Hoarding an issue in Milsurp?

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If OP is asking for opinions

This thread feels like the sense of entitlement that young people have towards more established older people.

It smacks of the socialism vibe so popular with younger people who can't compete and seek to blame older people as to why they don't have what everyone else has.

Like classic cars. A guy has 3 . Is he hoarding> so what if he is, he went to school, worked and had the freedom to buy what he wanted

To suggest this shouldn't be, so that someone like OP can have a chance at owning a classic car is- Communism at it's best. The other guy worked harder-he is rewarded.

I went to school. I made a choice not to have kids therefore I have the ability to buy things........

To say ppl are hoarding mil-surps is such an easy cop-out as to why OP doesn't have what he wants

Getting through school is hard , blaming others is easy

if life's not a competition for you, that might be a non-winner mentality. Don't expect the better things in life then----you're taking what they are giving

I'm working hard and getting what I want from life. OP might want to try it to get better results

I'm a Covid exposed Nurse typing this 7 days into a formal 2 week quarantine.

I wasted my time typing this but I don't have anything better to do
 
Iceman18 said:
I was talking to someone today who told me they have 3 identical Enfields ‘same model obviously not the same serial number’. He also knows multiple other people that have a bunch of the same rifles stored away, and this got me thinking is there a hoarding issue in the milsurp community? I can understand having a bunch of different models/variants of a rifle but it almost seems greedy to have 3 or 4 of the same gun. It makes it harder for other people interested in milsurp to find something and drives up prices. Now I’m not looking to cast judgement or anything like that but I’d be interested in your opinions, what do you guys think?
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Sounda like you have been indoctrinated into communism. If you join my commune you will be issued a tractor...

In the real world, "Cash is King" - if you want something and bring cash instead of complaining that someone else spent their hard earned money, you might own some yourself.

Except Stenny, he's greedy because he won't sell me the stuff i want...for pennies on the dollar .. ;-)
 
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Once again I was just looking for some opinions not attacking anyone or saying its wrong to own many of the same rifle, not sure where the hostility is coming from. I know a guy who has 5 K31's and he recently said that it was a faze he was going threw years ago and now he's not as obsessed with them so hes selling some off, which seems reasonable. My point with it being harder for new Milsurp enthusiast to find guns still stands though and before you jump on me I was able to grab some decent Milsurp back in 2012 when it was a lot cheaper, but I still feel bad for people just getting into it now 'paying $800 plus for an SVT etc'.
 
OP, your thinking assumes that the supply of milsurps is a zero sum game. However, when originally surplussed, milsurps have historically been sold in the largest quantities to whichever markets have the highest demand and permissible regs. If guys weren't buying tons of them when they were cheap and available, importers wouldn't have brought in anywhere near the numbers they did. Down the road, when they are no longer available as surplus, it is these same milsurps in the inventories of "collectors"/"investors"/"hoarders"/etc, that eventually make it back onto the market to contribute to overall supply.
Also, milsurps in the inventories of dedicated milsurp "collectors"/"investors"/"hoarders" saved many from being sporterized.
 
Iceman18 said:
I was talking to someone today who told me they have 3 identical Enfields ‘same model obviously not the same serial number’. He also knows multiple other people that have a bunch of the same rifles stored away, and this got me thinking is there a hoarding issue in the milsurp community? I can understand having a bunch of different models/variants of a rifle but it almost seems greedy to have 3 or 4 of the same gun. It makes it harder for other people interested in milsurp to find something and drives up prices. Now I’m not looking to cast judgement or anything like that but I’d be interested in your opinions, what do you guys think?
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OK lets understand the difference between hoarding and collecting and investing. In my mind the following

-Hoarding buying up quantities of an essential item (flour, toilet paper etc) beyond your normally requirements. No way a Lithgow Mk 4 falls into this class.
-Collecting. You like a particular item and therefor get different versions of an item including spares.
-Investing. Buying up a significant number of the same item in the hope that the price will increase and you can sell for a profit.

Now a guy with 3 Lithgow 303's could fall into Collecting or Investing but certainly not hoarding. Just because you want something cheaper does not mean Joe Blo has to sell anything for what you want to pay. There are plenty of 303's around you just have to pay the going price.
 
My point with it being harder for new Milsurp enthusiast to find guns still stands though and before you jump on me I was able to grab some decent Milsurp back in 2012 when it was a lot cheaper, but I still feel bad for people just getting into it now 'paying $800 plus for an SVT etc'.
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When I bought a nice Long Branch No. 4 back in 1999 for $300, lots of guys were saying how they used to be under $100, and it was crazy to pay $300 for one. It's the same story around again. The prices keep going up for the milsurps the longer they are in public circulation. Prices are cheapest when they are first surplussed and flood the market. Nothing has changed except time keeps moving on.
 
Hoarding for me is best exemplified by an encounter I had with a gentleman a few years ago. He showed me (with picture proof) that he had accumulated a couple hundred Winchester 1894s over the course of 20 years in southern Manitoba by attending country auctions, estate sales, gun shops and the like. When I asked if he was a collector or investor he said no. He just liked buying them. He never shot them and didn't know a damn thing about them. This is in my opinion, stupidity plus money. If the only appreciation in your possessions is the small buyers bliss when initially purchased then what's the point?

A second anecdote, there is apparently another gentleman (also in southern MB) who I have had mentioned to me by several people that does the same thing buying up sporterized Lee Enfields at every opportunity. I am told he sometimes desporterizes them but still has accumulated a shipping container full... This may be apocryphal but I have had issues in the last few years finding a Longbranch sporter for my own stock set whereas in years previous I couldn't stop tripping over them at shows.

Regardless, in my experience there very much are true hoarders. I believe there is a distinction though as in past years surplus rifles have been available for VERY reasonable prices and buying 3 of them from a magazine for 9.95 each was a way to better your chances of getting a nice one. There is much more impact by the couple guys actively buying up several hundred for no good reason then a couple dozen guys who might have a couple in the closet from back in the day.
 
What Iceman really needs is a hot tub time machine...… Back in 1967 in Edmonton, LB rifles were in tubs at the Army and Navy store for about $20.
The only way he is going to get them at those prices, is to get into the tub ;)
 
BTW Here is one of my favourites…. An all matching Long branch TP rifle 74L0024
that I pried from the hands of an older collector in Calgary..... someday, somebody will pry it from me :)rifle 3.jpg
 

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having seen many enfields over the years having 3 all the same would be something of an anomaly.

the 2 in my collection that are nearest to being the same are 2 savages a '42 and a '43 I believe however one was converted to Mk1/3 in '52 while the other was converted in '53, now what is interesting is that one was then converted to a 7.62 target rifle by the DCRA

they look the same blond wood but they are no the same.

I did have 2 No5 rifles both late production 9/47 and 10/47 about 2000 serial numbers apart, both in fantastic condition, I sold one.

Oh and No1 enfields... so much variation and then there is the Ishy 2A, I really should get a 2A1 to go with it.

I used to have more enfields but I sold off about half of them, mostly the more common stuff and kept some of the nicer or the unusual ones.
 
Collectors are hoarders aren't they?

It's part of the definition of "collector."

I know collectors of records, stamps, guitars, vintage cars, whatever...

Seems like whoever gets into that is kind of an addict. They always need more of whatever turns their crank.

I know a record collector who is about 75 and has something like 50,000 45 rpm records and he is always buying more.

Houseful of vintage jukeboxes, posters, lamps, rugs, all kinds of of junk and his "cabin" on a lake is the same, crammed to the tits with s**t.

Some people just seem to like surrounding themselves with stuff.

Fulfills some kind of a need.
 
How does taking advantage of purchasing prudently at the time the now collectible firearms become hoarding???

If it weren't for people that were truly interested in the history of those firearms and loved the way they were designed and handled, BUBBA would have had his way with all f them or they would have all found their way to the smelter.

OP, be happy some here had the foresight to preserve the pieces that exist now. That they're out of your price range or becoming difficult to acquire is part of the game.

I'm getting a bit long in the tooth myself and over that past few years, have been allowing new firearms enthusiasts, for a reasonable price, to become the caretakers of most of what was once an extensive collection of firearms dating from the mid 1700s to present day.

In truth, they were one of the best financial investments I've made. The returns have been fabulous. Much better than gold and much more consistent/reliable than the stock market. About the only thing that gave a better return was land/houses.
 
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