Redsetter wrote on Jan 3^rd, 2019 at 10:36pm:


I'd guess the more threatened a group of particular gun owners are, the more active they become politically.
I know more guys who own antique guns, or muzzleloaders who are not active, and have an "I could care less" attitude. They feel they have nothing to worry about, and wont worry until it's their turn.

Based on what my local dealers are telling me, the only two types of rifles selling with any regularity are the AR-15 variations and the ultra long range stuff.  You almost cannot give away a lever action or a pump gun (rifle or shotgun), side by side shotguns are a dust collector, and most bolt actions attract only the increasingly rare and aging deer hunting crowd.  Similar focus in handguns - high capacity semi-autos with polymer frames sell, but revolvers, single shots or older semi-auto pistols with steel frames aren't moving, with the (somewhat odd to my eyes) 1911 variations.   

If your interests include single shots or other currently disfavored types of firearms, it's a great time to be a buyer but a lousy time to be a seller.

I'm guessing some of this is regional, as the local gun stores around me can't keep nice used revolvers in stock, and tell me they love getting them in stock. Old Colt and S&W revolvers are getting huge money, and wont stay on the racks long if the prices are even halfway reasonable. 
I've owned and collected S&W revolvers for a long time, but rarely buy them the last 10-15 years because they've gone nuts. Common guns like a Model 19 .357 in nice shape will sell for $800 without batting an eyelash. And the more rare numbered models will get 2-3 times that!
My old 25 in .45 Colt with presentation case was $275 in 1978, and now sells for around $1200.

Original single shot rifles seem to be  holding value but repos are not, and it doesn't seem to mater who made the reproductions although a C Sharps or Shiloh will sell better and bring more money. The Pedersolis or Ubertis are not holding up so well. A beautiful Pedersoli rolling block with long range Shaver tang sight just sold for 1K on castboolits. Half the price of of what it cost new. I do think that all single shots will loose in the long run. When most of old guys leave the scene who will be there to buy them. As it has been pointed out, the young guys want the black guns.

Here's a rusty sight screwdriver for $150.
Guy has the best verniers I know of, or an optical comparator, with an SEM.

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Aaron

Maybe you keep running into those fellows at the shows who keep thinking to themselves that if they actually sold some of the guns on their tables, they'd end up having to stay home with their wives on the weekends.

I gave up going to gunshows, too much new stuff and chinese junk in a crowded room.

Don't know of any collector shows around Daytona.

Aaron

The plastic autos aren’t flying off the shelves while the other designs languish because there is “no interest” in the latter group.  It’s because the former are incredibly cheap and the latter are being dangled on the shelves or tables as Collector’s Items, Vintage and Rare, in hopes of finding a sucker.  Nobody’s buying, at those prices.  I don’t see the reproductions going for cheap, either, the Castboolits example notwithstanding.

A friend competes with an AR clone that he mostly put together himself.  If you value your time only as a hobby, you might have only $400-500 in the finished rifle.  Any ”Starting Scheutzen” Model, with a reasonable look and feel to the originals, will start at three times that.  Or would need an unusually talented home hobbyist and some time to put together.

If somebody just likes to shoot, or even shoots well and wants to improve, the logical choice is a good example of a modern design.  And the difference spent on a lot of ammunition for practice.

People take a while to develop tastes.  I had hardly heard of single shots, except the Sharps, before I started going to gun shows at age 30.  They were still cheap enough back then to snap up now and then.  Even back then, though, mine was a minority interest; most people were interested in milsurps, lever actions or Model 70’s.

Yeah, it can be disheartening going to  gunshows these days. No great bargains leaping off the tables. Lots of high priced junk and trinketry. Hardly worth the time of the drive or the stiff admission fee. So, why do we go? Because you never know, that's why. True fact, I bought a well preserved 1942 byf Luger below market price because the dealer, who sold mostly all modern stuff, was ignorant of how a salt blued Luger should look. Most telling was his explanation that because the strawed parts were blue, that fact was a dead giveaway to the supposed refinish. Some of you may be horrified that I took advantage of this poor dealer. However, I paid his $1000.00 asking price without batting an eye. I got my pre-model 27 S&W for the price of a regular model 19 because the dealer missed the S prefix serial number and lack of model number inside the frame. Life's tough. It's tougher when your stupid. If you're in business to buy and sell guns, you should have an encyclopedic knowledge of the products and marketplace, just like selling anything else. So, that's why I keep going to shows and haunting the LGS', cause sometimes the hunt is as fun as the shooting.