How clean is too clean?
This morning while perusing gun auctions I came across the cleanest looking mil-Surp rifle I have ever seen. An Enfield No. 4 Mk 2. Literally, I mean flawless. Now, to me, a milsurp can't look like a showroom rifle. They didn't beat them but they didn't baby them either.
It has an unblemished beech stock and the metal is all parkerized The magazine has the serial number electropenciled, not stamped. Some other parts have the serial number stamped. But, the serial number on the receiver is electropenciled. On my No. 4 Mk1* made by Savage, the serial number is stamped.
A. Is this for real.
B. Is this worth the $1600 He's asking
C. Someone has already bid on it.
D. E-mail me for pics
It has an unblemished beech stock and the metal is all parkerized The magazine has the serial number electropenciled, not stamped. Some other parts have the serial number stamped. But, the serial number on the receiver is electropenciled. On my No. 4 Mk1* made by Savage, the serial number is stamped.
A. Is this for real.
B. Is this worth the $1600 He's asking
C. Someone has already bid on it.
D. E-mail me for pics
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About fifteen years ago a large number of new and unissued No. 4 Enfields from storage in Ireland were shipped to the United States and sold. I bought one from Nationwide Sports for $150. These rifles were 100% new with accessories and had only a tiny import marking. 0 -
and they were still in protective wrapping they pop up here and there 0 -
It could be...
Ask of the seller for more data.0 -
I bought one of those Mark mentioned. It was still caked with cosmoline and wrapped in paper. 100% cond unfired.
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Laredo,
Maybe it was the lighting. But the rifle in question was cleaner than the one you have. Again, lighting and pics might make a difference in perception.
So, do you think the price on yours would be around $1600 if you were to sell it? From what I've seen the last three years or so is that the prices are down except for the very top end "collectable" pieces. Those prices have held and maybe even gone up some. Or, maybe I'm just seeing the cream of that crop finally coming out for sale again. And, that's why people are paying premiums for them? Because they won't be for sale in that condition ever again (or at least 40 more years)?
Also, if you had a couple 'factory dings' in the stock, would you steam them out? I know a blem or scuff on the metal would be pretty easy to detect that it was redone.0 -
Does the rifle have an import mark on it? If it does then it will be pretty clear that it was one of the Enfields that were are discussing. If it has no import mark then it is something else entirely. 0 -
Why would anyone except maybe a museum pay that kind of money for a gun they could never use? The first blemish you put on it & the "value" plummets. 0 -
quote:Why would anyone except maybe a museum pay that kind of money for a gun they could never use? The first blemish you put on it & the "value" plummets.
Same as driving a brand new car off the lot, isn't it?
Might as well ask a stamp collector why they buy stamps they'll never lick and stick on an envelope!
The quick answer is that if you're a collector, you're not buying it to shoot it. You're buying it as an investment, hoping it will appreciate faster than inflation and someone else will pay more for it later.0 -
quote:Originally posted by beantownshootah
quote:Why would anyone except maybe a museum pay that kind of money for a gun they could never use? The first blemish you put on it & the "value" plummets.
Same as driving a brand new car off the lot, isn't it?
Might as well ask a stamp collector why they buy stamps they'll never lick and stick on an envelope!
The quick answer is that if you're a collector, you're not buying it to shoot it. You're buying it as an investment, hoping it will appreciate faster than inflation and someone else will pay more for it later.
I thought collectors bought things so they would have an example of them. Me personally, I can't see owning a piece of machinery, no matter how simple or complex it is, to have it sit there just to look at it. I can understand that with stamps and art. Cars and guns go under the first category. Calling it an investment, thinking it's going to grow in price is, to me, a pretty chancy gamble.0
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