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I was thinking back on the number of guns I saw in my small home town while growing up.
Not a lot of new guns.

Most were bought on the secondary market. For a somewhat reduced price.
Many were tools of past Wars that had been reconfigured, and pressed into service as inexpensive option to gather game.

Today?
People buy new it seems.

Could this be due to the proliferation of credit cards?
Or maybe the lack of quality surplus available today?

In any case. Men sure were more thrifty then I was young.
 
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Could be one, or more, or all of the factors you mentioned.

I think it has more to do with the excellent quality of modern firearms. Even most down-market guns have pretty good reputations for reliability. All of that quality and reliability is now available for 400 bux, sometimes even less.

I often buy my higher quality (more expensive) guns on the used market, most of my SGs, HKs, and 1911s have come to me that way.

Then I'll see a used XD for $400 and, as fine a gun as it is, l also know that l paid $375 for a BNIB 3.8" XDM (and got 3 free mags) just a couple of yrs ago.

I guess what I'm saying is that the paper thin margins of new retail purchases take the starch out of the deal when buying/selling used.
 
It could be that "today" we are a little better off than our "past". Cost of living vs wages was something to consider when purchasing anything "back then".

"Back then" a man and his word, along with a handshake, was all that was needed.

Today, it seems to be the norm to "hide" the truth about something in order to "dump it". Now a days, people seem to want to scr_w over someone just to make money.

Used selling price 90% of new: "How many rounds through it?" "I don't know, it doesn't come with a round counter". Then you look at it and the barrel is shot-out. Or you get it home and find out something is broken and it won't function. Seller knew this but claimed "it worked fine last time i had it out". Seller doesn't care. It's your problem now!

Price of new is usually not that much more than used. "What's the round count?" Maybe 3-5. It hasn't been drug through kingdom come and back. Doesn't have any "safe marks" that look like it was used to chop wood. New is new!

I know for me i get tired of the BS when it comes to buying used. Not just firearms, but most things. Vehicles, appliances, etc..... For me, saving the headache's of dealing with liars/scammers is sometimes worth the extra 10%.

Now granted, if it something is used, and you can thoroughly inspect it, and it has a "used condition price", then by all means it is a good deal.

"Back then" people had honor. Not so much today......
 
I don't think my dad ever bought a new gun, only used - mostly WWII surplus guns thru NRA?

Not sure my parents ever bought a new house or car either - maybe the one SUV.

As for why people buy new guns in generations after my parents; easy credit, increased income, quite a proliferation of new firearms.

Of all of the firearms I have bought, maybe 10% of them have been bought new, and most of those were early on about 30-40 years ago - although many of the used guns were close to new condition when bought used. I've never bought a new car either - only a couple new motorcycles.
 
Anymore by the time you pay a transfer fee and waste your time meeting up most used firearms are just not that great of a deal. The days of passing cash along with a handshake in Home Depot paking lot or a garage sale are long gone.
 
My grandfather, certainly. My father, well... he only had one lonely 30-06 rifle for hunting deer, and I don't know if he bought it new, or used.
For me, it depends what I'm using it for. On a gun where I know I'm likely going to be putting huge numbers of rounds through it for competition, new may make more sense. There's also a certain amount of " hassle threshold" with buying used, or with selling... always the risk of flakiness, missed appointments, outright deceit. Perhaps another factor is that we now have to go through so much more red tape to sell firearms private party, compared to what it was back in the day.

All that being said, I do keep an eye out for deals on the used market, and have done ok more often than not.
 
My Dad, depression era and WWII Vet, always bought everything used, and often needing repair. It made his beer money last longer.

My very first real rifle. I went with my Dad to a local 2nd hand store. He bought a .22 rifle for $3.50. It didn't work. He took the rifle back and they sold him another for $5.00. He was mad that they baited-and-switched him.:mad:






.
 
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Anymore by the time you pay a transfer fee and waste your time meeting up most used firearms are just not that great of a deal. The days of passing cash along with a handshake in Home Depot paking lot or a garage sale are long gone.

There is a plethora of used guns that are unavailable as new guns. Only in libtard states, much of the country is still semi-free.
 
I do not think that I have purchased 50 new guns in my life total . The overwhelming majority of the guns I own or have owned were mostly used, but I like old guns . Always have more or less .. I do not recall the old man buying too many news ones , again mostly used ... But that was more due to finances than anything else. He did buy a brand new Model 88 which still own outside of that though I can't remember too many that were new growing up.
 
Another factor.

Poor folk like us did a lot of horse trading.

I remember my Dad leaving a SAA revolver at a gas station as collateral for a tank of fuel.
Picked the gun back up when he got paid next.

I know that's not legal today.










But it should be.
 
I cannot see my Dad buying a new gun. I am sure all of the guns we had, save for the .22 Browning lever action he bought for himself, were used.

The last two guns I purchased were new. I grew up with revolvers and levers and bolts, so I did not feel ready to choose a used firearm in a semi-auto config.

Now I would buy anything used that I could handle and evaluate in those configs.
 
I believe my parents combined owned 1 gun, a shotgun inherited from my poorer than poor grandfather which was then moved along when the kids happened. It was not a gun friendly household
 

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