The mistique of the Colt SAA laws of supply and demand suspended???

[Master Blaster]

I have seen lots and lots of Colt SAAs in local shops and on the internet.

I hear people on the net say what great shooters they are, but everyone seems to keep theirs unfired so it will be worth more.

I dont have any guns that are unfired, and I probably never will. I buy my guns to shoot and enjoy.

What seems bizarre to me is that fact that the laws of supply and demand don't seem to apply to the Colt SAA. At least if they do its not reflected in the prices.

Case in point, do a search on any of the online auctions and you will find pages and pages of Colt SAAs almost all of them are unfired and never turned. Week after week the same guns will be on the auctions asking the same price but never selling.

One local gunstore always has a few of them in the case. They are always unturned and unfired. I have never seen or handled one that has been fired lots, nor have I ever in the last 8 years anyway, seen a fired one for sale.
All have a cable tie to prevent them form being RUINED by cocking them.

Recently I looked for a S&W 17 or a K-22 masterpiece they seem to be nonexistant, very few on the auctions, never seen one in a local gunstore, and yet they sell for 1/3 to 1/4 of the price of an SAA which I can have 10 of, in any color or configuration I want, just by picking up the phone.

Another local gunshop recently took 2 on consignment, both 7.5" barrels, fire blued and casehardened frame, one is in .44 spl and was made in the 1950s, another is .357 mag and made in the 60's.

Both of them are pristine and unfired and of course have a cable tie on them to keep them from being fired or even cocked. The owner of the shop said the owner of the guns bought them new from him way back when (he's been in business since 1947).
He also told me that at the relatively low prices on these, they will be sitting there a long time before anyone buys them. The .44spl is $1200, and the .357 is going for $1500.

SO what gives????????

 

[wickedsprint]

Sounds like the same situation as Harley Davidsons, people think they are worth more than they are..so you always see a ton for sale...

 

[redneckrepairs]

Well mine has been fired

Mine has been fired a lot ( it was made in the 1890s ) LOL but your right on two counts , it does shoot good , and i dont want to sell it good luck on your quest for one tho

 

[Camp David]

Case in point, do a search on any of the online auctions and you will find pages and pages of Colt SAAs almost all of them are unfired and never turned...

Because someone says the gun is in "unfired" condition doesn't mean it is! Every true Colt is fired at the factory prior to sale... after that it moves into the market and between gun store and buyer/seller several times... it is not a large problem to fire a revolver and later clean it completely to pre-fire condition... there are chemicals to remove almost all of the powder residue from lands/grooves so that only an expert could determine whether it had been previously fired. Further, cylinder "turning" can be kept to a minimum on a Colt SAA and still be sold as "unturned"... I know of other SAA's sold with damaged cylinder switched out for new one; a dangerous proposition.

Buyer beware on Colt SAA's!

Personally...I like a well-fired, well-oiled SAA that works well... I could care less what finish looks like... my own is well scratched, the cylinder is well-grooved, and the lands/grooves are almost shot out after almost 38 years of use... it's perfect now!

Occassionally you will see them advertised at Estate Sales for well less than the going rate... sold by those who don't know better... that is where you'll find deals on them....

 

[Vern Humphrey]

My Colt SAA in .357 was bought new in 1967 -- and I shoot the hell out of it!

 

[sendtoscott]

What seems bizarre to me is that fact that the laws of supply and demand don't seem to apply to the Colt SAA. At least if they do its not reflected in the prices.

Sounds like a perfect example of supply and demand - just not demand as shooters.

 

[Jim K]

Speculators figure that it is only a matter of time until Colt either discontinues the SAA again, or goes out of business. Either way, Colt SAA's would, supposedly, go up in price.

Jim

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Speculators figure that it is only a matter of time until Colt either discontinues the SAA again, or goes out of business. Either way, Colt SAA's would, supposedly, go up in price.

Jim

Colt has been trying to commit suicide for over 50 years now -- fortunately, the management is just as incompetent about that as they are about everything else.

 

[Standing Wolf]

Colt has been trying to commit suicide for over 50 years now -- fortunately, the management is just as incompetent about that as they are about everything else.

I don't understand why nobody has bought Colt's firearms division and turned it into a real company with real products.

 

[Gordon]

I'd gladly pay the $1200 for a like new 7.5" .44 special made in 50's (2nd gen). In fact, tell me if it's in Ca?

 

[Master Blaster]

Its in Delaware sorry, It sort of reminds me of the Blue Delft christmas plates. 30-40 Years ago people would order these plates for christmas and they would pay $100-200 each for them. People collected them because they would someday become scarce. I can remember my grand mother proudly displaying hers.

A few years ago I walked into an auction house in Philadelphia, Freedmans, for those in the city, and I saw piles and piles of these plates. They were selling at auction for $2-5 each. Apparently since everyone could order as many of these limited edition plates as they wanted, once the collectors started dying and their collecttions started hitting the market, there was no market.

Now I dont think anything as drastic as that can happen to the SAA, cause you can still shoot it, but you never know.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I don't understand why nobody has bought Colt's firearms division and turned it into a real company with real products.

As I understand it, there's a vast cloud of stupidity over the state of Connecticutt, and everyone who comes in contact with Colt is immedately felled by it.

 

[carolinaman]

Hi there,

Actually, Colt is a bit crafty in creating its own supply and demand for the consumer market. The SAA's is a perfect example of creating "market demand" by keeping them in limited supply.

However, the strategy starts to weaken when others jump on board and start producing facimiles in huge quanities, i.e. Beretta, Taurus and who knows who else next week.

Although I have owned many Colt's, i.e. the Python, the Trooper Mk III, and King Cobra, Colt Manufacturing is company that I am leary of in general.

Chris

 

[Master Blaster]

Originally Posted by Standing Wolf
I don't understand why nobody has bought Colt's firearms division and turned it into a real company with real products

Something do do with the fact that the state of Connecticut wound up owning a good chunk of Colt, do to some bankruptcy/ default thing a few years back.????

 

[pauli]

first rule of economics: everything is worth exactly what the last guy paid for it.

even if the last guy was the comic book guy.

 

[Walter]

I bought my 2nd gen. Colt SAA in 1973, used. Gave $175 for it.
I've put probably 3000 rounds through it, and it's still in very good
shape.
I don't intend to sell it, but I also don't believe it is worth some
vast fortune. I bought the gun to shoot. I have shot it, a lot.
I would never buy a gun to lock away and hope I could make a profit
on it 10 years later.
If I can't shoot it, I won't buy it.

Walter

 

[whm1974]

It sort of reminds me of the Blue Delft christmas plates. 30-40 Years ago people would order these plates for christmas and they would pay $100-200 each for them. People collected them because they would someday become scarce

I remember as a kid seeing ADs for collecters plates. And I use to laugh at those who brought something so useless and not to mention worthless.

Apparently since everyone could order as many of these limited edition plates as they wanted

Just because something is marketed as "limit edition" doesn't mean it is.

I would never buy a gun to lock away and hope I could make a profit
on it 10 years later.
If I can't shoot it, I won't buy it.

You could make a good profit or lose your ass. The AWB is a good example. I know a lot of people who brought a bunch of preban weapons and hicaps thinking the value will go up. most of them lost money after the ban expired.

-Bill

 

[Bill B.]

I bought a new Colt SA 3 rd. generation in 45 LC and I too got mine to shoot! So far it has had around 2 thousand rounds put through it and it shoots great! I might have lost some value on the gun but I gained it back in the smile I got from shooting it over the last several years! You only go around once and everyone needs to keep that in mind ............. .