doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What Happens To All The OLD SHOTGUNS?

I recently read that about 4.9 million new guns (all types) are sold in the US. If 20% were shotguns, that would approximate 1 million more shotguns every year.

There are also lots of old klunker shotguns around. Some are borderline functional, and many break or wear out every year. We all see klunkers for sale in gun shops, flea markets, yard sales, etc. Many have broken or missing parts...

What happens to all these klunkers? A few probably become wall hangers. Some reside in basements, garages, barns, etc. Where do the really bad ones end up? Scrap yards? Parts guns? Door stops?

Do a million old shotguns "go away" every year?

Just kind of wondering....

JERRY

Maybe they go the 'stans with the Toyotas? Or they're wrapped in old quilts and stuck up in the joist bridging? Or somewhere someone managed to neglect a few well beyond the ministrations of even the Naval Jelly restorers? Might be interesting to know how many trash haulers have metal detectors and what they detect?

jack

I think I end up with them!!

The go to "shotgun heaven" of course!
Jim

I think a lot of them get stripped down into "parts" and sold that way. I had a super beater Model 11 Remington awhile back. I had $100 on it, took it to several gun shows and had it out at the flea market with no takers. Finally stripped it down a bit, sold the barrel on GunBroker for $50, buttstock on eBay for $35, forend at a gun show for $25, and the rest of the parts to another parts dealer for $40. I made more money tearing it up than I could selling it whole. I see a lot of low end guns going this direction. A friend just did the same thing with a Marlin hammer pump 12 gauge, couldn't get $90 bucks for it and when he parted it out he got over $150.


Destry

I just came into possession of a Hollis & Sheath (Makers in London 1849-61) 12 percussion double 12. Had been hanging in someones kitchen for many years. Covered with dust and grease but actually in very good condition, may even shoot it. They are everywhere.

A lot of them end up being posted here....

"Hello,
This is my first post. I just found this old double barreled shotgun....(or it belonged to my grandmas grandpa)....how much is it worth ?"

There was a time when I was convinced that they all ended up in the hands of the late Russ the Klunkermeister.

You mean Russ did not own them all? I am sure he had every spare part that any one would ever need.

Pete

There is, somewhere in the U.S., the Shotgun Graveyard. Kinda like the elephant graveyard, where elephants go to die and deposit their ivory.

Many have searched for this shotgun graveyard, looking behind pawnshops, in junkyards, at storage auctions. A few are found, but nothing like a million.

So the quest goes on.