Since the American Winny is now (for a while) a defunct item, the prices have gone nutty. I guess I have two questions.

1: How come the price of Big Bore 94's ......the .356's, .375's, etc...... (guns that haven't been made in years anyway) have nearly doubled?? Didn't matter if USRAC went under or not.....there ain't any more of them being made.

2: In your opinion(s), is the current market a boom or a bubble??

I've seen one particular (used) 94 rifle sold at a gunshop for $239, then traded in and sold again for $299.

the first time before the winchester announcement
the second time last week...

I've seen other garden variety '94's selling for upwards of $400 and pushfeed M70's have gone up atleast 50%...
sadly even the used ones.

a rifle that was junk "yesterday" is a "collectable" today.

I think it's a big bubble and I've already heard complaints from people who "invested" in fresh production winchester rifles (garbage) and regard any faint hope of winchester resuming production with dread.

Buying a rifle (or anything for that matter) and expecting to turn a profit in a short time is not "investing" it's speculating
and rampant speculation ALWAYS creates a situation where a "bubble" can burst... nobody gets screwed by events, they screw themselves by not understanding the mechanism.

Speculation is like playing musical chairs. you don't want to be caught without a seat when the music stops...

AllanD

Bubble that will burst in less than a year. In fact, I already see pricing starting to come back down to earth on the 94's and the 70's

I think it will depend on the model. for example the 94 big bore in .307, .356, .444 or .450 are selling NIB for $1000.00 or more. I doubt they will ever come down because the production was so low and it is unlikely they will ever be back in production.
The 94 30-30's will eventually come down-- except for maybe some of the comemeratives in NIB condition. You will never lose money on the John Wayne Commerative for example.
I feel that many hope they come down because they hate to think of a world where the 70 and 94 are unavailable.

Well, to be honest I bought ONE winchester rifle myself...

I found a very dirty and disreputable
looking Model94 30-30 in my favorite local
hardware store... and bought it for all of
$199.

Get it home and cleaned up and there is no rust pitting on it, though when I removed the tiny pinprick rust spots from the receiver the blueing went away with the rust...

No major dings in the wood and the wood is tight and proud of the receiver on both ends.
No sling swivel hole drilled in the butt
and the Kwik-Site side-saddle scope mount used exsisting holes in the receiver....

I need to get a new lever pin stop screw as the one for the scope mount is longer than the flush original.
And as it turns out what I thought was a garbage scope is a Weaver K4-1 with a duplex retical.

So winchester insanity isn't everywhere...
Though I could see the "diamond in the rough"
under the grime when I decided to buy it
it cleaned up better than I expected it to.

AllanD

Good on your find, Allan!! Always nice to find a diamond under the rough.

I'd amassed a half dozen or so 94 XTR's in the more recent "obscure" calibers......Big Bores, Waters.......all 98% - NIB. Never shot any of them citing "collector's value". Probably could do very right to sell the whole lot of them right now, as all were bought well. But I have this strange inability to part with a gun once it's in my safe. I find it much easier to buy and tote in another safe.

The post 64,s will crash as most are junk I own one,it is a featherweight push feed 7-08 and I can shoot it like a shotgun handles great but shoots pathetic groups,I never pointed it at at a deer I didnt kill but some required second shots,while running.w/regards

Well, mabey I exaggerate "diamond", but it definatly isn't a sow's ear...

Aside from the receiver there isn't a spot of pitting or missing blue anywhere... but this is a well known problem with post '64 94 receivers.

I'm still kicking myself for passing on a pre'64 '94
back in february (before the closing announcement).
that one had some rubbed areas on the bottom of the receiver, basically typical as that's where the balance point is on a 20" 30-30 '94, so the owner's hand tends to rub the blueing off by carrying it with their hand wrapped around the receiver.

The only other thing wrong with that one was that the original steel carbine style butt plate had been removed and someone had crudely screwed a pachymar recoil pad to the stock, but restoration of that would have been as simple as re-installing the correct type butt plate...

That one had an asking price of $279 and I should have bought it...

Is it just me or does it seem that the guns you DO NOT
buy cause far more regret than any gun you do buy?

a gun you buy and don't like can always be resold, one you pass on is simply gone...

AllanD

quote:

Is it just me or does it seem that the guns you DO NOT
buy cause far more regret than any gun you do buy?

a gun you buy and don't like can always be resold, one you pass on is simply gone...

AllanD

Amen to that!!

I was in Grice's (since you're a Pennsyltuckian, you may know the place) two weeks before the announcement. They had a Trail's End 25-35 and 38-55 both sitting on the new rack. $389 each if I remember right. I thought to myself "I oughta just get one of each just for the heck of it". But.......well........ You can probably figger out the rest of the story.

I sold some of those 25-35s for three times that much.Its getting very hard to finfd them anow .I had four of them at one time and one old one.If you see a 25-35 and it still goes pow buy it they only go up in price.

All I know is that I was really loking forward to the break down M94s..

quote:

All I know is that I was really loking forward to the break down M94s..

Me too. It is very difficult to find takedowns of anything these days.
Frank

I think you'll see the price moderate soon. How many are selling on the auction sites at the elevated prices? Most don't seem to meet the reserve. I just bought a NIB M70 Stealth II off gunbroker for $455. Most of those listed start bidding in the $6-700 range and have a reserve.

I also think in a couple of years there is a very good chance someone will be making M94s and M70s. Hopefully in the US.

quote:

Originally posted by Ohiosam:
I also think in a couple of years there is a very good chance someone will be making M94s and M70s. Hopefully in the US.

I'll take an octagon 24"/26" takedown 30-30, tang sight, brass bead front, a minimum of writing on the barrel, CCH receiver, fore end cap, and good walnut.

Another in 38-55 too please, with molds and dies...

I think the prices are about stable at this point. I bought an as new used '94 Trails End in 45 Colt a week ago for $450. Like Ohiosam, I see most of the Winchesters listed on bunbroker with high starting bids and reserves ..... but no bids, or only on certain guns. Another three or four months will tell.