tend to think most of the rifles I buy will appreciate mostly. The Wood stocked ones with either nice blueing or great metal. The other ones with carbon stocks and more of a working rifle should maintain value at a minimum.
 
The truth is in the market. I sold almost 200 of my late Brother in Laws guns, and a few of my own on gun broker last year. I did use a broker who drove to BILs house inventoried the guns ammo holsters and anything else we could get in the truck. It all sold. As too the guns all but a couple of real dogs, BIL was not a shotgun guy, sold for more than blue book value, none had a minimum price, a few fetched significantly more than blue book value.
After going through that process to help my sister out I’ve started thining my herd. With mine, talking 20 pieces not 200, so far, they all fetched more than blue book value. All went at auction and started at $.01 cent.
My point is, if you sell it at a gun show, they will look it up on blue book and try to screw you down. Cabelas will give you 70% of blue book, but you won’t be able to agree is it in 90% condition or 75% condition. Watch gun broker if you have something to sell. Most anything that has a reserve will languish. Anything that starts at one cent and lists for two weeks will almost certainly sell for more than blue book value and easily cover the fee they charge.
If you’re looking to buy you never want to pay too much. Again watch gun broker, I”m constantly frustrated by the price #1s bring at auction.
 
cloverleaf said:
So- I made the mistake of stopping by Cabelas yesterday. From across the store three rifles w/ Maple stocks caught mt eye. Two winchesters at $1800+ and a Browning for about $1500. (6.5 Creedmore) :eek: I Just dont have much experience selling rifles of that quality. Things that I have owned including my beloved 250 Savage, have little to no value to the big chain stores or even a couple of the gun shops here in the Metro area. My experience dealing w/ Cabels says they will buy it back for about 40% of what I might pay for it. IF a guy could sell enough plasma and other stuff out of the safe, do you think my kid could get my $1500 out of it when I'm dead?

Conversely, I'm also thinking about restocking (Boyds) a savage Model 11 w/ Maple. However because that's also an "accustock" so it will likely take some smith work and a recoil lug to make that work. Since Im into it that far then I wonder if that "Donor" rifle should finally get re barreled to 250-3000 savage. Suddenly, in rough estimation I'm north of $700 bucks there too and I'll probably never get my money's worth out of that.

All that said, I cant I cant get old adage out of my head, "the fastest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket!" I'm asuming I will sell Savage to finance the Browning if I go that route but I would likely come up WAY short of funds.

Back tio the original question, What value do you see/expect out of selling your rifles?
Investing hundreds of dollars in a custom barrel or a new Boyds stock for an old rifle is almost always a financial loss; buyers generally value only the base model and aren't willing to pay extra for someone else's expensive modifications. If you buy a Browning, do it purely for your own enjoyment while hunting not as a financial investment for your children's future. When I start stressing too much about the cost of gear, I simply shift my focus elsewhere. In the evenings, I visit https://holyspinplay.com/ to read some interesting, informative content and unwind. The best way to get a decent price for your rifle is to sell it directly to other shooters via private classifieds, even though it takes a bit more time.
D@m% "Blondes" have always been my weakness. CL

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Have you tried listing your Savage on local sites yet to get a sense of the actual demand?
 
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My late uncle had a lot of guns, he was always buying and selling them. He died with most of them in his possession, so what did he get out of them? I think he liked having them, but he never even shot most of them.
I just buy stuff I like and I don’t worry about what happens later.
 
RememberBaker said:
My late uncle had a lot of guns, he was always buying and selling them. He died with most of them in his possession, so what did he get out of them? I think he liked having them, but he never even shot most of them.
I just buy stuff I like and I don’t worry about what happens later.
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I’m with you.
After I’m gone I don’t care what they go for.

Vince
 
RememberBaker said:
My late uncle had a lot of guns, he was always buying and selling them. He died with most of them in his possession, so what did he get out of them? I think he liked having them, but he never even shot most of them.
I just buy stuff I like and I don’t worry about what happens later.
Click to expand...



I know a guy that has all but one of the REM 700 classic . I forget the one he doesn't have . if they offered it with different BBL lengths , he has them . most are new , never fired , in the box . he has lofts built that hang from his basement ceiling . it's quit a collection .the ones he bought used are in soft cases , with the common gun store , tag on a string attached , with the BBL length , and chamber listed . that loft looks like something in a Remington warehouse . I think He's 84 years old . he has told me a few times he'd like to sell this collection , so his wife doesn't have to deal with it . He'd like to sell them all to one guy , but has never mentioned a price . I'm sure it's worth plenty , to the right guy .
 
Until I dealt with my BIL collection a year ago I was the keep em even if you don’t ever use them kind of guy. Some trading but selling one ended up getting two more. After dealing with the Majors I decided to thin things out some.
Make a note in your estate planning file. Lock Stock and Barrel out of Cody Wyoming. Sure they keep a percentage, anybody clearing out estates would. In my BIL estate of just over 200 guns only a few, I think it was 5 went for less than blue book. I was surprised those sold at all. Everything else sold at auction for more than blue book.
They make an appointment, show up, take care of everything, leave a list and then after the auction send you a check.
 
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