Out of personal experience I would say that apart from very few exceptions guns are not an investment at all, in fact they have never been, at least here where I live.
IMHO.

Maybe not, but personally I've "lost" more $$ in stocks and bonds than I ever have on firearms!:crying:

But I will admit I know more about guns than butter or stocks!:D

Not to mention or forget my other more expensive vices during the eighties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know about them, but surely our love for guns is more of a "hobby" than a "vice", so it's bound to be less harmful... I think. :rolleyes:

Within the past year, someone on this forum did a study on this. Ill try to find it later. But the overall value increase was around 7%. per annum.

FN

If they merely retained their value then that better than most of my investments!!

Concordo, meu amigo.
E então somos dois quebrados!:thumbsup:

I should have asked differently.
In fact, I'm not worried with how gun (Luger) collecting performs as an investment. A t least, in my part of world old guns are not a commodity as they are difficult to sell and the local collecting market is small, and the economy is frequently in turmoil. I collect them because of my passion for history and historical firearms.

When I asked about the inflation I was curious about how the Luger performed in the market at that time and how it would cost today as a "normal" gun still in production. I frequently read that Lugers were expensive pistols back then but the same 1904 Ad I posted brings big bore revolver for a similar price, so it was not a gun target for a super prime market, as it was affordable for a middle class guy. So that was the idea.

But, anyway, this topic is a nice reading.

Douglas

I purchased my first Luger in early 1964, an all matching 1917 Artillery with the exception of the mag. and rear sight, which was not a correct artillery sight for $56.00 at auction. At some point in the "60's or 70's ? there was an on-going ad on the back page of one of the popular Gun magazines for Lugers priced at, I believe, $29.00 and $39.00 plus Broomhandles for $55.00. However the older I get the less reliable my memory is but I believe these prices are correct, perhaps some of our older members will be able to recall those adds as well.

Lon

Geez, Lon, you've had your hands on Lugers for a few years. Hats off to you! :thumbup:

Back in 1964 (or was that 1965) my dad gave me my first gun, a Remington Nylon 66 22lr, that I still prize and own. I believe it retailed for $39. However, I wish he had bought me a Luger instead. :cool:

Lon
Geez, Lon, you've had your hands on Lugers for a few years. Hats off to you!

Back in 1964 (or was that 1965) my dad gave me my first gun, a Remington Nylon 66 22lr, that I still prize and own. I believe it retailed for $39. However, I wish he had bought me a Luger instead.
__________________
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Unfortunately Eugen that was my last Luger until around 2006 or so. The Artillery came up with a cracked receiver after the 6th shot and at that time there was no internet available to surf for a new one so just threw it in a drawer and forgot about it until around 2007 when I discovered this forum and all the information and great guys on it. Was able to get the parts I needed and found a member that was able to put it all together.

Lon

Using the inflation calculator in post #9, your $56 purchase price in 1964 would equate to $435 today. I don't collect Artillery Lugers but have looked at a few - I would guess the pistol would be worth $1,300 or more today if the receiver hadn't cracked.

As 3 x $435 = $1,300 (approximate), your purchase info suggests that long-term appreciation of Lugers is something like three times the inflation rate. With inflation running around 2% nowadays, I'm guessing Lugers increase 6% a year or so.

Sounds like your estimate of the value of an Artillery Luger in the condition of mine at that time is right on the money in my opinion 4 Scale.

Lon

I have been buying and trading guns for a very long time and I have noticed [as the years roll by] that something a friend told me over forty years ago is true. Guns prices run in cycles. At one time Model 70s are the hot ticket and later it's 1911s and so on it goes. I bought my first Luger in a gun shop in 1959 for $42 and probably overpaid. You could buy them from that guy in Virginia for a little less. It was a different world back then and if you didn't live then, you will never understand it or even believe it. We are talking about silver dollars here, not this monopoly paper we are using today. The analogy about old cars is right on. Men in there middles years now with a little extra cash don't want a Model T or a model A. They want a muscle car from the 60s. It was the car they wanted in high school but couldn't afford. I dabbled in antique phones for a time and I remember when an old oak wall phone could bring several hundred dollars but kids today don't even know what they are. I had one in my garage for many years and I would a ask a young person if they wanted to talk on it and they didn't even know it was a phone. The antique phone of today is what they used on Happy Days. Getting back to guns I notice that the price of older Colt single actions is dropping. The men of today didn't grow up watching Hoppy, Gene or Roy. The American said a few months ago that the Colt Python had surpassed the SA in collectability.

Very true. However in 1959 $60-80 per week was a fairly normal wage. Remember when the old Singer sewing machines, cases or drawers were valuable? Probably could not give one away today. Now that I have a house full of antiques and my wifes hugh Depression Glass collection I will probably have trouble breaking even. Unless Ed T buys me out. Such is life. Bill

The only stock that I invest our my Navy, Carbine and artillery!! They can float but never sink!!

A few months ago I went to a very large gun show in a mid-west state capitol. Guess how many Lugers were on display there? Zero. This has to tell us something.

I'm not at all sure what that should tell us. I suppose it could mean that they are rare as hen's teeth, or it could tell us that Lugers at their current price levels simply aren't within the pay-grade of Joe Glock so no one of a business mind will mess with them. They are a passion, but not necesarily a profitable one.
dju

I think this supports a suggestion that the Luger marketplace is major auction houses and on line.

--Dwight

My father's Luger cost him 35 dollars back in 1948. A box of ammo was thrown into the deal. Even though it's a shooter and not a collector's piece, he did pretty well.