As I've mentioned before ... when I bought my Colt M16A1, as-new, in 1994, I paid $2,000 for it. Plus the $200 tax.

The same dealer had a nice Maremont M60, an unfired SAW Polytech AK folder and a C&R STEn left in inventory. He was dropping his SOT and offered me all three for an extra $5,000.

I laughed at him and said, "What? Do you think I'm made of money?"

If only.....

In hindsight, that FFL visit was simultaneously brilliant (for snagging the Colt) and stupid (for passing on the others.) But prior to that, I had never paid over $700 for a firearm and was driving a really nice car worth $4k. A different perspective, I guess.

And lets not get into the 2,700-round tubs of South African 5.56 for under $300 delivered .....

I often end posts with YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary), and I guess in this case, it applies.

I've never been issued a machine gun. Instead, I have shot ones that belonged to mil/LE agencies or individuals since I was a teenager, and I fell in love with full-auto. I've owned my own for 21 years now, and have never regretted it for a second.

Maybe it's because I was warped as a young man ... but I feel a great joy in exercising the ultimate degree of the Second Amendment, with a lawful, registered-to-me-as-a-civilian machine gun.

I also take great joy in allowing others to shoot mine -- I often take my MGs to the range, bring them home, set to cleaning them and realize that I never got around to firing a single shot myself: Instead, I (very carefully) watch folks watching me who have never had the opportunity to shoot FA, then I (again, very carefully) allow them to do something they have never done before -- shoot full-auto. Their expressions are priceless, to me.

I am fortunate that I laid in a supply of 5.56 and 9mm back in the $100-or-less-per-case days. I hope I have enough to last my lifetime, though we will see.

I did sell off most of my MGs prior to the temporary market meltdown in '07/08. The proceeds left me with a Colt M16A1 and a Vector Uzi that were "free" after the proceeds of the sale. So I certainly have no buyers remorse.

Instead, I have two "free" MGs that bring joy to me .... and I try to share that joy with others.

Having been involved with, and followed the market for, MGs since the 1960's, I do not believe we have seen the market peak. I do personally believe that folks who buy transferable MGs at today's prices will someday look back and say, "Thank God I bought them when I could, because today they cost what modest houses do."

That said, I am not an investor, and do not plan on adding to my M16-and-an-Uzi MG collection, because they do what I need ... and because now I have so many relatives and friends with MGs, I simply do not need to own any more personally.

I am sorry you do not share my outlook ... but like everything in life: It is what it is.

I am not a CPA, but my understanding is that if you keep it for a few years, it is classed as a long-term investment. the tax rate on the difference between what you paid for it and what you sell it for depends on your tax bracket (which in turn depends on your non-NFA income) ... but again, my non-CPA knowledge is that it is in the 20-30% bracket.

So ya buy an M16 conversion for $18k, have a whole lotta fun with it for a decade, then sell it for $30k, and your tax if you are in the 30% bracket will be $4k, netting you $26k.

To me, it is a whole lot of a better investment than buying an $18k boat or truck, with a whole lot more overhead, and way less of a chance for even selling it a decade later for a profit.

ShooterPatriot, I am glad you can see things so clearly.

I used to think that way, too, when I was younger: When I started shooting MGs, and researching NFA law, in the 1950's and '60s, I thought it was clearly unconstitutional, and building to a climax that never came. Ditto in 1986, when the MG ban was signed into law.

Today, I believe that Congress is only good at one thing: Doing nothing. And I certainly do not expect them in any way to ban/make-nontransferable MGs, which have de facto due to their price become the toys of the wealthy people who, through significant contributions, elect politicians.

Nor do I expect the judicial branch to reopen the Registry. It just ain't gonna happen, given the current Democratic appointees to the bench who control all the cards.

Back in the mid-1970's, because I am such a James Bond 007 fan, I got into Aston Martins (or as the purists would say, Astons Martin, but that's another story). I bought a DB6 Vantage, left-hand-drive, for $8.5k, and then a DB4 Special Series Drophead Convertible, also left-hand-drive, for $12k. a few years later, due to a divorce, I sold them, for a very modest profit.

Today, each is worth well in excess of six figures.

I believe it is wrong that they are worth that much .... but that is what the market has decided, and the market price is controlled solely by the people with fat wallets.

Those are the same people who are taking over the transferable MG market today, by "investing" so heavily that market prices are driven upward.

They are a powerful voice in our country. Unlike you, I do not believe they can be, or will be allowed to be, swayed by political winds.

As always, Your Mileage May Vary.