Are Prices Increasing Than Much ?

[Alan de Enfield]

There must be at least one person still looking for a number 3 bolt head.

US$202.50 - GBP£132.65
I think its time to have a clear out of the of the bits & bobs drawer, I'm sure there are 3 or 4 No3 bolt heads in there.
If they are regularly to fetch these prices its better than money in the bank.

Lee Enfield No.4 Mk.1 bolt head #3 | eBay

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[jmoore]

Dunno, but i saw a US$700 Savage No.4 last weekend at an older gunshop. Looked OK, but sort of darker finish than usual. Add the SM '43 front sight protector and who knows what else and you reckon sanity has left the continent. Especially since some of his other stuff was only slightly elevated in price (which after the usual bargaining would mean that he's probably got some good deals for his regular customers.)

[Brian Dick]

I know where there are lots of nice No.4's to import but they will cost me $400 each before all the other pertinent fees to get them here and I have to buy at least 10 to get that price. My supply of Lees is gone except for a dozen or so that need minor repairs and service before i get them up for sale. I took in one nice '44 date No.4T with a mismatch scope and bracket on consignment a couple of weeks ago. In the words of a wise man I know; "they ain't making them anymore".

[jmoore]

But can they be sold for a profit after all the additional expenses? And the Savage mentioned above was not so much "nice" as probably "tarted up".

[Bindi2]

If that is the price that is the price.
Every thing else is on a price rise why not Milsurp.They were so cheap because of over supply, supply gone price goes up.

[Brian Dick]

I don't know JM. People that want them will have to pay the price like Bindi2 says. If I manage to pull off an import, it'll be towards the end of the year if at all because I want to hand pick them in the warmer months of the year. The good old days have come and gone for cheap milsurps in nice condition. I'm not saying that the odd deal can't be had if you're out at shows and paying attention, (which I'm not except for Knob Creek twice a year), but new loads of imports for cheap is over and done with short of someone unearthing a cache in a third world country somewhere. Century got the last big batch out of Ankara, Turkey and that's getting to be a long time ago. Get them while you can guys!

[newcastle]

Things like teh Californin long gun registrtaion laws aren't helping. As of Jan 2014 any new C&R rifles have to be rgistered but any previously owned are kept off record. There is what can only be described as a 'significant run on C&R rifles' over here right now. When you add in the insanity of our present government and the potential threats to gun ownership in general, getting hold of anything decent is getting more and more expensive. I saw a failry rough , un-matching 42 Lithgow for $650 in a store last week.

[Brian Dick]

Many dealers I know won't even ship to states that are non-firearms friendly anymore. I've been registered with the State of California so I can ship there since it became mandatory but voluntary. The State of South Carolina is formally inviting manufacturers to move here from non-firearms friendly states much the same as Texas. We are a "right to work" state and union membership isn't mandatory. The UAW has a hold on the employees working in factories in the NE USA. Someone coined what's going on here as Balkanization and it's certainly true. Sorry if this is political but here in the USA it's happening and folks everywhere need to know about it. Scary times were in now and the UN ATT fires up again for 10 days next month. Ugh!

[jmoore]

On a related note, Arisakas seem to have settled into the US$300-450 range for average specimens over a wide "local" area. Doesn't hurt my feelings, but the real nice ones are hard to find. Wondering if higher end specimens are still mixed in with that lot, or have they gotten even pricier?

[Brian Dick]

Nice matching Japanese rifles have been selling for $450-$500 for a while. You can bet the pristine examples are getting up there now too. I've bought and sold a few decent ones over the years but they were never really my forte.