Disposal of firearms etc

New Avon Arms
M

MarcB

Member
Im disapointed of the difficulty in selling firearms, ammo and equipment in uk... Im relocating and kinda worried I ll be left with a lot of gear to just give away to RFD. Where do people sell ? Clubs are very unresponsive, Gunstar/Guntrader expensive and lots of scammers.... Crazy !

Any advice ?
 
In the current market I think the best advice is be realistic with your expectations on price and return. Shooting seems to be an ever decreasing circle and commodity stuff has become just that, but if you have something that collectors maybe interested in, then it may be worth seeking out their specific lair.

Good luck!

Regards

Mark
 
markyw said:
In the current market I think the best advice is be realistic with your expectations on price and return. Shooting seems to be an ever decreasing circle and commodity stuff has become just that, but if you have something that collectors maybe interested in, then it may be worth seeking out their specific lair.

Good luck!

Regards

Mark
Click to expand...
I agree, it isnt obvious when you start buying and buying all your new toys, then only to realise if you need to sell it is a nightmare. I think the market is also saturated it seems.
 
In Cyprus .22 air rifles are strictly controlled as folk ream the barrel to chamber and fire .22 Rimfirel ammunition. Using a much weakened piston spring and a modifiedpiston to act as a firing pin.
 
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In the UK, market for guns, especially rifles is very constrained.

And guns go out of style. Like cars, in many ways they are a consumable / disposable item that depreciate in value as soon as you put the first shot through one.

Optics are even worse, especially now all the focus is on digital. 30 years ago a 6x42 Schmidt & Bender was an expensive state of the art item. Variables even more so. These days you can hardly give them away.

Retail trade is focused on where they can make good margins. If you want immediate cash, don’t expect retail trade to pay big money - their cash is tied up in stock that may take a long time to move.

Then you have a choice - do you deal with all the tyre kickers yourself or do you let someone else deal with it.

Auctions may well the best option as most market widely / internationally and have the buyers there wanting stuff, whereas a typical retailer may not have the audience, but the specialists may well do.

Non licensed items - you may be better putting on eBay, Facebook marketplace place etc. But again you need to deal with it.

Whichever way you do it, you will loose money when you consider what you will have to spend today to reacquire it all.

Consider where you are moving to, will you want to continue shooting and what are the costs of taking guns with you vs selling and buying afresh.
 
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Heym SR20 said:
In the UK, market for guns, especially rifles is very constrained.

And guns go out of style. Like cars, in many ways they are a consumable / disposable item that depreciate in value as soon as you put the first shot through one.

Optics are even worse, especially now all the focus is on digital. 30 years ago a 6x42 Schmidt & Bender was an expensive state of the art item. Variables even more so. These days you can hardly give them away.

Retail trade is focused on where they can make good margins. If you want immediate cash, don’t expect retail trade to pay big money - their cash is tied up in stock that may take a long time to move.

Then you have a choice - do you deal with all the tyre kickers yourself or do you let someone else deal with it.

Auctions may well the best option as most market widely / internationally and have the buyers there wanting stuff, whereas a typical retailer may not have the audience, but the specialists may well do.

Non licensed items - you may be better putting on eBay, Facebook marketplace place etc. But again you need to deal with it.

Whichever way you do it, you will loose money when you consider what you will have to spend today to reacquire it all.

Consider where you are moving to, will you want to continue shooting and what are the costs of taking guns with you vs selling and buying afresh.
Click to expand...
Yes spot on, but auctions give negligible return, a lot of consignment vendors will lower the price to the ridiculous and also apply 20% commission.... but yes I get the problem, its tough !

I cant take the rifles with me, Cyprus is awful with gun laws, probably for good reason with their situation. The rifles are great, any shooter will feel me on the fact that I have PTSD having to sell them.
 
enfieldspares said:
In Cyprus .22 air rifles are strictly controlled as folk ream the barrel to chamber and fire .22 Rimfirel ammunition. Using a much weakened piston spring and a modifiedpiston to act as a firing pin.
Click to expand...
Actually, thats scary and illegal, Im sure that penalties are severe....
 
WW. said:
Ammo can be fired...

Where in Surrey are you?
Click to expand...
Yes but I now managed to sell the custom rifle, nice Dolphin... and I have like over 400 rounds of 7.62 ammo, not something you can fire quickly
:( I stocked up when I didnt know I was going to be relocating, this government, taxes, NHS, etc... just dont make it easy for people to want to retire here.... what a shame !

Im Kingston on thames area.... close enough to Bisley where I shoot...
 
MarcB said:
Yes spot on, but auctions give negligible return,
Click to expand...
Well my experience of selling rifles is different from that. I have sold 3 through Holts. Nothing special. No interest on here, time wasters on Guntrader and Holts got what really were stupid prices once you add in purchasers fees. I was happy to pay their fee for the return I got. Online are just midgie rakers really, I don’t even bother now for guns. Smaller stuff is different I usually sell that on here and get what I think are fair prices.

I have tried buying stuff on Holts and they start north of a sensible price and often have ended up higher than retail when fees are included. Even a nice shotgun with a cracked stock went for what I thought was stupid money. Never bought anything yet !
 
Why not contact the Lee Enfield Rifle Association at Bisley? They could buy all your ammo and then spread it around their membership. Many L-E's have been converted to 7.62.

HB
 
MarcB said:
Yes spot on, but auctions give negligible return, a lot of consignment vendors will lower the price to the ridiculous and also apply 20% commission.... but yes I get the problem, its tough !

I cant take the rifles with me, Cyprus is awful with gun laws, probably for good reason with their situation. The rifles are great, any shooter will feel me on the fact that I have PTSD having to sell them.
Click to expand...
To be honest, any vendor that you employ to sell guns will take a good percentage of the price. They are in business to make money. But the auctions can and do reach a large audience and you get good price discovery. But prices paid take into account work that may be needed etc to bring things up to scratch.

Many retailers will sell on consignment / commission but may well charge storage fees as well.
 
MarcB said:
Yes but I now managed to sell the custom rifle, nice Dolphin... and I have like over 400 rounds of 7.62 ammo, not something you can fire quickly
:( I stocked up when I didnt know I was going to be relocating, this government, taxes, NHS, etc... just dont make it easy for people to want to retire here.... what a shame !

Im Kingston on thames area.... close enough to Bisley where I shoot...
Click to expand...
400 rounds - couple of days of fun.
 
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