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July 31, 2012
Why I Love GunBroker.com, Part 1
By Dave Hurteau
One of the many reasons I love GunBroker.com is that you can find project guns. And one of the reasons I love project guns is that you can justify spending too much for one. With a new gun or a good used one, paying too much eats away at you after the initial-purchase glow wanes and can cause warm feelings to cool. But this rarely happens with a project gun.
You may remember that I got myself a Savage Model 24 .22LR/.410 (one of the best squirrel guns ever made) for Christmas last year. The bores were good, but the wood was ugly white, the receiver had no finish left, and both barrels were riddled with rust spots. I found it on GunBroker.com, decided I couldn’t live without it, and paid way too much (around $350) given the condition. But here’s the beauty of it all. I had fun refinishing it. It cost next to nothing in materials. And $350 is not too much for the condition it’s in now (see photo above).
You rarely find project guns in shops because the owner can make a few bucks restoring it himself. But if you look closely, you can find some good ones online. I’m not talking about antiques or truly vintage guns whose value can be destroyed with a restoration (especially an amateur restoration). I’m talking cool, old, otherwise ruined guns, like this one, that are a joy to bring back to life and hunt with. That’s worth $350 all day.
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Comments (10)
We've all owned a gun that we either....
1. Paid too much for.
2. Paid too much for and then put too much more money into it.
3. Paid too much for and then sold it @ a loss for something "better".
Enjoy that new (old) gun.
I love that site,makes me wanna get an ffl
I have made some great purchases on GB, with nary a bad experience. I have resold a few that I decided were not keepers, but if you don't pay too much to begin with, you can usually unload painlessly.
It's great for finding project gun parts, too. Last year I found (actually a friend of mine found for me)a set of in-the-white 28-inch barrels (off an old Seventies-vintage Pederson 1000 O/U, which were Berettas) for my Beretta BL-5.
Get them fitted, blued and threaded for tubes and now I've got a brand-new extra barrel set for my vintage Beretta that cost me a grand total of about $300 bucks.
I heart Gunbroker...
I spend way too much time trolling gunbroker.com. Almost as much as fieldandstream.com.
It's also a good reference to find the current value of those firearms you own. For insurance purposes I update my inventory list annually. Should I suddenly pass, my executor will have a good idea on the value of each.
Like Tom-Tom I use it as a reference. I like to know what the going and past prices of my guns are in case I want to try to sell them locally, or list them on the site.
It's also really fun to cruise the site and add guns to my wish list. I used to love to stare at the Mateba's and I would have never learned about Hi-Points if not for the site. So it's got something for everyone.
The Class 3 stuff is fun to dream about too ;-)
I bought my last two guns off Gunbroker.com and GunsAmerica.com. The GunsAmerica.com purchase was a pretty little Spanish 20 gauge SXS that I just couldn't resist. The Gunbroker.com buy was the definition of a project gun. It's a sporterized Lee Enfield No.4 MK 1 that I won in auction for the princely sum of $100. It came with a decent though scarred up Bishop stock, no sights and very little metal finish, but the bore was bright as a new dime and the action was tight as a drum. I just spent two months refurbishing it. Stripped and sanded the stock and put about six coats of true oil on it, cleaned up the medal and Oxpho blued it (beautiful deep, blue black finish -- that stuff really works!, installed an old but good Weaver K3 scope (also bought on gunbroker.com) and replaced the plastic, Bishop butt plate with a thin red pad with black spacer. I don't think I even began to realize how much work would be involved, but it sure gave me something to do. End product is a beautiful, Lee Speed-influenced sporter. Probably spent about $225 total but it now looks like similar rifles that were going for $400 or more on the site. All for an original investment of a hundred bucks.
I've bought several guns from GunBroker.com. All were good deals and all went very well. You just have to keep a good watch for what you are looking for and don't take the first thing that becomes available. I will continue to use GunBroker for future gun purchases.
I have used Gunbroker to find guns that I couldn't find locally. Prices were high but, I got what I wanted. The worst charge is what local dealers charge to do the transfer.
Post a Comment
I spend way too much time trolling gunbroker.com. Almost as much as fieldandstream.com.
It's great for finding project gun parts, too. Last year I found (actually a friend of mine found for me)a set of in-the-white 28-inch barrels (off an old Seventies-vintage Pederson 1000 O/U, which were Berettas) for my Beretta BL-5.
Get them fitted, blued and threaded for tubes and now I've got a brand-new extra barrel set for my vintage Beretta that cost me a grand total of about $300 bucks.
I heart Gunbroker...
It's also a good reference to find the current value of those firearms you own. For insurance purposes I update my inventory list annually. Should I suddenly pass, my executor will have a good idea on the value of each.
Like Tom-Tom I use it as a reference. I like to know what the going and past prices of my guns are in case I want to try to sell them locally, or list them on the site.
It's also really fun to cruise the site and add guns to my wish list. I used to love to stare at the Mateba's and I would have never learned about Hi-Points if not for the site. So it's got something for everyone.
The Class 3 stuff is fun to dream about too ;-)
We've all owned a gun that we either....
1. Paid too much for.
2. Paid too much for and then put too much more money into it.
3. Paid too much for and then sold it @ a loss for something "better".
Enjoy that new (old) gun.
I have made some great purchases on GB, with nary a bad experience. I have resold a few that I decided were not keepers, but if you don't pay too much to begin with, you can usually unload painlessly.
I bought my last two guns off Gunbroker.com and GunsAmerica.com. The GunsAmerica.com purchase was a pretty little Spanish 20 gauge SXS that I just couldn't resist. The Gunbroker.com buy was the definition of a project gun. It's a sporterized Lee Enfield No.4 MK 1 that I won in auction for the princely sum of $100. It came with a decent though scarred up Bishop stock, no sights and very little metal finish, but the bore was bright as a new dime and the action was tight as a drum. I just spent two months refurbishing it. Stripped and sanded the stock and put about six coats of true oil on it, cleaned up the medal and Oxpho blued it (beautiful deep, blue black finish -- that stuff really works!, installed an old but good Weaver K3 scope (also bought on gunbroker.com) and replaced the plastic, Bishop butt plate with a thin red pad with black spacer. I don't think I even began to realize how much work would be involved, but it sure gave me something to do. End product is a beautiful, Lee Speed-influenced sporter. Probably spent about $225 total but it now looks like similar rifles that were going for $400 or more on the site. All for an original investment of a hundred bucks.
I love that site,makes me wanna get an ffl
I've bought several guns from GunBroker.com. All were good deals and all went very well. You just have to keep a good watch for what you are looking for and don't take the first thing that becomes available. I will continue to use GunBroker for future gun purchases.
I have used Gunbroker to find guns that I couldn't find locally. Prices were high but, I got what I wanted. The worst charge is what local dealers charge to do the transfer.
Post a Comment