Maybe so. Those are the guns that got me interested in Winchesters and tomorrow’s collectors are likely attracted to them as well. Commemorative rifles are usually well-made rifles that are often very attractive but almost always poor investments. I own one but mainly because it was a new gun priced like a shooter and very attractive to boot. BATFE actually has some pretty good info on them, as I recently discovered.

Personally I’m not much interested in commemoratives or the later Miroku offerings but I do own & enjoy several of the “later” Winchesters, some of which are now over 40 years old. OTOH I open the magazine to read and learn about older Winchesters and shifting or broadening that focus may not benefit WACA or the magazine.

I enjoyed the recent cartridge box thread and would benefit from an educational article on the subject. I suspect many collectors collect boxes but I must admit I know very little about them.

First Winchester I fired was probably a 52 at scout camp but the first one I remember was a 9422 a few years later. Beautiful little rifle owned by a friend’s dad. I suspect many members had a similar experience. Someday I’ll add a 9422 to my collection so an article on them might be helpful. OTOH a 73 or 52 in 22 would be more in line with my recent interests.

I enjoyed the article on the John Wayne commemorative rifles, IMHO it’s the only rifle of it’s type that may have been a good investment. I think the “collectable” mentality is a bit different and at odds with the “collector” mentality. “Collectables” are expressly manufactured to be sold to people who feel the item will increase in value due to it’s connection to a person or time in history. Any increase in value would, in my opinion, be due to hype and I refuse to invest in something I don’t understand. I prefer items that were actually present during those times and I feel that’s more in line with the “collector” mentality. Real guns that have been there, done that.

JMHO, of course.

It seems I’ve helped make your point, Harry. I know very little about commemoratives and collectables so maybe it would do me good to know a bit more about them. I don’t wear the “collector” label very well because I always buy collector guns that I can shoot, commemorative guns that have been fired are generally just attractive “shooters” in my experience. I won’t argue that there’s money to be made in the collectable market, my point is that I don’t understand it. I dabble in the stock market a bit and I’ll wager you one ice cold Coca-Cola that $150-200 in Janus 20, Berkshire Hathaway or even an S&P 500 index fund would have done as well as your early commemorative purchases….but guns are more fun! Quite honestly I haven’t made a dime off my collector Winchesters but I have bought a few at what I think (hope) was well under market value, much as you probably did when you bought that collection of commemoratives. You obviously knew the market and represented the collection well when you sold it so your knowledge of the commemorative market is considerable. In most cases I’m too busy shooting and enjoying my old Winchesters to sell them so I can’t say for sure they’ll be good investments.

Have you thought about writing an article on commemoratives? We all run across them so a little knowledge may come in handy someday.

I’d like to see an article (or series of articles) about the (relatively) unsung heroes of Winchester. John and Matt Browning, T. G. Bennett, William Mason, T. C. Johnson, Edwin Pugsley, et al. Maybe even Oliver F, the shirtmaker. Just a brief bio and some general interest items. I suspect each have probably been given several inches of column space over the years but in recent weeks and months (OK, years) I’ve gained a new appreciation for these gentlemen. Yes, I know Pugsley was not especially likeable but I wonder if CFM would exist in it’s present form, if at all, without his influence. It’s no surprise that John and Matt Browning were very good shots with rifles and shotguns. I’d love to see JMB on a trap field with a Citori, pretty sure he would kick my butt!

Yes, we collect Winchesters. I do it because I can’t shake hands with the lucky soul who removed my Winchester from the factory packaging any more than I can shake hands with the folks that put that Winchester into the box. I do feel I owe them something and getting to know them better is a step in the right direction.