My buddy is going gun shopping, and I'm tagging along mainly as an adviser.  I am not looking to buy anything, but at what price should I jump on a deal if I see it?  I might jump for an AR, AK, or M1A, so what would be a steal price not to pass up on them?

And no, I'm not looking for some smartass to say "I wouldn't pass on one for $10".  I'm interested in the threshold "anything below XXX I'd jump on".

And yes, they may be thrown down my driveway, and yes the shopkeep will have to call me sir.  that should cover the bases of those who have nothing to really contribute to the thread.

All AR's and AK's are not equal.

Depends...

$4-500 for an AR...
$3-400 for an AK depending on model.

Too many variables.

good luck finding some deals, I'll pray for you!



jk, covering your other bases

Seems the price of nice 03's and enfields is going up.  Maybe you would find a nice one for $500 or less, Id jump on that deal.

Hard to really say as condition, locale, etc dictate a lot of the price sometimes.  

I thought you were already stealing an AR from a pregnant chick.

That depends completely on


 * Quality of manufacture (brand)

 * Features that it has (i.e. flat-top upper, chrome bore, etc)

 * Condition/amount of use.


Generally, looking for a "steal" usually leads to disappointment.  

"You get what you pay for."

Quoted: I thought you were already stealing an AR from a pregnant chick.

two is one, one is none.  

Quoted: My buddy is going gun shopping, and I'm tagging along mainly as an adviser.  I am not looking to buy anything, but at what price should I jump on a deal if I see it?  I might jump for an AR, AK, or M1A, so what would be a steal price not to pass up on them?

Below $600 for a run of the mill AR might be worth considering. Below $500 definitely deserves looking at, but doesn't necessarily mean a great deal. I passed on a a $460 AR a couple of weeks ago. On the other hand, there are some AR's that would be a steal at $1,200. Like others have said, too many variables.

I don't know much about AK's but I'd say that a Yugo below $350 would be worth looking at. A Romanian would have to be pretty close to $200 before I'd consider it a no-brainer. A Chinese and Russian guns could be lot higher, but I don't know enough to say how much.

A M1a or M14 copy under $1,000 deserves a look. A $1,000 Springfield is probably a really good deal, while a $1,000 Norinco is probably about average (though might be a better gun).

At the price level you're looking at, I'd be reluctant to jump on anything solely based on price. If you don't know enough about the variables to know what you're looking at,  you could easily get burned.

I know what to look for in an AR and M1A, not so much an AK.  I've already got 2 ARs and an M1A, so I'm pretty familiar with them.  I was just trying to get a feel for what would motivate you to buy regardless of how "in the market" you were, because I'm really not in the market right now, but also don't want to pass up a steal either, whether it be for me to keep, or to try to turn it on the EE.