SKS - The Bubba generation.

mp5k said:
Customizing means you can put it back to original. Bubba means its a permanent alteration!
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I like that definition..It makes sense to me.

As for collecting...I didn't mean to imply that there is anything wrong with collecting. Looking at my post I can see how I implied it.

many people collect for a whole raft of reasons...some for the historical value such as being used in a particular battle or belonging to a particular group etc. Some collect because the weapon it self is a marvel of its time and even today. Some collect because of the name of the gunsmith. Any and all reasons are valid.

I don't collect guns. I have several that i really enjoy using and some I have customized (but not bubba'ed as per the definition above). I do collect something else though and I am sure that some people would say that I am crazy for wasting my money on it but again I don't think of collecting for the sake of investing.
 
mine is as it came. i refuse to cut bayo or anything. i would't mind re-finishing the stock when i have some time.
 
Curtton said:
same as the ford mustang, 9,000,000 were built and yet a 1973 is worth $30,000 when it was sold for $3000 originally.
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But a new ford mustang is still $30,000. While I don't disagree that old mustangs are collectible, some of the price changes people are talking about are because the inflation of currency.

Sure that gun may have cost $20 in the 19xxs but that's when you made $1.25 an hour and you flashed your lights at the local A&W for a 15cent hamburger.
By some of your same arguments a 1960s papa burger and fries are a collectible item, after all they are worth nearly $4.00 today, an incredible increase!

While I do not disagree with the collector value of items such as these the argument that some of you are proposing are the result of an overall market inflation. The prices of everything is up and wages have risen to match these goods.

As for myself, I'm not into permanent alterations that detract from a rifle, but swapping out replaceable parts (even barrels) as long as you keep the originals around nice and clean is fine with me. The difference is in how you go about these alterations. Unscrewing a bolt and putting on a new stock is a different ballgame from drilling and tapping a reciever for a weaver rail.
 
Im here sitting having a beer, and came to relise, im going to shoot my sks not going to let my kids sell it to some guy , so they can buy something else for themselves 20 yrs from now! im going to enjoy it now and maybe buy another one for $185, to hold my safe door open until my kids decide they will sell it :nest:
 
thehunted said:
Im here sitting having a beer, and came to relise, im going to shoot my sks not going to let my kids sell it to some guy , so they can buy something else for themselves 20 yrs from now! im going to enjoy it now and maybe buy another one for $185, to hold my safe door open until my kids decide they will sell it :nest:
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The really sad part is that when the kids do sell it they will have no idea of what it is worth or what it really is. I have identified and appraised many guns for "the next of kin" giving a fair and independent estimate of fair market value and what a dealer would offer. Folks are often surprised at how much a gun is worth and disappointed at how little some are worth. It was sad to see a collection of Winchester model 67s in many variations all in excellent (or better) condition sold to a dealer for 20% of what the dealer should have paid and probably less than 10% of what the dealer was asking at the next gun show.
I gave an appraisal - the dealer showed up and offered cash for the bunch and told them I was full of sh*t, three weeks later he had the guns for sale at 20% higher than my market value appraisal.
 
I think "collectors" of the SKS really need to examine what they've really got. At the rate the SKS are being imported and sold, be it refurbs or Norinco, there is little value they'll hold as it is. I remember paying $179 for a Norc SKS-D from Ellwoods in 2003, and now some people on EE are thinking they have a real gem and can get $550 for it. There is NOTHING special about the SKS. I love them, personally but i wouldn't be considering it an "investment". Word on the street is the new shipment of refurb RUSSIANS have an MSRP around $180. meaning cost is, conservatively, about $120 per rifle. Remember as a service rifle it probably had the shortest life span ever. So i say Bubba away, it's basically a disposable rifle.
 
flyer415 said:
Just using the mustang example above, going from 3000 to 30,000 in 37 years is only a 6.5% return per year. If you include inflation of 2% then you are at 4.5% return per year and that is not including the annual costs as an expense.
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6.5% is an excellent rate of return for an item that is being used and maintained, the annual cost is associated with the use, if it was parked in the garage then there will be no cost and the value for an un-used mustang would be worth far more than $30,000.

anyways my point was , just bcos there were millions made doesnt mean it cant be a collectable.
 
Curtton said:
6.5% is an excellent rate of return for an item that is being used and maintained, the annual cost is associated with the use, if it was parked in the garage then there will be no cost and the value for an un-used mustang would be worth far more than $30,000.

anyways my point was , just bcos there were millions made doesnt mean it cant be a collectable.
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Improper cleaning of SKS rifles shot with the cheap corrosive ammo is lowering the numbers of pristine serviceable SKS rifles every day. I have een several several that have had springs and parts of the gas system corroded beyond reliable service.
Apparently folks do not believe that hot soapy water can be their friend.
 
Claven2 said:
I heard all the same arguements back in the 1980's when places like Globe were cutting Enfields down by the thousands.

Any of these sound familiar?

"Why do you care, there were over 14 million if these things made..."
"These will never be collectible, they made too many of them..."
"I can't hunt with it like this, it's too (heavy, military looking, not pretty enough... take your pic)"

I read all these same rationalization every day here on the boards. Food for thought.

Should be interesting to see what is up with the SKS in 30 years, assuming we will still be allowed to own semi-autos.
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SKSs are still being made by the ship-load.
 
I don't care what people do with their property, but I warn them when they're open to it. If you look at simple dollars and cents:

- Bubbas (and all custom jobs) are never worth what was put into them; and

- Has any untouched milsurp gone down in value?
 
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