User Panel
User Panel
User Panel
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 3:06:58 PM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
There's a lot of stuff coming out of the woodwork already, but supply is still trying to catch up to demand. I've seen a lot of old surplus ammo showing up at the gunshows that hasn't been imported in years and lots of chinese mags. I think a lot of people start realizing as they get older and shoot less that they don't need 50-100 rifles in the safe, and it's a pain to move into a smaller condo when you have 100,000 rounds of ammo stashed away. Sometimes the kids will hold on to the guns but a lot go to auctions and I think a lot of boomers have made arrangements for the auction companies to take their collection when they go. There will be more available in the future but prices won't be like the days of imports flooding the country. Peeps don't realize that the few odd pieces "coming out of the woodwork" every now and again is a very far cry from the racks upon racks of mil-surps that were available at Woolworths or Roses from the 70s till the 90s. I could walk into Woolworths and the first thing I would smell was cosmoline. 
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 3:50:55 PM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Unfortunately, it's true that at my local gunshows the crowd tends to be older rather than younger (that's why you have to do your part and bring others into the sport). And we see plenty of pictures here of guys that have collections with dozens of Garands and similar rifles. When these guys go (and eventually me too), some gun shop or auction house is going to have a collection of a whole bunch of old rifles re-enter the market. This will create a modest, but steady supply of rifles back in to circulation. Just think of the pictures you've seen of guys that have 30 examples of the same model rifle. I'm not faulting their collection, since I have my own assortment of Mausers and Finns, but these still represent a good number of rifles that will one day come back onto the market (hopefully). The comments about some relatives just turning the guns in to the police to be scrapped is an awful thought, but I guess it will happen in some percentage of cases. I hope it happens less rather than more. The younger generation may not be as interested in some of these rifles, but as the population grows, there are still many people that become fascinated with historical firearms and want to get in. In the last few years, a number of companies have begun making replacement stocks for Mausers, Garands, Springfields, and a few other prolific military rifles. This is a good sign of demand. Myself, I am using a replacement stock to restore a sporterized Springfield 1903A3 back to military configuration. That rifle quickly had the stock and metal parts discarded in the 50's and 60's is now returning back to it's old self. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 4:39:25 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The younger crowd generally wants $500 ARs and does not want $500 bolt actions that shoot $2 a round ammo. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Unfortunately, it's true that at my local gunshows the crowd tends to be older rather than younger (that's why you have to do your part and bring others into the sport). And we see plenty of pictures here of guys that have collections with dozens of Garands and similar rifles. When these guys go (and eventually me too), some gun shop or auction house is going to have a collection of a whole bunch of old rifles re-enter the market. This will create a modest, but steady supply of rifles back in to circulation. Just think of the pictures you've seen of guys that have 30 examples of the same model rifle. I'm not faulting their collection, since I have my own assortment of Mausers and Finns, but these still represent a good number of rifles that will one day come back onto the market (hopefully). The comments about some relatives just turning the guns in to the police to be scrapped is an awful thought, but I guess it will happen in some percentage of cases. I hope it happens less rather than more. The younger generation may not be as interested in some of these rifles, but as the population grows, there are still many people that become fascinated with historical firearms and want to get in. In the last few years, a number of companies have begun making replacement stocks for Mausers, Garands, Springfields, and a few other prolific military rifles. This is a good sign of demand. Myself, I am using a replacement stock to restore a sporterized Springfield 1903A3 back to military configuration. That rifle quickly had the stock and metal parts discarded in the 50's and 60's is now returning back to it's old self.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 4:43:40 PM EDT
[#4]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
My dad gave most of his guns away to my boys. He wanted them to enjoy them while he is still alive. So I would imagine most will be handed down. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 4:47:36 PM EDT
[#5]
My kids are not interested in mine. I bought non sporterized, as authentic as possible milsurps, with ammo (cheap). I have them listed with prices to sell when I kick off. As for now I enjoy shooting them
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 4:50:48 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
My kids are not interested in mine. I bought non sporterized, as authentic as possible milsurps, with ammo (cheap). I have them listed with prices to sell when I kick off. As for now I enjoy shooting them |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 5:04:30 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Unlikely unless Russia unloads a bunch of old stuff to us or something. We probably won't see giant stocks of guns like that all for sale at once again. They were cheap because there were literal crates of them available. This is because the Soviet Union only collapsed not even 30 years ago, and a majority of the prior Soviet countries are just within the past 5 years modernizing their militaries. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 5:13:37 PM EDT
[#8]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've given my kids four so far , same philosophy. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
My dad gave most of his guns away to my boys. He wanted them to enjoy them while he is still alive. So I would imagine most will be handed down. I have the majority of the old mil stuff. I think they are all great and I am thrilled to have them but if i go shooting, they are pretty far down the list of things to take. If the prices get crazy, i would consider selling |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 5:18:20 PM EDT
[#9]
I don't really think prices will go down much.
They wont all be on the market at the same time, and many will be sold to lgs as lots... and lgs don't sell things below market value. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 5:21:20 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
to enjoy the milsurp guns you need the milsurp ammo. Once the ammo starts costing the same or more than modern guns ammunition it's hard to justify the cost. anythings possible though. I bought an m48 in 2001 and at the time turk bandoliers were going for 5 bucks at Dillons and 15 round boxes out of Romania were 4 bucks. You bought the gun and shot the shit out of it was a nice parring. Once the ammo dries up you might as well shoot your hunting rifle for the cost. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 7:44:25 PM EDT
[#11]
The ammo issue will purge the cheapskates, but the standard milsurp calibers will always be available if pols stay out of it. Local gun stores stock all sorts of whacky calibers that make 7.62*54R look as common as 9mm.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:02:10 PM EDT
[#12]
All I can say is be nice to old people. Never know what they have down in the toy room and what they will do with it.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:05:40 PM EDT
[#13]
So the market will be flooded with cheap McMansions and milsurp guns when the boomers die off.
Whites will no longer be a majority, so the Democrats will hold the presidency and Congress until the end of time, or the Republicans will shift so far to the left that it won't even matter. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:07:42 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
If the hundreds of thousands of M1 carbines got returned from S. Korea, we'd sure see new life in the carbine market. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:15:58 PM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'd love for those Winchester 1895R rifles that Russia supposedly has in the salt mines imported Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
If the hundreds of thousands of M1 carbines got returned from S. Korea, we'd sure see new life in the carbine market. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:19:30 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I have an aunt through marriage who told me her single and childless brother has a warehouse with hundreds of WWII surplus guns and thousands of rounds of ammo. She said its just stacked up and cataloged. I don't know how to tell her to reach out to me when he passes, but I hope she does. Her kids can't take them, I'm not sure what other nieces and nephews he has. I believe her too. He's a vietnam vet that's always had a good job and I've always known he was into guns. Some like this:  Attached File Attached File Attached File |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:20:27 PM EDT
[#17]
It may trickle in as we croak but I dumped 3 Pythons and 3 Garands already.
Fondling what I have is fine but I'd rather shoot 'em and just keep the stuff that's practical to hang on to...so far. Life as it turns out is shorter than one might think. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:32:49 PM EDT
[#18]
All of this presumes that we don't see a national move to ban firearm ownership/transfer within the next 20 years.
The milsurp market is slowly shrinking, I suspect. Hard to find exact numbers, but look at the going rates of the rarer items that have been on the market, in known quantities, for several decades already...you see their prices staying fairly steady, even for relatively rare items. I picked up an FR-8 for $250 or so last year from a small LSG that had obviously bought out someone's collection of milsurp...unfortunately I passed on the decent condition SMLE Mk4 for the same price. The size and nature of the gun buying market has changed dramatically from the 90s, to the 2000s, and into the 2010s. It will continue to change... |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:41:07 PM EDT
[#19]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:43:52 PM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I am up for adoption. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
My kids are not interested in mine. I bought non sporterized, as authentic as possible milsurps, with ammo (cheap). I have them listed with prices to sell when I kick off. As for now I enjoy shooting them |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 8:53:57 PM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted: At 60 with no kids, I am getting ready to start unloading mine. Some like this: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140713_172648_jpg-1127870.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20170922_152521_1506115658229_jpeg-1127876.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140115_194018_jpg-1127890.JPG i have a svt40 and love it.. but dang if its not rare as all get out to find another one |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:16:46 PM EDT
[#22]
Availability of milsurp guns will be the least of our worries by the time all the boomers are gone.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:19:21 PM EDT
[#23]
They are mostly gone.
There might be small batches that turn up out of forgotten warehouses. The best possible places are if Cuba and North Korea open up. Russia and China might have lots of stuff as well if we ever let them import. But the best of the milsurp imports are done. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:24:00 PM EDT
[#24]
I just realized I misinterpreted the thread.
I think the revival is now. Video games have spurred the interest of WWI and WWII guns. You might get a bump in a couple of decades when WWII hits 100 years, if we are still allowed to own guns. However, I don't think prices will drop. You will have competing factors. less interest in general with be canceled out by a larger population- there will always be some people interested in milsurp, like me so I think the raw number of people interested will stay about the same or maybe grow a bit, but the supply will only get smaller as guns get damaged and destroyed. Thus a slight increase in prices (inflation adjusted) as time goes by. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:30:16 PM EDT
[#25]
I used to love shooting my mosins. Now I’m down to my last 880 rounds of 1960s light ball. New ammo is crazy expensive so I don’t shoot them much. Gotta make that ammo last....
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:43:04 PM EDT
[#26]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
is that a tokarev svt40 and a hakeem? and the bottom pic is a johnson is it not? i have a svt40 and love it.. but dang if its not rare as all get out to find another one Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: At 60 with no kids, I am getting ready to start unloading mine. Some like this: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140713_172648_jpg-1127870.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20170922_152521_1506115658229_jpeg-1127876.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140115_194018_jpg-1127890.JPG i have a svt40 and love it.. but dang if its not rare as all get out to find another one 
G41 and G43. In other words, that guy just turned it up to 11. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:48:04 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
is that a tokarev svt40 and a hakeem? and the bottom pic is a johnson is it not? i have a svt40 and love it.. but dang if its not rare as all get out to find another one Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted: At 60 with no kids, I am getting ready to start unloading mine. Some like this: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140713_172648_jpg-1127870.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20170922_152521_1506115658229_jpeg-1127876.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140115_194018_jpg-1127890.JPG i have a svt40 and love it.. but dang if its not rare as all get out to find another one G43 M1C Garand Sniper with Paperwork Johnson Rifle " Dutch Contract ". |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 9:51:22 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
My kids are not interested in mine. I bought non sporterized, as authentic as possible milsurps, with ammo (cheap). I have them listed with prices to sell when I kick off. As for now I enjoy shooting them |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 10:02:43 PM EDT
[#29]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
All of this presumes that we don't see a national move to ban firearm ownership/transfer within the next 20 years. The milsurp market is slowly shrinking, I suspect. Hard to find exact numbers, but look at the going rates of the rarer items that have been on the market, in known quantities, for several decades already...you see their prices staying fairly steady, even for relatively rare items. I picked up an FR-8 for $250 or so last year from a small LSG that had obviously bought out someone's collection of milsurp...unfortunately I passed on the decent condition SMLE Mk4 for the same price. The size and nature of the gun buying market has changed dramatically from the 90s, to the 2000s, and into the 2010s. It will continue to change... |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 10:41:16 PM EDT
[#30]
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 10:44:59 PM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I just realized I misinterpreted the thread. I think the revival is now. Video games have spurred the interest of WWI and WWII guns. You might get a bump in a couple of decades when WWII hits 100 years, if we are still allowed to own guns. However, I don't think prices will drop. You will have competing factors. less interest in general with be canceled out by a larger population- there will always be some people interested in milsurp, like me so I think the raw number of people interested will stay about the same or maybe grow a bit, but the supply will only get smaller as guns get damaged and destroyed. Thus a slight increase in prices (inflation adjusted) as time goes by. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 10:45:04 PM EDT
[#32]
My kids have zero interest in mine either. Hopefully that'll change; I didn't become interested in guns until my 30s.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/17/2019 11:21:05 PM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
So the market will be flooded with cheap McMansions and milsurp guns when the boomers die off. Whites will no longer be a majority, so the Democrats will hold the presidency and Congress until the end of time, or the Republicans will shift so far to the left that it won't even matter. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 8:06:32 AM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I’ve read where Harley Davidson’s prices will likely go down in the future, as well as classic muscle cars. There will always be someone interested in them, but the amount of people in those markets will be a great bit fewer than in the past. Milsurps will likely go the same way. There again, I may be wrong. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:17:21 AM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
One of my frustrations here in Florida is that, you go to an estate sale, and they have every you need for a shooting hobby....except the guns! You see gun racks, gun safes, ammo cans, old cleaning kits, shooting books and magazines, target stands, skeet throwers, etc, but the guns and critical reloading equipment, like presses, pots, molds, and dies, never seem to be for sale. Either I am "late to the party" on these things, or it seems that certain members of the younger generations are not nearly as "gun shy" as is often advertised. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
One of the reasons I haven't tried harder to dissuade my wife and my MIL from their estate sale obsession is that I have this fantasy that someday they'll walk into a house and text me a photo of a Custer-range carbine, or an 1892 Krag, or some such for, like, $200. Yeah, over the years my fantasies have...evolved. Actually, a couple of weeks ago my MIL dropped into an estate sale, and the result was: https://i.imgur.com/tKi1nk3.jpg Only a couple of times have they sold the guns at the estate sale. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:20:22 AM EDT
[#36]
It’ll be like all the slow 50’s cars and harleys that get sold at rock bottom prices over the next decade.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:23:18 AM EDT
[#37]
Clicked thread expecting it to be about the market being flooded with all current 5.56 chambered weapons in the military as the new 6.8 hotness takes over.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:24:54 AM EDT
[#38]
I want Dragunov!
I'd also want a M91/30 with PEM scope. I'd also want a Finnish one with PEM scope. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:25:57 AM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: At 60 with no kids, I am getting ready to start unloading mine. Some like this: https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140713_172648_jpg-1127870.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20170922_152521_1506115658229_jpeg-1127876.JPG https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/125818/20140115_194018_jpg-1127890.JPG |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:26:20 AM EDT
[#40]
I hope my son and his children enjoy my Commie guns and crates of ammo. I know I'll never 10K rounds of 762x54R out of a Mosin. I do have a Vepr same caliber.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:30:03 AM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I will consider it, I'd definitely want them to go to someone who appreciates them Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
My kids are not interested in mine. I bought non sporterized, as authentic as possible milsurps, with ammo (cheap). I have them listed with prices to sell when I kick off. As for now I enjoy shooting them |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:30:07 AM EDT
[#42]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I hope my son and his children enjoy my Commie guns and crates of ammo. I know I'll never 10K rounds of 762x54R out of a Mosin. I do have a Vepr same caliber.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 11:58:15 AM EDT
[#43]
When mil-surps came into the U.S. in various waves, they came in in large quantities that the importer paid very little per piece to acquire. The fastest way to recoup their investment and make their profit was to price them to move.
Now, that imports have dried up and stocks are exhausted, the only ones available come out of collections as the owners downsize, upgrade or die. They typically sell at current market value or near unless some widow just dumps them on a table at a grage sale with a sign that reads "$20 each". |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:18:38 PM EDT
[#44]
I was born in the mid-60's so I grew up shooting sporterized mil rifles. Rem 700's and M70's were the hotness that we longed for if we ever got real money.
The whole attraction of mil rifles was cheap to buy, cheap to modify, and cheap to shoot. But, we were reloading everything, so the focus was on cheap to buy and cheap to modify. As we grew up, got jobs, and became adults, the price of R700's and M70's was no longer an obstacle. And there were tons of them available for relatively low prices. In light of the foregoing, I'd suggest that many in my generation have only a mild to moderate interest in the early mauser based rifles. Sure, there will always be demand for the special rifles, but the generic rack rifles, not so much. Take the Mosins. The "SKS's" of the early bolt actions. Made in huge numbers, rough, somewhat crude, but its an effective weapon for its intended purpose. For the same money, I can get a mid-70's to mid-80's R700 in 30-06, or a better condition Interarms Mark X in 30-06. If I am not playing dress up in some re-enactment, there is no doubt what I would select to shoot, hunt, and use. Same with a bunch of these mil pistols. As the prices rise to the level of used Gen 2 and Gen 3 Smiths, the mil pistols are no longer a "deal" in the eyes of many. East German Makarov for $119 was a deal when used Smith 3913's were $250. Now that they are priced basically the same, not so much in my eyes. But, I'm not running a museum. Its a tool. If it is not a tool I need and like, then it better offer the opportunity for appreciation. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:21:25 PM EDT
[#45]
They'll prob be turned in at the local PD, or Benchmade, for destruction. For the childrens of course
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:22:43 PM EDT
[#46]
I've pretty much sold off all of mine, I just kept the best of each 03A3, P17, Garand, Mk4 Enfield and FN49. At one time I had 11 Enfield MkIII's for example.
The thing that will most likely just go into the trash is all the bullet casting equipment for 8mm, .303, etc. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:51:49 PM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Most will get destroyed. A lot of families take guns of passed family members to the local police stations to turn in. The police then do with them what they which in most cases is destroy them. The families are neither gun people or aware of the history they have and look for the easiest way for them to be done with them.  Mind you, neither my brother, his wife, the widow, nor his brother-in-law are in any way "serious" gun people, nor were any of these firearms highly valuable/collectible (mostly some neat hunting rifles/shotguns of decent quality and a few handguns). I'm sure far more guns will find their way to descendants homes or gun shops than will find their way to the shred-o-matic.
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:51:51 PM EDT
[#48]
How many boomers own any gun? 1/3?
How many have more than one milsurp gun? 1/20? How many own more than 10 mirsurp guns? 1/500? When a boomer dies that owns guns how many of the kids will want and keep their dads gun? 1/3? When a boomer dies how many of their kids will turn them in to be melted down? 1/3 When a boomer dies how many of the kids will sell them to an individual or shop? 1/3? I think it will be a trickle and the ammo has dried up... so the appeal of having a cheap shooter is gone. |
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 12:53:50 PM EDT
[#49]
A revival of milsurp firearms is going to take a repeal of the ATF regulation of "once a machine gun, always a machine gun."
|
|
|
|
Posted: 10/18/2019 1:26:21 PM EDT
[#50]
This would be happening now, but the invention of statin drugs ruined the party.
|
|
|
Win a FREE Membership!
Sign up for the ARFCOM weekly newsletter and be entered to win a free ARFCOM membership. One new winner* is announced every week!
You will receive an email every Friday morning featuring the latest chatter from the hottest topics, breaking news surrounding legislation, as well as exclusive deals only available to ARFCOM email subscribers.
AR15.COM is the world's largest firearm community and is a gathering place for firearm enthusiasts of all types.
From hunters and military members, to competition shooters and general firearm enthusiasts, we welcome anyone who values and respects the way of the firearm.
Subscribe to our monthly Newsletter to receive firearm news, product discounts from your favorite Industry Partners, and more.
Copyright © 1996-2024 AR15.COM LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Any use of this content without express written consent is prohibited.
AR15.Com reserves the right to overwrite or replace any affiliate, commercial, or monetizable links, posted by users, with our own.
