Cash on hand can be a different story, to a person willing to work the angles. Cash loses value minute by minute as well, but often times purchases made with cash bring with them a discount that more than makes up for the inflationary losses. In terms that us shooty folk understand, a little cash in reach can make that snap purchase of a friends old Browning happen, when a credit card won't.While walking the aisles of a fun show I've commented before to Shootin' Buddy that I could feel the paper in my pocket depreciating, and how I hoped that I could find something to exchange it for that would appreciate instead, or at least hold its value.
(Incidentally, periods of inflation are when almost all "collectible" markets spike, Hemi 'Cudas to Hummel figurines, baseball cards to Beanie Babies, as people try to get out of cash and into something, anything tangible, before the cash devalues even further.)
Oh ho! So this explains all those Mausers on my wall!
ReplyDeleteBased on the increase in ammunition value and scarcity...I need a couple more safes. Seriously. Reports of folk selling bricks of 22 for a Franklin...to a store no less...
ReplyDeleteDarned Chinese proverbs...I was hoping for "boring times".
Personally, I'm moving my Cash Reserves into Collectable cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew with Long Expiration dates.
ReplyDeleteAnd any spare Ammo for my weapons that I can find and afford.
Good thing my First Aid gear is up to snuff.
"Beans, Bullets, Band-Aids."
Or, as the saying goes, "You don't pay too much for a gun, you just buy it too soon."
ReplyDeleteCan't speak for the fun shows, because I can't walk 'em anymore, but there seems to be a certain frenzy on the internet auctions of late.
I remember in the Carter years, seeing lots full of $2500 E types. In the Clinton years, those same cars, if they ran at all, were selling for upwards of 30k while the hemi cudas were- well, a lot less. then people realized what it cost to OWN a Jag, and the jags are still selling for 30k, while a Hemi Cuda (A real one, anyway) costs as much as a nice suburban home. Choosing which item will appreciate can be hard.
ReplyDeleteog,
ReplyDelete"Choosing which item will appreciate can be hard. "
Success in any market does require study of the market and a modicum of luck...
(ISTR, back in the mid '90s, during the height of the collectable car bubble, collector-grade E-types were clustering around the $80k mark in Hemmings, although you could get a non-collector grade daily... er, non-driver much cheaper. :D )
Good lord, yes. I remember looking at Jags and Vettes in hemmings, and thinking, I can buy FOUR good used vettes for the price of a single jag, and I can get in them and drive them EVERY DAY.
ReplyDeleteIn the summer.
When it's dry.
I thought your solution for all Tauri was "kill it with fire" :-)
ReplyDeleteScott J,
ReplyDeleteDude's not exactly flush right now; he's not going to be shopping Black Armies. Know the market and current values, and one can make financially-solid purchases off the bargain end of the table, too. :)
Hey, if I have a choice between a loaded taurii and a hand with some skin on it, I'll take the taurii anytime. The gun you have, because you can afford it, is better than the ultimate custom shop race gun on the shelf at the store because you can't afford it. Tam is a pretty serious shooter, and a Taurus isn't even under consideration for her- for Joe Sixpack, I'd rather he have the taurus and know how to use it than nothing. I LIKE armed people. Even if I don't like their guns.
ReplyDeleteI know, Tam. I'm just picking since I own two of the brand that I'm fond of.
ReplyDeleteA polo saddle? What possessed you to buy a polo saddle?
ReplyDeleteWell, I had to buy SOMETHING.
I picked up a Taurus 709 last fall, out the door new with one mag for under $300; cruising the net trying to find another mag is merciless! I see them bidding as high as $65! At that price, I'd buy another pistol... or wait a few months when things (hopefully) normalize a bit.
ReplyDelete