This is EXACTLY how I developed an interest in firearms, which lead to joining the army reserves and eventually owning my own firearms. Yay for Call of Duty!!
Surplus Market VS Inflation
- Thread starter Riflechair
- Start date
This is EXACTLY how I developed an interest in firearms, which lead to joining the army reserves and eventually owning my own firearms. Yay for Call of Duty!!
My interest in milsurps developed in a round about way.
As a kid I built plastic models, mainly WWII tanks and soldiers. As I got older I got better, actually pretty good. I had all the reference books on uniforms and equipment and vehicles of all the major players.
Then I met a fellow who collected the uniforms and weapons, 1:1 scale modelling! So I got involved in the uniforms and equipment side of things. The firearms just naturally flowed from that.
Here's where it gets interesting. If you want to see a hobby that's killing itself, look to model building. The kits are outrageous. When I was doing it tank kits were $30. When I quit serious model building those same tanks were into the $120 US range. Maybe a span of 5 years.
At least you have to be 18 to buy milsurps and presumably employed.
What kid is going to get into model kits at $100 for a kit and $6 dollar paint?
The other thing I saw in that hobby was a sheer snobbiness I have encountered no where else. At competitions I saw adults berate pre-teen modellers because of minor errors in historical detail. Or outright laugh at the efforts of a beginner, usually a young person.
Way to grow a hobby. Instead of a guiding hand there was nastiness and rivet counting.
Maybe another thing collectors could do is get some of those safe queens down to the range and strike up a conversation with a younger shooter.
As a kid I built plastic models, mainly WWII tanks and soldiers. As I got older I got better, actually pretty good. I had all the reference books on uniforms and equipment and vehicles of all the major players.
Then I met a fellow who collected the uniforms and weapons, 1:1 scale modelling! So I got involved in the uniforms and equipment side of things. The firearms just naturally flowed from that.
Here's where it gets interesting. If you want to see a hobby that's killing itself, look to model building. The kits are outrageous. When I was doing it tank kits were $30. When I quit serious model building those same tanks were into the $120 US range. Maybe a span of 5 years.
At least you have to be 18 to buy milsurps and presumably employed.
What kid is going to get into model kits at $100 for a kit and $6 dollar paint?
The other thing I saw in that hobby was a sheer snobbiness I have encountered no where else. At competitions I saw adults berate pre-teen modellers because of minor errors in historical detail. Or outright laugh at the efforts of a beginner, usually a young person.
Way to grow a hobby. Instead of a guiding hand there was nastiness and rivet counting.
Maybe another thing collectors could do is get some of those safe queens down to the range and strike up a conversation with a younger shooter.
Coyote Ugly
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Gas was about 50 cents a gallon then?
I got back into firearms in a very serious way about three to four years ago, after a break of about five or six years. Having acquired several milsurps around ten to fifteen years ago, when I paid about $100 average (except for a Garand that cost $350 with taxes) I was certainly very surprised at the rise in prices, though I attributed a fair bit of it to the departure of Century Int'l Arms, the higher costs for smaller dealers to import them, and the drying up of milsurp stocks around the world.
It would also seem that the Internet has basically helped to market these guns to the maximum number of people, raising their prices to whatever the market demands. Similarly, just as many book collectors that have lamented the increasing difficulty in finding a bargain (with everything posted on Amazon.com it's hard to find anything priced less than what the market will bear) it's become that much more difficult to find someone willing to give up the Enfield in their attic for $50-75. Perhaps we might find the odd senior that has never been online who might make such an offer, but even then most of us would probably feel too guilty to take advantage of their ignorance unless they were to seem unusually very well off.
It took me a fair bit of time to realize the extent of the change in milsurp prices, and I probably passed up several good deals on rifles that I thought were overpriced even though I'd be lucky to find such deals ever again. On a brighter note however, I think that alot fewer of the remaining milsurps will be bubba'd or given up to police amnesties now that they're recognized as having some real value, rather than something stacked in a barrel at the back of some hardware store. I even had a conversation with someone today whose interest in getting his PAL increased substantially when I told him that Lee Enfields were getting more expensive. There's also still enough spare parts out there at reasonable prices to enable a young enthusiast to purchase and restore a sporterized Enfield for considerably less than the prices of some of the more recent imports that just arrived from India. As an example, in a few weeks I'll likely have a sporterized LB restored for about $225-250 total, versus the $325-375 plus 13% tax and $25 shipping for a similar rifle from those latest imports. It would seem as though the most economical way for a new shooter to join the .303 crowd will also help restore and preserve our military heritage.
Several decently priced milsurps still exist out there, such as the various Mosins at SIR or Tradeex (about $170-$200 shipped to my door), SKS (again about $200 shipped when available), K31s for about $300, and the odd rifle here and there. In the past year, I managed to pick up a nice Swiss 96/11 for $225, an M93 Turk with a nice bore for $140 to my door, no to mention an M38 Mosin last Christmas for $200. If you add the LB that I just spoke about, it still paints a picture of a market where some effort will still uncover reasonably priced milsurps for those who cannot fork over too much cash, leaving it as attractive way for newcomers to enter into the shooting sports.
On a closing note, I should add that now that I've been switching from collecting to shooting, and getting many of my friends licensed, it's looking as though much of my collection will be used to introduce people to the shooting sports, be that at the range or as loaner rifles during the deer season. Incidentally, the person I mentioned earlier that was interested in Enfields made me promise to take him along the next time I head to the range with mine. While we need to work hard to get enough people licenced to shoot if our sport is to continue, the future of military rifle shooting and collecting still remains a strong part of our shooting heritage with considerable appeal to newcomers.
That's my two cents....
Frank
It would also seem that the Internet has basically helped to market these guns to the maximum number of people, raising their prices to whatever the market demands. Similarly, just as many book collectors that have lamented the increasing difficulty in finding a bargain (with everything posted on Amazon.com it's hard to find anything priced less than what the market will bear) it's become that much more difficult to find someone willing to give up the Enfield in their attic for $50-75. Perhaps we might find the odd senior that has never been online who might make such an offer, but even then most of us would probably feel too guilty to take advantage of their ignorance unless they were to seem unusually very well off.
It took me a fair bit of time to realize the extent of the change in milsurp prices, and I probably passed up several good deals on rifles that I thought were overpriced even though I'd be lucky to find such deals ever again. On a brighter note however, I think that alot fewer of the remaining milsurps will be bubba'd or given up to police amnesties now that they're recognized as having some real value, rather than something stacked in a barrel at the back of some hardware store. I even had a conversation with someone today whose interest in getting his PAL increased substantially when I told him that Lee Enfields were getting more expensive. There's also still enough spare parts out there at reasonable prices to enable a young enthusiast to purchase and restore a sporterized Enfield for considerably less than the prices of some of the more recent imports that just arrived from India. As an example, in a few weeks I'll likely have a sporterized LB restored for about $225-250 total, versus the $325-375 plus 13% tax and $25 shipping for a similar rifle from those latest imports. It would seem as though the most economical way for a new shooter to join the .303 crowd will also help restore and preserve our military heritage.
Several decently priced milsurps still exist out there, such as the various Mosins at SIR or Tradeex (about $170-$200 shipped to my door), SKS (again about $200 shipped when available), K31s for about $300, and the odd rifle here and there. In the past year, I managed to pick up a nice Swiss 96/11 for $225, an M93 Turk with a nice bore for $140 to my door, no to mention an M38 Mosin last Christmas for $200. If you add the LB that I just spoke about, it still paints a picture of a market where some effort will still uncover reasonably priced milsurps for those who cannot fork over too much cash, leaving it as attractive way for newcomers to enter into the shooting sports.
On a closing note, I should add that now that I've been switching from collecting to shooting, and getting many of my friends licensed, it's looking as though much of my collection will be used to introduce people to the shooting sports, be that at the range or as loaner rifles during the deer season. Incidentally, the person I mentioned earlier that was interested in Enfields made me promise to take him along the next time I head to the range with mine. While we need to work hard to get enough people licenced to shoot if our sport is to continue, the future of military rifle shooting and collecting still remains a strong part of our shooting heritage with considerable appeal to newcomers.
That's my two cents....
Frank
