About 35 years ago I bought myself a NIB 6" Colt Python in Colt Royal Blue for $420. One of the sweetest .357s ever made and that blueing was like looking at a black mirror. I probably put a couple of thousand rounds down range with that gun. Time went by, bought a house, got married soon after, two kids and money got tight so I sold it and thought I hit the lottery when the gun shop paid me $850 for it. Today I was looking through Cabelas Gun Library and saw the exact same gun selling for $3499! Who knew? Now I'm sitting here trying to think which guns sold NIB today will achieve that sort of price rise. If only you could see into the future.

I hate it when that happens. Tha prices of guns is off the charts. Your Colt Python is a great example. I woiuld also suggest the prices of G.I. 1911s, Lugers, Johnson Automatic rifles, Mauser military pistols, Springfield rifles and Krags are beyond belief. Who knew? All the best...
Gil

One that amazed me are the prices of M1 carbines. They were dirt cheap 25-30 years ago.

If you are buying guns for an investment look at which ones are used in the movies. The "fan base" raises the value of a gun fast but it will only stay high if its manufacture is curtailed for newer models.
The more powerful handguns are typically the ones that become "desirable" and that would point to some guns that are in the 45 to 50 caliber range made to hunt elephants with.
I can't see any of the semi-autos getting that kind of attention unless they come out it the more "exotic" calibers. There does seem to be some interest in the 5.7x28mm hand guns. With a 32 grain bullet at nearly 3000 fps from a handgun or carbine they might be a good bet but it is risky because metric calibers haven't developed the critical base in the USA in the past.
My magic mirror is broken so it is a crap shoot with worse odds. Just buy what you enjoy and use it.

All I can say for certain about future value is that the 6.5mm Carcano will always be worthless

winchester .30/30s mod 94s etc in fact just about ALL lever action rifles are holding their prices over here......... even really old tired ones are $500+

Colt SAA 4 3/4" paid $136.00 in 1966 brand new.

Winchester mod 94 .30 WCF paid $50.00 in 1960 from a barrel in the hardware store.

Should I go on?

1970 - bought a Ruger Single Six convertible 22/22 Mag for $60 and a 10/22 for $40.
1976 - unfired used Colt Frontier Scout convertible 22/22Mag in original box and all paperwork - $60
I remember dozens of Savage M99s in .300 Savage, .303 Savage and .358 Winchester for $125 to $200, and a pair of Remington Model 8s for $100...take your pick. And dozens more of missed deals.

Making myself sad. Time to quit!

Doesn't it though...

I still have the receipt of my Rugar #1v I bought in 1984 for $480 (A TON of money for a Teen back then). Saw recently one at Cabelas for sale for over $1600.


-DallanC

Bushmaster wrote:

Winchester mod 94 .30 WCF paid $50.00 in 1960 from a barrel in the hardware store.

Bushy, you may have got taken on that deal. Shouldn't have been more than $30. Rolling Blocks were $14 back then.

These posts are making me feel younger. I bought my Colt Mark IV Series 70 .45 ACP back in the 1970s for $179.00. The same shop sold me a Smith $ Wesson Model 17 full target for the about the same price. All the best...
Gil

Taken? After 55 years of service from a 66 year old rifle and many deer and one elk. Taken? Naw...

In today's dollars that Python would be $1214 and Bushmaster's 94 would be $420 if only inflation is taken into account. Obviously the price of those firearms has increased at a much faster rate. I assume the same holds true for others as well. Strong demand and managed supply is my guess.

One thing for sure, around here the price of ARs has dropped through the floor. I watched as a young man tried to sell his AR to my local gun shop and his jaw hit the floor when the dealer told him $400 while pointing to a rack full of used ARs.