What Do You Consider an Expensive Gun?

[twyacht]

But if you're Michael Schumacher, you are better off sticking with Ferrari. He doesn't even lift at the end of the straight, (1:17) !  Bill T.

http://www.youtube.com/user/billt460#p/f/74/k0MvA1tE0ZU

That's about as close to good sex as you can get,....IMHO....

[m25operator]

Expensive to me is where the price exceeds the value of the experience I will get from it, whether it is gun, a car, washing machine etc...

As most of you know I have some expensive rifles, and a pistol or 2. But they were all purchased under valued for what they are.

My 2 M40's were 3000 each, but included the glass, MK4 Leupolds, McMillan A3 stocks, Krieger barrels, Timney triggers and HS Precision steel trigger guards with detachable Mags. Built by an expert precision rifle builder. Texas Brigade armory, Mike Lau, one time editor for precision shooting magazine. Thats a lot of money, but these 2 will shoot with an AWI, Not as tough I will admit. And they always shoot well.

MY FN SPR I got new undervalued because some stocking person mismarked the price. I got it for 1000 out the door, Still working on it, The bedding was screwed up from the factory, and my rebedding really has not taken well. It starts out at .5 moa, then the next 5 will be 3/4 then the next 5 an 1", up to 1 1/2 " when really hot, it wants to shoot and I'm not ready to give up on it yet.

I would not have paid full price for any of these.

[tombogan03884]

There are some great guns out there for less than 10K that aren't adorned with another 10K of engraving.  As a machinist, you're aware that fit of a break action needs to be close tolerance to last the tens of thousands of rounds these guns are fired in competition.  Even a small amount of movement in the gun will cause problems over time.  

It's the hand lapping and attention to detail that you're paying for.  The rest is just for show!

Absolutely,  It's the difference between mass produced and hand crafted. In reality I not only am fine with massed produced, it better suits my purposes, just for example if something breaks I can replace it in days from midway or Brownell's rather than sending the gun back and waiting weeks for a replacement part to be custom fitted.
But the fact remains that if you want the hand crafted stuff you are going to pay.

[Walter45Auto]

I still consider $500 and up expensive for handguns and rifles. Not that I wouldn't pay it for a gun i really wanted should I have the $$$ (and I have recently.).  Shotguns, I haven't considered or looked at for a while, so I really ain't sure. A good pump shotgun like the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 still seem reasonably priced. My Mossberg 590 was a steal, BTW. I've also come to a realization that when it comes time to get me that lever action .357 I want, I'll have to pay around $500 for it; maybe a bit more. The $200 ones from 10 years ago are all gone....... $1,000 to $2,000 would be a stretch for me to pay. I would, but it'd have to be the right gun, and while I have that kind of extra dough. And as far as an absolute WTF price? anything over $2,500. Not that there's not a few guns out there that I'd want that are those prices, it's just that I'm not likely to ever drop that kind of money on one.

Example of OVER MY WTF LIMIT (that I happen to want):
http://www.emf-company.com/store/pc/KODIAK-MARK-IV-DOUBLE-RIFLE-c140.htm

[fightingquaker13]

There are some great guns out there for less than 10K that aren't adorned with another 10K of engraving.  As a machinist, you're aware that fit of a break action needs to be close tolerance to last the tens of thousands of rounds these guns are fired in competition.  Even a small amount of movement in the gun will cause problems over time. 

It's the hand lapping and attention to detail that you're paying for.  The rest is just for show!

And that is why I have bought high end doubles without the engraving. I have owned and hunted with a "Best" Webley and Sons, an LC Smith, Bernadelli, Citori, and Aya. All with high end hand lapped (or hand made in the case of the Webley) parts but no dancing wood nymphs done up in gold filagree (The local dealer was an understanding sort and would only ding you about $100 if you traded one of his in on another, it was almost like a rental policy). All of the go, none of the show. The thing is, even when I was paying for these in trades, student loans, and tutoring the gun store owner's niece, who was a freshman at UT (and if she'd been straight, yes I would have married her even though she did weigh 200 pounds), they didn't fit. I have long arms and its  stupid to dump high dollars in a shotgun, aethetics aside, if it doesen't fit you better than an off the rack Mossberg. I finally settled on a Merkel Model 8. Its probably worth $2k fair market value, and fits like it was made for me. I couldn't afford then, and still can't afford now to get a gun custom made, but this the closest it comes. The thing is 30 yers old and the tolerances are so tight that you have to put a little elbow grease into breaking it open. My great grand kids will be shooting this thing. I wouldn't/couldn't buy it today, but it is not over priced. Likewise I inheireted my great grandads Parker. Its a plain jane vh, with no case colors left and no extractors, but it shoots as good as it did when he brought it home new in 1917. Nothing fancy, just a hand made double that is still good to go after almost a hundred years, and I do shoot the hell out of it on clays and birds. Sometimes expensive is dictated by quality and how much you like the thing. Some guns are tools, others are art, others are about memory. What is expensive varies depending on circumstance.
Fq13

[Sponsor]

[Rob10ring]

"Expensive Gun" - noun/concept:

1. Any gun that I need but truly cannot afford to buy.
2. Any gun that I want but can't justify the compromises necessary to purchase.


-RJP

I'd add:
 Any gun that I buy that I truly shouldn't have.

[tombogan03884]

FQ, you really ARE a meathead ! You take guns like that to a place like this;

http://www.connecticutshotgun.com/

And have them custom fitted to your body. There are other places that do this as well but this one I thought of by name.
They trim or shim the stock based on your arm length and steam bend it to give the desired cast on or off.

[fightingquaker13]

FQ, you really ARE a meathead ! You take guns like that to a place like this;

http://www.connecticutshotgun.com/

And have them custom fitted to your body. There are other places that do this as well but this one I thought of by name.
They trim or shim the stock based on your arm length and steam bend it to give the desired cast on or off.

Three problems with that Tom. One is getting there. Two is price, and three is I'm a lefty and need cast off on a stock. Yes I could have gotten them restocked but that is hideously pricy. I didn't put more than $500 cash and two nice rifles into any of those guns. The subsequent ones cost $50-$100 each on the trade and some tutoring hours. It wasn't like could afford a thousand for a new stock and forend.
FQ13

[deepwater]

too much? when I pay the regular market price...
I look for deals. though I will say that my Bersa was expensive. but the price here was a little below local market prices and included all the paperwork and applications, fees etc.. for my carry permit.
filled out my C&R application and will be sending it out when I get back to the states. I KNOW I can get stuff cheaper that way! 

[tombogan03884]

FQ, a little searching would have probably found SEVERAL companies that did the same thing where you were at the time.
You don't get a new stock, they custom bend the one you have. If you have a high end blaster why would you pinch pennies on accessories ?
Granted you didn't know about it at the time, but I want to make sure that you understand you got rid of heirloom guns now worth several thousand $ each, and back then the fitting would have cost about the same as what you laid out in cash to trade, maybe less  

You may now go kick yourself, repeatedly