1928AC opinions {going to pass}

[CptCurl]

You are splitting the hair very fine.

 

You offered $20,500 for the TSMG. Seller countered at $22,000 for the TSMG and the .22LR. You are going to walk because you think $1,500 is too much for the .22LR.

 

So you don't want the .22LR. Put it on GunBroker. It will bring something. Suppose it brings $500. You just paid $1,000 more on a $20,000 + transaction. You will regret walking over that $1,000.

 

Everybody says times are hard and it's a buyer's market. I don't see that. Where are all the quality Thompsons being offered and standing unsold? Where is a good quality $18,000 Thompson that is not a rewat? There is no question prices are way up in the past 5 to 10 years. Bubble? Maybe. How old are you? Do you have another 5 to 10 years to sit on the sidelines looking for one at $1,000 less? Will such a gun ever appear?

 

I'm as tight as the next guy. I like a bargain. I can think of quite a few guns I quibbled over when I should have bought. Don't foolishly part with your money, but don't foolishly dig in your heels.

 

Tough decision for sure.

 

Curl

[OCM]

Hmmmm, Mercer, Wisconsin area, Dillinger country in 1934. Oh yes, our family vacationed there for many years, my Dad since the late 40s, flew up there in a 46 " air-knocker " airplane.

Jump on it, or some guy like me will. I'm serious, I'm always looking .

Post pictures when you get it-

 

OCM

[mnshooter]

You are splitting the hair very fine.

 

You offered $20,500 for the TSMG. Seller countered at $22,000 for the TSMG and the .22LR. You are going to walk because you think $1,500 is too much for the .22LR.

 

So you don't want the .22LR. Put it on GunBroker. It will bring something. Suppose it brings $500. You just paid $1,000 more on a $20,000 + transaction. You will regret walking over that $1,000.

 

Everybody says times are hard and it's a buyer's market. I don't see that. Where are all the quality Thompsons being offered and standing unsold? Where is a good quality $18,000 Thompson that is not a rewat? There is no question prices are way up in the past 5 to 10 years. Bubble? Maybe. How old are you? Do you have another 5 to 10 years to sit on the sidelines looking for one at $1,000 less? Will such a gun ever appear?

 

I'm as tight as the next guy. I like a bargain. I can think of quite a few guns I quibbled over when I should have bought. Don't foolishly part with your money, but don't foolishly dig in your heels.

 

Tough decision for sure.

 

Curl

 

Best advice you will ever get. No charge, either.

[colt21a]

If Big Al ok'ed it.get the motor runnin. headin on the highway!!born to be wild..

 

DO IT! RON COLT21A, and a guy who owned a nutty amount of Thompson's.................

 

and give the 22cal Thompson to the kids.

Edited March 18, 2014 by colt21a

[mgvince]

Am making a phone call tomorrow, to get more info and try to arrange to go and see it.

[Piep]

If your selling the 22 at a fare price let me know.

[jim c 351]

Vince,

Yesterday a friend stopped by to let me examine a Thompson gun that he just picked up from the dealer. This gun had all the things you were advised to look for in your gun. It had the original barrel and the index marks lined up perfect. The serial numbers on the receiver and trigger group matched. It had an abundance of original finish, probably 97%+.

It was made by the most famous Auto Ordnance subcontractor ever. A company famous for quality handguns since 1836. While waiting for the transfer to go thru he had accumulated almost 4000 rds of ammo and a severe inch on his trigger finger.

At first glance you may not see a problem here, but one did exist, a big one.

I advised him to shoot the gun very little or not at all. It was simply too nice. Not what he wanted to hear.

Luckily for him business has been good and a solution was at hand. The solution was to buy another Thompson gun. One like you are considering. One he had blast away with until he wears out the rifling and then install a new barrel and blast some more.

Hopefully we will all live happily ever after.

Good luck with your TSMG.

Jim C

[dalbert]

You may be close enough on the price to where you might want to proceed. I haven't seen any sub $20K WWII era TSMGs in recent months. You could probably get $500 for the .22 without much effort. That brings you to $21.5K. If the grips are Colt, you may want to consider their potential value, as well, although they are probably uniquely tied to this variation, from what gijive indicates. I highly value his opinion. Additionally, if this gun is in close proximity to you, and you know the seller, that's another factor to consider.

 

Obviously the decision is yours, and you've received much good advice from this post. Let us know what you decide, and good luck!

 

David Albert

dalbert@sturmgewehr.com

[buzz]

 

 

That's too much IMO. You're getting up in low end Colt territory. I would continue to look, and if you want to spend that much maybe hunt for a shooter grade Colt. That's my two cents worth. With that said, someone here has a saying that "I didn't pay too much I just bought too early" or something like that, i.e., the prices seem to keep going up (sort of like what happens in a bubble others have said). Robert

its really worth #10,000 today but don't tell anybody they are all paying more every month and over paying and overpaying..

 

from the time of $1,000.00 Colt's..and not many can make that statement..and low end colt now who know's they are paying $8,000.00 for kits.. nuts nuts nuts. RON Colt 21a

 

 

No offense, but this statement makes no sense to me.

 

The "value" of anything is what the market will bear.

 

That is literally how value is assigned, by the agreement in price between a number of buyers and sellers.

 

 

The only way your statement could be true is if there was some crazy price bubble going on, or there was an alternate supply of cheaper guns somewhere.

 

Do you see any sign of those things? I don't. In fact I would say that the price of Thompsons is lagging behind the price surge of the other blue-chip MGs like M16s and UZIs.

Edited March 18, 2014 by buzz

[mgvince]

Thanks for all the comments and advise. I had a talk with a very knowledgeable and wise collector last night. The gun is nice but not 100% what I was looking for. And there are what may be some issues.

 

For an only purchase, I think I have to consider what I am really looking for. I hope if any members are interested in the gun,they can make a good deal.

 

Thanks again.

[colt21a]

I only had a small sentence in all of that Robert said the rest it was sarcasm, I paid back in the day $1,000.00 for Colts like $3,000 Harleys and $5,000.00 vettes.. M-16's for $25,000.00 they are nuts. give me a semi AR-15 and a slide fire stock for $1,500.00 and pocket the diff into something else.. A Colt Thompson has the real history, and yes I know all about the 16'S and such. had dozens of them and all different models way back to the original AR-10's which I sold to Reed Knight.nuff said.. old new's..so not sure what Vince will do here on this 1928.{well I guess we know all that now}he passed.....

 

if I wanted it I would have already bought it...I did not end up with over 5,000 pieces over the years. thinking ...about them......and over 100 plus Thompson's. Hey my time has passed. its time for the young bloods to start buying and quit talking.. RON COLT21A

Edited March 18, 2014 by colt21a

[Robert Henley]

Not to start a debate on what a bubble looks like, but if the price of Thompsons is not frothy I don't what is. In 2005-06 you couldn't hardly buy a house with people offering above asking price, but it wasn't long thereafter that you couldn't sell one. The bubble burst. With QE and the printing of paper money it's inevitable.

[mnshooter]

Not to start a debate on what a bubble looks like, but if the price of Thompsons is not frothy I don't what is. In 2005-06 you couldn't hardly buy a house with people offering above asking price, but it wasn't long thereafter that you couldn't sell one. The bubble burst. With QE and the printing of paper money it's inevitable.

 

One thing is different: you can still build all the new houses you want.

[arch stanton]

Who has this one for sale? link to ad?

 

Joe

[Bridgeport28A1]

colt21a Charlie is brokering the gun. He has it on his web site. I talked to him In Louisville about the gun.

 

It's really scary thinking about spending That kind of money on a gun. I bought my AC556 in '98 for $1,800. And I would want current market price if I were to sell it.

 

I know who Jerry is but who is Charlie?

Edited March 19, 2014 by Bridgeport28A1

[TSMGguy]

Only one individual here has any money on the table. All that will appear here are opinions. The waters will become muddied. In the end, you'll have to make the decision based on your own wants and financial ability. That said, there's some real expertise here!

 

I only experienced any discomfort with one of my class III purchases. The other guns all were in top shape, so I knew that there would be competition for each purchase, and that if I wanted the gun I'd have to ante up or watch it go to someone else. I didn't ask anyone else's opinion, I just did the research and eliminated lesser choices.

 

The one gun that was a little questionable (in my mind) was an all matching MP-40 that had evidence or original issue and use. (It had handling rash, in other words.) With some thought it became clear that this was only another part of the gun's history. Some folks even find it to be desirable. So, buy it I did, and I've never regretted the decision.

 

There's no substitute for traveling, inspecting the gun, negotiating on the spot, and either passing on the purchase or leaving a deposit with the deal done. Pre-negotiating should only be done to establish the ball park figure, not the final price. FWIW. Your mileage may vary.

[TSMGguy]

Deleted duplicate post.

Edited March 21, 2014 by TSMGguy

[Dolphinvet]

Hmmmm, Mercer, Wisconsin area, Dillinger country in 1934. Oh yes, our family vacationed there for many years, my Dad since the late 40s, flew up there in a 46 " air-knocker " airplane.

Jump on it, or some guy like me will. I'm serious, I'm always looking .

Post pictures when you get it-

 

OCM

I've flown the Aeronca Champ before. Most of my taildragger time is in a Decathalon though.

[Dolphinvet]

Hmmmm, Mercer, Wisconsin area, Dillinger country in 1934. Oh yes, our family vacationed there for many years, my Dad since the late 40s, flew up there in a 46 " air-knocker " airplane.

Jump on it, or some guy like me will. I'm serious, I'm always looking .

Post pictures when you get it-

 

OCM

I've flown the Aeronca Champ before. Most of my taildragger time was spent in the Decathalon and super Decathalon.

 

Get the gun. They ain't going down in value.

[Mike Hammer]

Not to start a debate on what a bubble looks like, but if the price of Thompsons is not frothy I don't what is. In 2005-06 you couldn't hardly buy a house with people offering above asking price, but it wasn't long thereafter that you couldn't sell one. The bubble burst. With QE and the printing of paper money it's inevitable.

Bob, I believe you have an accurate take on this. We are and have been in a asset bubble for some time. The increased realized selling prices of class 3 guns will not continue unabated forever. If anyone believes that they will, they must be living in a fishbowl. The world is awash with debt, forward demand has been pushed far beyond the ability to pay for it. A worldwide monetary and economic collapse is a mathematical certainty. How soon this will happen cannot be accurately determined, but it is certain.

I expect the price of collectibles to deteriorate, aka (non-essential items,Thompsons, M16s, ect.) and to hit the sales market in large numbers when the collapse hits. Believe me, not everyone who owns a class 3 gun is wealthy. People will be needing cash to buy the highly inflationary consumable items that they will need for their day to day existence, food, shelter, medicine, utilities. They will also have to pay higher tax rates to keep the government leviathan machine running.

I would highly caution anyone, ( unless money is not an issue with you) to pay an inflated price for one of these guns.

 

Mike Hammer

[TSMGguy]

Deleted duplicate post.

Edited March 21, 2014 by TSMGguy

[buzz]

Not to start a debate on what a bubble looks like, but if the price of Thompsons is not frothy I don't what is. In 2005-06 you couldn't hardly buy a house with people offering above asking price, but it wasn't long thereafter that you couldn't sell one. The bubble burst. With QE and the printing of paper money it's inevitable.

The fact that price bubbles have existed in the past for various markets is not being disputed.

 

The housing bubble of 2005 was part of a global bank scam where a niagra river of toxic loans were being made to anyone who write his name on a piece of paper and then the loans were repackaged as AAA grade and sold to investment houses.

 

They were making $500,000 loans to guys who washed cars for a living.

 

That was the engine that drove the housing bubble.

 

When the loans stopped, the bubble popped.

 

 

What's driving the price of all MGs upwards in the middle of a horrible economy?

 

The price of almost all collectables is down because people are plain old scared to spend money and yet the price of MGs keeps marching upwards.

 

 

It seems to me that two things are causing MG prices to inflate: fear of future inflation, and the internet.

 

I think the internet is making the MG market much more "friendly" to people and bringing lots more buyers into the market.

 

Back in the old days people used to have trouble selling MGs, gun buyers didn't want to pay the tax.

 

Now they are the holy grail of gun collecting, with endless forums like this one showing off all kinds of exotic hardware.

[GUTTERRATT]

There is one on Sturm looks nice $21,950.00 http://www.sturmgewehr.com/webBBS/nfa4sale.cgi?read=165250