Jun 11, 2012

Sometimes I wish I hated wrong-way revolvers

Ignore the junk and put your eye on the Smith Model 17, K22 with its 8 3/8-inch barrel.  



As much as I'd like to bring her home, I probably won't.  According to Mr. Internet, she commands at least $900 and probably quite a bit more.  That's enough Federal Reserve Cartoons  to gas up the more dependable truck for more than 4,000 miles of adventuring.

Guns draw my attention on three levels. (1) Users, the pieces I expect to shoot --ho-hummers up to some reasonably classic stuff.  (cf: 1911A1, for instance)  Some of them will help protect me from currency devaluation, but that's not why they're in the vault. (2)  Nostalgia, those few guns I grew up with or which otherwise resonate with something strictly personal.  (3) Investments, strictly a shield against the money printers.

The K22 -- especially in that barrel length -- is Category 3. You don't cram a  near-mint relic into a canvas Uncle Mike and go bashing up and down the ravines. Every scratch brings a grimace. One day of hard field use can turn a thousand-dollar beauty into a 500-dollar thing.

So the Smith-In-The-Safe makes investment sense only in a narrow scenario. The inevitable big devaluation happens earlier than I think it will, bringing on TEOTWAWKI but leaving enough social order intact to support an economy above the subsistence level; leaving, in other words, a a serious market for the utilitarian tool graced with beauty.  

Your objection is noted. But a classic like this will increase in value right along with the inflation we experience every day as the methed-up Bernanke elves crank the presses. 

Which may be true, but it ignores the reality of liquidity. Recouping the full value of a "collectible" is neither quick nor easy. See any episode about Rick the Pawnbroker.

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Well of course I'm trying to talk myself out of even going to this auction, Bunkie. But what the Hell. I have nothing else on that day's social calendar. Maybe the crowd will be asleep.  If I get lucky, or stupid, I'll let you know. :)






5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It turns the correct way? What are you talking about?
;-P

Jim said...

Could be. I guess it depends on which of the Roseholm girls we last spoke with. :)

Anonymous said...

That Model 97 Winchester right above it looks interesting. JAGSC

Tam said...

I cannot help my roomie's perverse taste in wheelguns, and have ceased trying to bring her into the light.

Jim said...

Lots of 97s on the market up here, Jags. The prices are chaotic, similar pieces -- just so-so examples -- bring $200 or so one time, $400 and up others.

When I was bluing guns as a hobby I decided I hated them. Getting all the parts back
together was the work of hours.