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In the last few months I started the process of better preparing my family for emergencies. Like many SurvivalBlog readers I was more prepared than most but could be better prepared. I had already laid in some provisions and equipment. When I started volunteering for the Sheriff’s Department, we were all encouraged to obtain Red Cross 72 hour bags for all family members and to make a family G.O.O.D. kit. My wife and I realized after reading “Patriots” that we had much more work to do. The focus of this article is my efforts at standardizing my home battery applying lessons learned from my readings and to share some personal lessons learned.

My wife knows that we have to spend time and money to prepare but is concerned (rightly so) about the cost. I purchased the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course and “Boston’s Gun Bible” to help us focus our efforts. Boston makes a compelling case for the selections he laid out in his book. I took the lessons from Boston’s book and was able to winnow down our battery to what was truly essential and to obtain items that made sense for the family. I can only paraphrase what he said in explaining my choices so you really ought to buy the book so you can get a better understanding of the choices I made.

I extensively used Gunbroker.com. Ideally you want to do a face to face transfer where you don’t involve an FFL holder. In this economy I figured that I needed national exposure to get the best possible price and to sell as quickly as possible. I will explain my Gunbroker strategies later in this article.

Applying the precepts that Boston laid out in his book I liquidated five pistols and five rifles. They were either the wrong caliber (goodbye 9mm), not mil-spec (sorry Colt), not industry supported (goodbye .45 ACP Beretta Cougar), not left handed (everyone in my family is a left-handed shooter, so goodbye right handed bolt action rifles), and no longer really “fit” (goodbye Beretta .45 ACP Storm).

Some of you may be thinking why not keep them for barter? My primary goal was to standardize my battery without breaking the bank. I figured that right now I need to get my family properly kitted out. Then I can acquire additional inexpensive weapons for barter later. To paraphrase Boston, why have one high dollar weapon when you can have numerous less expensive weapons? In a SHTF scenario the recipient isn’t going to care if the pistol is a Sphinx (made in Switzerland) or a Taurus (made in Brazil). Besides, I didn’t liquidate everything!

I kept ten pistols, eleven rifles, and two shotguns. In this mix are built in what I call a “reserve for barter/arm additional group members” and primary weapons. The cash I got from the sale of the ten items from the battery purchased additional weapons meeting my new standards plus additional kit.

I purchased the following items with that cash.
– An additional 1911 so now everyone in my house has a .45ACP pistol (either Glock or 1911).
– Two “bargain bin” ARs from Black Rifle in Columbia, Missouri to complement the two ARs that I kept.
– A DSA FAL to both complement the left hand Savage Model 10 Tactical I have owned for eleven years and the Century Arms FAL my father bought a few years ago. (He owns the retreat property). I really needed a main battle rifle anyway. (I can now tell Boston that I saw the light).
– A high powered Burris scope for the Savage (plus new Talley rings) and will move the Burris currently on the Savage to the FAL (as soon as the new rail comes in).
– Two Ceiner .22LR conversion kits for the ARs so my kids won’t bankrupt me through ammo costs.
– Items for the Ruger 10/22 to turn it into a Liberty Rifle [per Appleseed specifications] .
– An economy family emergency kit from St. Paul Mercantile (I already had radios so they kindly swapped out the radios for two extra water filter candles).
– Bianchi M12 holsters, G2 flashlights with Viking brackets, tritium front sights for primary weapons, assault vests, and more ammo.

The amazing thing is that I still have cash left over! For now I will probably direct some of that cash to either junk silver or food storage equipment. It took about three months of selling and buying through Gunbroker and local shops to get where I am at now. There are a couple of items that I could have gotten a higher price and a couple of items that were harder to sell than I originally thought. What follows are lessons learned selling and buying.

Before listing your item on Gunbroker it pays to watch similar items and see what they are selling for. I found out that what the “Blue Book of Firearms” says and what the market says are not necessarily the same. Search for similar items and then click on the “Watch This” button. After a week watching you will get a good sense of what your firearm will sell for. The only item I didn’t sell through Gunbroker was the Colt AR Lightweight Sporter. The specific model I had was not selling at all. After two weeks of watching I elected to try to sell it locally and was able to get a decent price for it.

When you place an item for sale, you specify a starting bid. You can specify an undisclosed reserve price and you can set a “Buy It Now” price. I found that setting a realistic starting bid is better than using the reserve price option. One of the bolt action rifles took two weeks to sell. I set the starting bid at $400, a reserve price of $700, and a “Buy It Now” price of $1,000. It only took a couple of bids that didn’t meet the reserve price. In the second week, I set the starting bid at $700, no reserve, and a “Buy It Now” at $1,000. I also added “with Leupold Scope” in the title. The bidding got so hot on it that the “Buy It Now” option was exercised. The bad thing with “Buy It Now” is that no bids can go higher than the “Buy It Now” price. I probably could have gotten $300 more for that rifle if I had set the “Buy It Now” price higher!

Don’t get wrapped up in what you paid for an item. The market is the market and if the market says your item is worth less than what you paid for it than that is what you will get. I wanted to unload the Beretta Storm. No one was bidding on the Storms that were starting at $675 and higher. To sweeten the deal I was throwing in extra mags and other accessories I bought for the Storm (I wasn’t going to need them anymore), plus this Storm had a top rail and an additional side rail installed. All told I had about $750 tied up in this Storm. I sold it for $644. I took a hit but when I factor in the Cougar which I got for a song and sold for $700 then the pain went away. Just like a stock mutual fund, some will be winners and some will be losers.

Buying through Gunbroker can save you a lot of money. Use the “Watch This” feature to get a sense of the going rate for the item you want to buy. Ask the seller questions via the “ask the seller a question” link. The geographical location of the seller is listed so if you want to avoid the use of an FFL, find a seller within your state and offer to pick it up. The seller will usually forego asking for the delivery fee. If the item didn’t sell and it didn’t get re-listed, e-mail the seller and offer him something in cash or trade (or both). The seller may be willing to deal. [JWR Adds: Consult your state an local laws before making gun purchases. Not all states allow private party sales. But if that is legal where you live, then I highly recommend minimizing your paper trail!]

If you elect to sell a firearm to a pawnshop, you absolutely have to know the value of your firearm ahead of time. Gunbroker can tell you the true market value and the “Blue Book of Firearms” will give the “ideal” market value. Go to at least three pawn shops and be prepared to sell for less than what you think you can sell it for. A pawn shop has to make a profit on everything it takes in (I learned that from watching “Pawn Stars” on the History Channel). I got a decent price for the Colt AR I sold to a pawn shop. Could I have gotten a better price? Maybe, but that would have meant re-listing the thing on Gunbroker for weeks or maybe months. The Colt was “valued” at somewhere between $900 and $1,000. I asked for $800. Two shops offered me $600 and one offered me $700. I took the $700 offer.

Why didn’t I use gun shows? I didn’t have the time for gun shows. My family is a busy family. It was more efficient for me to stay up past bedtime to snap a few pictures and to create a listing on Gunbroker. Besides, some of the items I sold were a bit esoteric and I was only going to get a good price by trying to sell to a national audience.

A final note: I started acquiring firearms since I was a young man. I was able to take advantage of the appreciation in value in the firearms I sold. Most people are not in a position to do what I did. That is why you absolutely need to buy the book “Boston’s Gun Bible“. It will lay out a roadmap to help you acquire a battery that will not break you financially and that will direct your efforts towards buying what you truly need. I wish that I had read Boston’s book sooner!

Keep your powder dry and keep ’em in the black! – Cascinus