Colts Hold Their Value Better than Other Brands?

[Doc Safari]

It's been my experience over the years that Colts tend to hold their value (and even increase value in some cases). I remember back in the day as my collection went up and down like a rollercoaster every time I'd sell or trade an AR the only question I'd hear was , "Is it a Colt?"

I'm getting older and I realize I'll probably never live to wear out my AR's, so I'd like to keep all but one or two mint condition for future resale value.

As a result, this BCM fanboy is maturing into a "Colt snob": All horsey all the time.

What's been your experience?

[RHINOWSO]

I mean if you are a buyer not a shooter, and like fondling pristine ARs, I'd go with items that hold resale value too. That is only good economics.

But that is a business decision and comparing dumping another $1k into an AR that will never get shot to $1k into an investment, odds are the investment will far outperform the AR, some onerous and highly unlikely legislation notwithstanding. Even then there are SOOO many ARs out there it would take many decades to get some great return out of them.

Again, this isn't a shooting topic, it's an investment topic.

[Doc Safari]

Again, this isn't a shooting topic, it's an investment topic.

True. Although I gave up being a "collector" many years ago, I'm reaching an age where I keep one or two shooters decked out with gear, and the rest have become more or less safe queens by default just because I don't get to the range like I used to. It was not my original intent to move back into the "collector" category: It just sorta happened. If I wanted to I could accessorize my safe queens with different optics, rails, lights, etc, and have a variety of shooters, but I just don't get to put rounds downrange as often as I'd like.

[RHINOWSO]

I think in that case name brand recognition is hard to argue with. When it comes to ARs, Colt is pretty much the 'standard' to deviate from and a name everyone knows - even people who aren't gun people.

[Renegade04]

Personally, I have a large AR collection. Most of them are shooters, but I do have a few older Colts that I do not shoot. Some have been shot once since I bought them and a couple others have never been shot and never will be as long as I own them. I do not buy older Colt ARs for investment purposes. I buy them because I like the older models. Pre-ban Colts will most always have a strong value and some are worth a great deal more than what they did 10 years ago. Newer Colts, in my opinion, do not hold they value any more than other factory ARs from the likes of BCM, DD, LWRC, KAC, and some others. They do not appreciate in value, but they are slow to depreciate in value. I do see plenty of guys buying Colts in hopes of cashing in on them years down the road. They are waiting on something catastrophic to happen to drive the market price up like what happened when there was talk of a ban under Obama. I will add that there are some less expensive brand name ARs that do tend to retain much of their value since they are bargain-priced to begin with and are easily resold a few years down the road for slightly less than they were new.

If a person chooses to buy new Colts because of the brand name, that is on them. If they buy them for banking on a profit later on, they may be disappointed. Pre-ban Colts will always have a place in my collection because they were made when the Colt name really meant something.

Here is my small Colt collection. There are 36 other AR-15s in addition to these.

[ALCOAR]

Personally, I have a large AR collection. Most of them are shooters, but I do have a few older Colts that I do not shoot. Some have been shot once since I bought them and a couple others have never been shot and never will be as long as I own them. I do not buy older Colt ARs for investment purposes. I buy them because I like the older models. Pre-ban Colts will most always have a strong value and some are worth a great deal more than what they did 10 years ago. Newer Colts, in my opinion, do not hold they value any more than other factory ARs from the likes of BCM, DD, LWRC, KAC, and some others. They do not appreciate in value, but they are slow to depreciate in value. I do see plenty of guys buying Colts in hopes of cashing in on them years down the road. They are waiting on something catastrophic to happen to drive the market price up like what happened when there was talk of a ban under Obama. I will add that there are some less expensive brand name ARs that do tend to retain much of their value since they are bargain-priced to begin with and are easily resold a few years down the road for slightly less than they were new.

If a person chooses to buy new Colts because of the brand name, that is on them. If they buy them for banking on a profit later on, they may be disappointed. Pre-ban Colts will always have a place in my collection because they were made when the Colt name really meant something.

Here is my small Colt collection. There are 36 other AR-15s in addition to these.

There is that SP1 carbine we were just discussing in another thread....looks great! That 6320 will without question only continue to grow in value. Those, SP1 carbines, and the Z-Coat Colts are some of the ones I'd love to own out of the rare Colt AR models. Really nice collection.

[Pappabear]

Personally, I have a large AR collection. Most of them are shooters, but I do have a few older Colts that I do not shoot. Some have been shot once since I bought them and a couple others have never been shot and never will be as long as I own them. I do not buy older Colt ARs for investment purposes. I buy them because I like the older models. Pre-ban Colts will most always have a strong value and some are worth a great deal more than what they did 10 years ago. Newer Colts, in my opinion, do not hold they value any more than other factory ARs from the likes of BCM, DD, LWRC, KAC, and some others. They do not appreciate in value, but they are slow to depreciate in value. I do see plenty of guys buying Colts in hopes of cashing in on them years down the road. They are waiting on something catastrophic to happen to drive the market price up like what happened when there was talk of a ban under Obama. I will add that there are some less expensive brand name ARs that do tend to retain much of their value since they are bargain-priced to begin with and are easily resold a few years down the road for slightly less than they were new.

If a person chooses to buy new Colts because of the brand name, that is on them. If they buy them for banking on a profit later on, they may be disappointed. Pre-ban Colts will always have a place in my collection because they were made when the Colt name really meant something.

Here is my small Colt collection. There are 36 other AR-15s in addition to these.

36 , wow that is a collection and a half. I thought I was ridiculous for double digits, I feel conservative all of a sudden. Thank you Renegade04. Thats a nice Colt line up by the way.
To the OP, I too feel that Colt holds their value the best because its the most recognized AR in the world. BCM and DD make great rifles and offer much of what Colt doesn't, but Colt is still the Gold Standard to a certain degree.

[Razorblade]

Yep, in my experience brands like colt definitely hold their value or go up. Unless you’re talking brands like Kac or HK most others do not hold their value as much.

[NickB]

As Renegade04 mentioned, I think Colts have historically held their value better than most brands, but that may also be a function of the company's history of limited supply, restricted sales channels, discontinued/rare models, etc. The same could be said for KAC and LMT. I would not, however, expect that to be the case for a basic 6920 after they started selling them by the container at Walmart and every other big box store.

Aside from transferrable machine guns and the occasional unicorn or political anomaly, I don't believe firearms are an "investment" in the traditional sense. Example: a Thompson submachinegun that originally cost $165 in 1928 is $2,435.81 in 2018 dollars. If new machineguns were legal today, you could likely buy one from Auto Ordnance for little more than the cost of the semi-auto, which retails for around $1300.

[DoubleW]

Nothing like that rampant colt...all of my AR’s are Colt’s except for my SR-15 & a couple range guns, which are mostly BCM’s or BCM’s with Colt uppers. They make a great rifle & have more time in the game than anyone.
They’re an American institution & I’ll gladly to continue to buy them. They definitely hold their value & you’ll never go wrong buying a legit Colt. I’m super excited they’re starting to branch out with the Trooper, EPR, & CCU...hopefully there is more to come!