The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I was recently asked for advice on the purchase of a target rifle by somebody returning to the target rifle discipline after many years working abroad.

The person is not looking for anything very sophisticated, he does intend competing, just a bit of fun shooting.

I advised him that something like a Musgrave or Swing would suit and I started to have a look around to see what was available and at what price.

The Musgrave was eventually chosen on the basis of price alone at a reasonable £500 with a almost new S/S barrel.

What amazed me was the prices being asked for Swing rifles. I bought my first way back in the 1980s and it cost about £500 then. My later one was a Mk4 and cost just on £800......on looking around just now I was offered several Mk4s at between £1,200 and £1,500.

I asked why they cost so much...I was told that a new TR could cost up to £3,000 and therefore a good second hand one will be the sort of money was quoted....

On that basis my 14 year old car which cost £15,500 when I bought it new and which would cost me nearly £30,000 for a similar model ought to be worth at least what I paid for it...£15,000+....

Or are some dealers trying to rip people off..???

is your 14 year old car in substantially the same condition as a new one? is it likely to perform and last for the same time as a new one? cars and rifles are not comparable items.

With a serious comp gun, the barrel is everything. If it's shot out the rifle is only worth the s/h price of the stock, action, sights and trigger.

For some reason, Target Rifle shooters are 'traditionalists' and for them names like Stolle, Nesika, BAT etc don't exist - it's got to be Swing, Paramount, Musgrave and the like. That demand keeps the price of s/h stuff high.

The Gun Pimp wrote:With a serious comp gun, the barrel is everything. If it's shot out the rifle is only worth the s/h price of the stock, action, sights and trigger.

For some reason, Target Rifle shooters are 'traditionalists' and for them names like Stolle, Nesika, BAT etc don't exist - it's got to be Swing, Paramount, Musgrave and the like. That demand keeps the price of s/h stuff high.

Re value if shot out - there are dealers trying to sell rifles like that for the same price as good barrel & they wont budge, it costs them little to have the gun on the shelf & sit it out for somebody who does not know what they are buying.

Are TR shooters 'traditionalists' or just buying what others have succeeded with? - Are those rifle makes seen on the FP at national finals abroad? - USA / Canada? In Europe you tend to only find RPA, Paramount, Swing, Musgrave, Barnard, Grunig, a few Voare, an Inch, poss a Wichita & 1 Majestic! If they were as good then I would have thought they would 'make an appearance' & so shooters might follow suit?

A couple of years back we did a quick sum on what rifles had won the Queen's and Grand over the last 10 years - 50% were Swings. When you add in the cost of replacing sights, a decent rebedding job and value of the barrel then I think that does seem a fair price.

New TRs (such as a Barnard) cost about £3500!

Love

Karen

Robert Chombart (RGC of this forum) has been responsible for a few designs including the original CG, RPA2000, RPA Quadlock, Millenium, M41 INCH, M59 Delta and the M66 and I do remember reading about the 2011 Brisbane World Long Range Championships where 51 out of 96 Palma Match team shooters used C.G action variants. Within the top 7 positions 5 were C.G Actions 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th places. So that should give an indication of the actions doing well in international competitions.

kennyc wrote:is your 14 year old car in substantially the same condition as a new one? is it likely to perform and last for the same time as a new one? cars and rifles are not comparable items.

How true, some cars drop in value at a frightening rate, I have started the search to replace my Freelander1 and have been astonished how the bottom of the range Freelander2's hold onto their value, on the other hand, the Range Rover Sport drops like a stone, loosing £££££ a year!

Firearms are the same, some start dropping in value straight away (just how many GSG-5's have already been scrapped after only 4-5 years of use), while others gain, year on year if in good order.

If you think freelanders hold their value, check out defenders... they go for crazy money!