Gun show strange pricing

I alway thought that CZ quality was pretty good. I have a CZ75 pistol that has a beauty blued finish and is reliable as a claw hammer. I also have a CZ452 lux and the action on that rifle is as slick as anything this side of an Anschutz.

I do agree that gun show and EE asking prices are usually on the high side, but at the same time people will just offer what they want to pay anyways. You can always go down from your asking price, but it's pretty difficult to go up.
 
So don't buy anything then. If the sellers are serious about selling then they will eventually have to lower the prices. You see this on the EE all the time too. Start a gun expensive and reduce price until someone buys it.
 
ryan32 said:
So don't buy anything then. If the sellers are serious about selling then they will eventually have to lower the prices. You see this on the EE all the time too. Start a gun expensive and reduce price until someone buys it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I've posted guns on the EE for what I thought was an inflated price only to have them sell instantly, so you never know. Like I said, you can always go down with your price.
 
I went looking for a 416Rigby and looked at a Ruger and a CZ side by side. The CZ sent shivers up your spine for how bad it felt. The action was rough and would bind. I bought the Ruger. I researched CZ after that as i was lead to believe that they were awesome. I found out a fair number of issues were apparent on these guns. Barrel to action alignment was out so if you scoped your gun it would never get on target. CZ said it was rectified but that must have been 5 years ago now and mis aligned guns keep popping up. They had huge stock issues on bigbores and many snapped at the wrist. The line up of calibers makes them tempting but not at $4000. You can get a gun built right for less. I agree they are overpriced and just about any other bigbore is better.
 
I dont know if I agree or disagree.
Their 505, 500 Jeffery etc for example is normally not priced at that level of $4000+. I have seen them for closer to $3000. So that price is a gunshow issue.

To get a rifle in those obscure and large rounds will cost you time and money to build. The action alone for such a rifle is $1000+. I am sure some will argue that you can build or buy a 500 Jeffery for $3-$4000.

I have found the CZ550's that I have bought to be a bit rough, but for $1100-1300 they are good value. My 416 Rigby has performed pefectly and super accurately in the field. No snapping, no misalignment issues. It loads like a damn.

They are not the equivalent of a BRNO 602 in machining, but for all purposes, they do come very close to functionality.

Perhaps the new Winchesters in 416 Rem and 375 have CZ beat - I tend to agree. When Winchester builds a 416 or 450 Rigby or 500 Jeff, we can compare then.
 
Last edited:
Agreed on the overpriced at gun shows, it was said earlier guys wives telling to get rid of it but they don't do they price it high, I also know a few guys that set up tables and are just there to bulls**t with old friends. On the cz thing, I would not buy it for 4g but I do own 14 cz rifles & shotguns that I would never get rid of, That being said I have almost as many brownings, savages, and weatherbys that I also would never sell. A lemon is a lemon doesn't matter who makes it cause they all have and will continue to do so every once in a while. Some companies have better qc then others and hopefully most are scrapped before they make it to us. This goes for everything out there that manufactured, take the good with the bad cause sometimes it happens
 
I don't see anything out of the ordinary here. Charging 3x the price for a crappy gun no one wants is pretty standard fare at any gun show I have ever been to. I haven't been to one in a while simply because, well, it's just a bunch of old guys selling overpriced junk
 
farshot said:
I dont know if I agree or disagree.
Their 505, 500 Jeffery etc for example is normally not priced at that level of $4000+. I have seen them for closer to $3000. So that price is a gunshow issue.

To get a rifle in those obscure and large rounds will cost you time and money to build. The action alone for such a rifle is $1000+. I am sure some will argue that you can build or buy a 500 Jeffery for $3-$4000.

I have found the CZ550's that I have bought to be a bit rough, but for $1100-1300 they are good value. My 416 Rigby has performed pefectly and super accurately in the field. No snapping, no misalignment issues. It loads like a damn.

They are not the equivalent of a BRNO 602 in machining, but for all purposes, they do come very close to functionality.

Perhaps the new Winchesters in 416 Rem and 375 have CZ beat - I tend to agree. When Winchester builds a 416 or 450 Rigby or 500 Jeff, we can compare then.
Click to expand...

My point exactly. When I purchased my CZ550 I was told that it is the BRNO ZKK 602. I never saw the firearm before I purchased it but the ones in the pictures shown had a nice piece of wood and I was ordering the Deluxe so I figured I was going to get something better. When I picked it up the rifle hand a plain piece of wood with absolutely no figure to it. It was just a plain stock. Everything I mentioned about the CZ 500 505 Gibbs was exactly the same as the my 458 Lott.

Compare that to my Winchester M70 Safari Express 416 Rem which cost only $1100 something but say $1200 rounding up. The M70's action is slick, nicer piece of wood with a trigger that feels better. Fit and finish is better. It is better in every way that the CZ - however, I wish it was slightly heavier.
Mind you, the CZ are made in the Czech Republic and the M70 in the US so I bet you that the M70 cost much more to manufacture than the CZ.

As a free marketeer, you'd wish that the market punishes those who overprice their goods and rewards those who under price. But in Canada I see people over and over again overpaying for items. I am not talking about just guns, but on just about everything.

I was watching a documentary about three years ago where a former executive of a car manufacturer was interviewed. He was asked as to why a car assembled in Canada cost $18,000 while the same cost less than #15,000 in the US while the dollar had risen around 35% within 10c of parity, his answer was that Canadians have gotten used to paying higher prices and they price the cars accordingly. Just because the CAN$ value has risen the merchants do not see an reason to lower the price due to the lack of competition perhaps?
 
I think most fellas with a table at a gun show price stuff high knowing full well that they are going to be haggled all weekend regardless of the price tag so for that reason they can come down.
Good example : I priced a fairly new 375 Ruger Alaskan with dies and 200 brass, Warne QD rings as well as Ruger rings for $ 600.
Best offer I got was $ 475 from the same guy about 10 times.
Another.... a really nice '03 Springfield 30-06 sporterized with a Bishop stock, Lyman receiver sight, very clean rifle for $ 250.... best offer $ 110..
Both came home with me...
 
I gave up going to the shows around here. It's always the same guys selling the same stuff. It amazes me how some of the guys will price used guns for more than they retail for new...

If I do go to one now, it's not for the guns themselves, but for possibly some obscure parts or accessories.
 
Kevan said:
I think most fellas with a table at a gun show price stuff high knowing full well that they are going to be haggled all weekend regardless of the price tag so for that reason they can come down.
Good example : I priced a fairly new 375 Ruger Alaskan with dies and 200 brass, Warne QD rings as well as Ruger rings for $ 600.
Best offer I got was $ 475 from the same guy about 10 times.
Another.... a really nice '03 Springfield 30-06 sporterized with a Bishop stock, Lyman receiver sight, very clean rifle for $ 250.... best offer $ 110..
Both came home with me...
Click to expand...

I am talking about people at gun shops and gun shows over pricing. If I got saw a Alaskan for that price I would have bought it within 10 min of examining it.

But the '03 Springfield would be in rechambered to 30-06?
 
DeusImperator said:
I am talking about people at gun shops and gun shows over pricing. If I got saw a Alaskan for that price I would have bought it within 10 min of examining it.

But the '03 Springfield would be in rechambered to 30-06?
Click to expand...

The Springfield was not re chambered as they were made in 30-06, it will however, soon be something else as will the Ruger.. :)
 
I was just at the Hanna, Alberta show. I took 23 guns and sold 10. Prices are good if you look around. In EE here it is the same, know the price & what you are willing to pay. I picked up a couple to play with so I don't think all the prices are nuts. Some guys want the last possible nickle. I want to sell, but if it's too high tell me & I'll check it out. Most of the guys put in lots of time energy & money into a show. We all would like to see more guys with 1 or 2 tables there. If you can do better get a table & sell :). The more little guys there the better. (IMHO). Lots of good people on both sides of the tables!.
 
gunpro said:
some guys just like going to shows and someday someone may want the particular gun no matter what the cost and if you don't really want to sell it but want to have something on the table others will talk about well then you get to keep going to shows and hanging out until it sells. Just because someone prices their gun too high and you won't buy it doesn't mean someone else wont.
Click to expand...

4th post called it, I think. He might have had many other reasonably priced guns up for grabs, but decided to bring one from his personal collection just to show off, or attract attention to his table, and or, loves to talk about it.

He probably had no plans to seriously sell it, but hey, if someone was willing to pay that price, why not ?

That's not an uncommon thing.

Some "contractors" use that technique, if they are asked to quote for some form of pain in the ass job, or on a date they were really looking forward to some planned R&R time, they'll quote well over what they usually would, and if the client bites, can't turn that kind of money down.
 
struff55 said:
CZ centre fire rifles have a very small share of the rifle market, because they are over priced for the quality . They do offer calibers that many manufacturers do not and that has appeal to shooters.
Click to expand...

Agreed... I am on the lookout for a 6.5x55 Swede and the only one around here is a CZ. I know Elwood Epps has a Sako Bavarian in that caliber which I have my eyes set on but do not wish to make a purchase from them as they keep an electronic copy of the PAL (pic and all) on their computers.
 
Kevan said:
The Springfield was not re chambered as they were made in 30-06
Click to expand...

If you did have one in .30-03 it would be a rarity. They would be collectible as most of the 30-03 rifles were converted by 1911 to 30-06. After 1906 all the '03 were made in .30-06. The 30-03 has a 2.540" case length (.270 Win size) while the .30-06 has a 2.494".
 
DeusImperator said:
If you did have one in .30-03 it would be a rarity. They would be collectible as most of the 30-03 rifles were converted by 1911 to 30-06. After 1906 all the '03 were made in .30-06. The 30-03 has a 2.540" case length (.270 Win size) while the .30-06 has a 2.494".
Click to expand...

You are correct. The old Springfield is begging to become a 400 Brown Whelen.
 
DeusImperator said:
Agreed... I am on the lookout for a 6.5x55 Swede and the only one around here is a CZ. I know Elwood Epps has a Sako Bavarian in that caliber which I have my eyes set on but do not wish to make a purchase from them as they keep an electronic copy of the PAL (pic and all) on their computers.
Click to expand...

Bought me a swedish carbine, full military and all matching, for 175. Guy didn't know what he had. And I told him what it was, and he disagreed with me. His loss. Just had to rub it in :evil:
Actually I couldn't believe I got it for the price. Everyone passed by it looking for fancy shotguns (too rich for my blood). Crowd didn't seem to have an interest in Milsurps, which was hugely to my benefit.

Cheers, Al
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom