Guns you didn’t know would become so valuable....

[John E Davies]

I bought a cool new Marlin 1895 .45/70 in 2010. I stumbled across it in a pawn shop, and brought it home. $730 plus tax. It was an STP “Trapper” with the shorty 16” barrel. I did not realize until I got it home and Googled it, that it was a limited run of 500. I found that interesting, but not earth shattering.

D003CCE8-4BD1-4BE0-878A-57C6208E5C16.jpeg (253.9 KiB) Viewed 2483 times

I added an XS Scout Rail and ghost ring sights, a Leupold Scout Scope, and tuned the action. It was a dandy little carbine with a big bite. I kept it around when camping to deter bad animals.

I posted pictures at the Marlin Owners Forum in 2014 when it became apparent that these STP guns were gaining value. A couple had sold for $2000 or more on Gunbroker, and the discussion at the forum was lively and a little in disbelief that anybody would pay that much. Remember that this was after the 2008-2010 Freedom Group takeover and dismantling of the Marlin company. The shooting world was disgusted with the shoddy new Remlin guns. The STPs were probably the last cool and unusual “JM” stamped rifles made before that disaster....

I got a PM from a member who asked if I would consider selling mine. He was in Texas and wanted a good brush gun for feral pigs, and he was going to move to Canada for a short term job, and the Trapper was Canada Legal, since the short barrel was a factory feature. (An 18” Guide Gun, for example, cut down to 16” would be terribly illegal there). I replied ,”sure you can have it for $3000”. I was sure he would not bite that lure....

He said, OK, and there went the gun. I never thought I would lose it, but I couldn't pass up that kind of profit.

DCAC4D5A-162B-415C-A099-AAF8B0DBB5F6.jpeg (313.28 KiB) Viewed 2483 times

Today I checked Gunbroker, and there are TWO for sale......

3B1F14CB-E91E-4EE0-BDBC-3FEF3E2F3E61.jpeg (119.34 KiB) Viewed 2483 times

Who would have thunk it?

I have another story about a used PCP air rifle that made me tons of money, but I will save that for later. Please post any similar stories. Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[BrokenolMarine]

Do I need to say what the two sequentially numbered Pythons I sold in mint condition, when my daughter was born in '84 would go for today? I kept the 4" Diamondback .22 I bought as a companion piece to the pair. I paid around $300 for it back then. I have seen them in the $2k range these days. All my kids learned to shoot on that one. Not for sale.

That same year, I was in a huge mall on Oahu, and a small sporting goods shop had a new Python on Clearance in the handgun case... Half Price. It was marked .38 Special on the barrel, the box said "Colt Python Target." I passed it up. Those were a limited run that didn't sell well. Pythons were supposed to be 357s. These days, the 38s bring a premium, or so they tell me.

[Mistered]

I bought a Winchester Trapper .357 in 2005 for $259 and sold it in 2014 for $750.
That covered my Henry purchase and then some!

[Sir Henry]

Great story! I’ve done okay on my purchases but nothing to write home about.

My one exception is a No. 5 Enfield I bought when I was 16. It’s now worth about 60 times what I paid for it but it has been 54 years.

[GunnyGene]

Don't get too excited about the current "value" of a older firearm until you've figured in how much of that is due to inflation since you bought it. Here's a simple calculator for that:

https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

[fortyshooter]

I bought a cool new Marlin 1895 .45/70 in 2010. I stumbled across it in a pawn shop, and brought it home. $730 plus tax. It was an STP “Trapper” with the shorty 16” barrel. I did not realize until I got it home and Googled it, that it was a limited run of 500. I found that interesting, but not earth shattering.


D003CCE8-4BD1-4BE0-878A-57C6208E5C16.jpeg


I added an XS Scout Rail and ghost ring sights, a Leupold Scout Scope, and tuned the action. It was a dandy little carbine with a big bite. I kept it around when camping to deter bad animals.

I posted pictures at the Marlin Owners Forum in 2014 when it became apparent that these STP guns were gaining value. A couple had sold for $2000 or more on Gunbroker, and the discussion at the forum was lively and a little in disbelief that anybody would pay that much. Remember that this was after the 2008-2010 Freedom Group takeover and dismantling of the Marlin company. The shooting world was disgusted with the shoddy new Remlin guns. The STPs were probably the last cool and unusual “JM” stamped rifles made before that disaster....

I got a PM from a member who asked if I would consider selling mine. He was in Texas and wanted a good brush gun for feral pigs, and he was going to move to Canada for a short term job, and the Trapper was Canada Legal, since the short barrel was a factory feature. (An 18” Guide Gun, for example, cut down to 16” would be terribly illegal there). I replied ,”sure you can have it for $3000”. I was sure he would not bite that lure....

He said, OK, and there went the gun. I never thought I would lose it, but I couldn't pass up that kind of profit.


DCAC4D5A-162B-415C-A099-AAF8B0DBB5F6.jpeg


Today I checked Gunbroker, and there are TWO for sale......


3B1F14CB-E91E-4EE0-BDBC-3FEF3E2F3E61.jpeg


Who would have thunk it?

I have another story about a used PCP air rifle that made me tons of money, but I will save that for later. Please post any similar stories. Thanks.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Wow ! That is THE Marlin to have owned You made some GREAT bucks off of it.

[fortyshooter]

Only one I have now I might make a few dollars on is my S&W Model 629-2E .44 mag revolver with 3 inch barrel.
Was a 1/2 yr. issue with the new Endurance Package for additional strength. Got a good deal on it couple years ago from an elderly neighbor.

[North Country Gal]

Back in the day, I rarely invested in high dollar prestige guns. I tended toward Ruger in my handguns for the great value they've always been. We've recently begun to collect Old Model Ruger single actions, mostly for their sentimental value for me and, yes, I do think those old Rugers were a cut above the new stuff in their fit and finish, though I can't say they shoot any better. We have no illusions, though, about old Rugers ever approaching the collectible status of vintage Colts or vintage Winchester rifles. Regardless of brand, we buy vintage gun for the the way they were made in the old days or for sentimental value, but never as something we expect to sell and make a profit.

Not long, ago, we did have a nice collection of JM Marlins, some quite rare, as well as a few pre-64 Winchester lever guns. We've gotten out of lever guns, now, and all have been sold off. We did make a small, but worthwhile profit when we did. Best example was a mint condition Marlin 39 Carbine, one of the rarest Marlin 39s ever made. We snagged it at an estate auction for $340 because no one recognized it for what it was. Sold it two years, later, for $1000 and the buyer was delighted at the price.

We do have some current production guns which are rapidly going up in price, such as our Dan Wessons and our Miroku built classic falling block single shots. Our Dan Wesson 715 357 revolver, for instance, is now listed at $400 more than what we paid for our new 715 just a few years back.

[Mistered]

I sure wish I was one of the 14 who owns one of the Colt Python 3" round butt models - ya know? Like the one that recently sold for $75,000 !