Military surplus market influenced by gun/ammo shortage?

[Shortbus]

I was just thinking! With the rise in gun and ammo prices, do you guys think the market on Military surplus will get better, when people stop freaking out?
I've been seeing Mosin Nagants run for as much as $500 on places like Gunbroker.
It's a total bummer for people like me, I'm still in need of a nice Russian M91-30, a K-31, and at the moment I'm on the hunt for a Steyr Mannlicher m95 but 5-600 for one is really going to hurt if I end up having to pay that.
So I guess what I really want to know is, should I just bite the bullet and pay now, before they go up in price, or just wait a while, and see if the market gets a bit better?
Thoughts?

[SA1911a1]

I was just thinking! With the rise in gun and ammo prices, do you guys think the market on Military surplus will get better, when people stop freaking out?
I've been seeing Mosin Nagants run for as much as $500 on places like Gunbroker.
It's a total bummer for people like me, I'm still in need of a nice Russian M91-30, a K-31, and at the moment I'm on the hunt for a Steyr Mannlicher m95 but 5-600 for one is really going to hurt if I end up having to pay that.
So I guess what I really want to know is, should I just bite the bullet and pay now, before they go up in price, or just wait a while, and see if the market gets a bit better?
Thoughts?

You are asking us to peer into our crystal balls. I think that the $500.00 91/30 price will not hold up after the panic passes. This is just me, and I have been wrong before, but I think that someone buying a typical 91/30 refurb for $500.00 will come to regret it. I will say, for personal reasons, I hope that that kind of pricing holds up! ;)

I would be patient, this is not the time to be competing for hobby guns. I wouldn't be surprised it the 91/30 price is back around $300.00 in a year.
When people come to realize that we are not going to have a civil war, and that they can relax, there are going to be a lot of guns (and ammo) on the secondary market. Some folks are going to have to sell to pay off those high-interest Visa cards that paid too much for guns and ammo. Of course, this is just my opinion.

[Shortbus]

That was kind of my thoughts as well. I guess I just needed to hear someone else say it.
My problem is, I really really want another gun that I don't need.
Told my girlfriend last night while I was looking for a decent deal on STEYR M95 that I've been dying to get.
I said, collecting guns are like collecting baseball cards. They are cool to have, show all your friends, get a complete set, and play with them, but I don't really NEED one.

Then I look at the Mosin Nagant in the corner...and I think "hell with all that talk, I need another one"

[SA1911a1]

That was kind of my thoughts as well. I guess I just needed to hear someone else say it.
My problem is, I really really want another gun that I don't need.
Told my girlfriend last night while I was looking for a decent deal on STEYR M95 that I've been dying to get.
I said, collecting guns are like collecting baseball cards. They are cool to have, show all your friends, get a complete set, and play with them, but I don't really NEED one.

Then I look at the Mosin Nagant in the corner...and I think "hell with all that talk, I need another one"

Most of us around here ran out of "need" a decade or more back. It doesn't affect the "want" a bit. I have quit looking for specific items. I troll the dusty pawn and gun shops and set the hook in whatever I find something I just can't sand to leave on the shelf. With the Covid and advanced age, I have curtailed most of my shopping over the past year, but have still managed to gather in some cool toys.

[ffuries]

As a buyer I'm hoping when the panic blows over, things will stabilize and go back to normal. As a seller I would hope the prices hold.....Double edged sword for many.

Here's some recent hammer prices for M91/30s on GB, pointed out to me by another member on here.

1933 Izhevsk $800.00
1935 Tula $755.00
1942 Izhevsk $695.00
1943 Izhevsk $660.00

[boltaction]

As a buyer I'm hoping when the panic blows over, things will stabilize and go back to normal. As a seller I would hope the prices hold.....Double edged sword for many.

Here's some recent hammer prices for M91/30s on GB, pointed out to me by another member on here.

1933 Izhevsk $800.00
1935 Tula $755.00
1942 Izhevsk $695.00
1943 Izhevsk $660.00

Hello,
Damn, you say.
For a $59.99 rifle from Big5 Sporting Goods...Not more than 12-15 yrs. ago. going for those prices.
Kinda like buying stocks, speculating and the sort; Buy when low, Sell when high. The only question is, What and When?
Heck, I should have bought a crystal ball not that damned "Magic 8 Ball"....as a kid.

[ffuries]

As a buyer I'm hoping when the panic blows over, things will stabilize and go back to normal. As a seller I would hope the prices hold.....Double edged sword for many.

Here's some recent hammer prices for M91/30s on GB, pointed out to me by another member on here.

1933 Izhevsk $800.00
1935 Tula $755.00
1942 Izhevsk $695.00
1943 Izhevsk $660.00

Hello,
Damn, you say.
For a $59.99 rifle from Big5 Sporting Goods...Not more than 12-15 yrs. ago. going for those prices.
Kinda like buying stocks, speculating and the sort; Buy when low, Sell when high. The only question is, What and When?
Heck, I should have bought a crystal ball not that damned "Magic 8 Ball"....as a kid.

Yeap, some crazy ass prices.......So you have to wonder when and if it will tank!

[Junk Yard Dog]

It's been an interesting year, lot of shit went on, more shit yet to come, I expect the idiots who drove up the prices with their behavior will keep right on going. This isn't driven by collectors like you and I, this is driven by morons who see the writing on the wall at last and want a gun right now, any gun, anything that will shoot, and money is no object. I have had numerous people calling me to help them find a firearm, any firearm, any price so long as it has some ammo available. I have even had some who found ammo, now they want a gun that shoots that ammo, I shit you not. I expect things to continue to spiral down the shitter.

[SA1911a1]

As a buyer I'm hoping when the panic blows over, things will stabilize and go back to normal. As a seller I would hope the prices hold.....Double edged sword for many.

Here's some recent hammer prices for M91/30s on GB, pointed out to me by another member on here.

1933 Izhevsk $800.00
1935 Tula $755.00
1942 Izhevsk $695.00
1943 Izhevsk $660.00

Hello,
Damn, you say.
For a $59.99 rifle from Big5 Sporting Goods...Not more than 12-15 yrs. ago. going for those prices.
Kinda like buying stocks, speculating and the sort; Buy when low, Sell when high. The only question is, What and When?
Heck, I should have bought a crystal ball not that damned "Magic 8 Ball"....as a kid.

Fifteen years ago every gun seller in the Country were buying the rifles by the case and making a little money on the volume. People were buying the rifles to part them out. Nobody ever thought that the supply would eventually dry up. It happens to all military surplus guns. Nagant revolvers, the Swiss carbines, SKS and Turk Mausers come to mind. If you are older than I am or got into it earlier, the same could be said of German Mausers, Garands, 1911s, etc. When the market is flooded, not many people want one, when the market dries up, everybody has to have one.

[Junk Yard Dog]

That's because some people didn't have the brains to listen to me when I absolutely guaranteed them the surplus rifles of plenty would run out. The factory's went cold decades ago, war and time used up many, hundreds of thousands might have been imported, yet there are millions of collectors just here in the USA who might want one. Some said the Soviets made millions of these, yea? What made them think all these rifles were going to be sent here? We have members in Europe, Australia, UK, South America, all owning Mosins, other places also I am sure. I said buy them cheap, stack them deep.

[Tula44]

Prices on milsurp rifles will continue to rise as time goes on. No more of these rifles are being produced so naturally the surplus market will continue to rise with time.

An observation I've made at the gun store I visit is like everywhere else, good luck trying to find 9mm, .45 ACP, 5.56, and other ammo along with firearms. But, there is a wall full of surplus rifles and they have surplus ammo by the bulk sitting out, spam cans on a pallet, 8mm Mauser, 7.62x54R, etc. I don't believe many are considering Milsurps as an option, some may have, but not many.

[awalker1829]

Trip to the LGS found several milsurp rifles in stock-a couple of Chinese SKSs, a couple of Carl Gustav rifles and a couple of VZ24s that someone bent the bolt handles on. Most of them came from private sellers, as they had dates on the tags. Local ordinance requires that all guns bought by a dealer FFL from private sellers must remain in the possession of the dealer for a minimum of thirty days. Those rifles will be there for a while.

[Fledge]

I noticed the gunbroker prices have gotten more crazy as of late. Not too many deals to be found there. Be patient, your best bet is to find a local group of collectors to shoot with, or try some vintage rifle matches in your area. Usually someone can help you find something at a reasonable price. I got a pretty good network of local guys I deal with that aren't out to screw me.