Grim future for the value of vintage British shotguns

[Potashminer]

Could not have said it better. My father, turning 80 this year is sitting on a collection of once very desirable 50's cars that are now fetching half of what they were just a few years ago. As he says "the buying demographic is not interested in that era of cars". That demographic of buyers that collected his era of cars is aging out and their kids don't want them so they unload them after inheriting them at whatever they can get for them. Guns are no different....

I do not play with the high end British guns, but think that I see the phenomenon in bold above for various lesser value gun stuff - reloading equipment, components, scopes, etc. - some sellers not all that familiar with them at all - as if finding a box of stuff in Dad's or GrandPa's basement and trying to turn into cash - no real understanding or interest in what it really is, what it is used for. I am still young enough (age 65) to be buying that stuff - not many years of that left, though - actually not too much stuff lacking, any more, either - so no doubt my stuff will eventually show up the same way in the not-to-distant future.

 

[Ashcroft]

Comparing vintage (collectible) cars and vintage guns is useful but of course they aren't directly comparable. Side by side development basically plateaued by 1900 and with very few exceptions there were no meaningful advances after WW1. The side by side from 1910 is virtually indistinguishable from one made in 1940 or 1980 and is still very useful today for it's intended purpose, arguably unsurpassed after all this time. However these guns have been overtaken in the marketplace by cheaper to produce and sell pump and autoloader repeaters and now machine made side by sides as these continued to improve and became more reliable and more versatile. Most side by side designs required considerable handwork which worked well 100, 130 years ago when labour prices were a tiny portion of the cost of producing a gun but this changed rapidly after WW2 as wages soared at an unprecedented pace.
But think of the cars over this time period. Cars have never ceased to improve and advance from their earliest beginnings as a 'horseless carriage' to the present day. A car made in 1907, 1927, 1957 may be restored ( for a huge amount of money) to look and operate like it did when new but few would argue that it would make a practical and useful driver today. I doubt anyone today would seriously consider using a 1930 Model A Ford for their daily commute but many will happily hunt with a 1930 Webley and Scott.
As the fans of these older cars ( and guns) become fewer the demand and therefor the value of the commodity suffers. This is what we see with the run of the mill 'standard' quality guns and this has been ongoing in Britain for 50 years. However the demand for the best, however that is perceived, lives on and there is always a demand for new or vintage Purdey's, Mercedes Benz, Holland and Holland, Audi and Westley Richards, etc so it seems to me that the best quality always rises to the top like cream.

 

[the spank]

I do not play with the high end British guns, but think that I see the phenomenon in bold above for various lesser value gun stuff - reloading equipment, components, scopes, etc. - some sellers not all that familiar with them at all - as if finding a box of stuff in Dad's or GrandPa's basement and trying to turn into cash - no real understanding or interest in what it really is, what it is used for. I am still young enough (age 65) to be buying that stuff - not many years of that left, though - actually not too much stuff lacking, any more, either - so no doubt my stuff will eventually show up the same way in the not-to-distant future.

Fortunately for me I know what my fathers stuff is worth should something happen to him before he decides to sell it all off one day. That said though I have no more interest in it than he does shooting or owning guns as I do. His old cars and motorcycles etc mean nothing to me but I'll take his old cooey repeating 22 and mossberg bolt action 4.10 he bought used when he was 14 years old. They have much more sentimental value to me and are something I would carry and use. The cars will go down the road to someone who enjoys cars...LOL

 

[Big Bad]

Last year I saw a video by a British expert who put things very simply and said side by sides are out of fashion right now because everyone who shoots wants an over/under. Combine that with a dwindling shooting population from government harassment against owners and it puts older guns in a bit of an oversupply.

Edit: and here's a version of that video, from The Gun Shop guy: