What Exactly Constitutes an "Upgrade"?

[Sgt.K]

.

I dont ever pay extra for "upgrades"

There was that one guy who "upgraded" from his old 44 to a pair of 22s - he wound up paying quite a lot...

[lts1ow]

My 700 has a upgraded barrel and trigger, both made it shoot better than what Rem would have.

Do I think they added value if I were to try and sell? Absolutely not.

[Walleye Hunter]

My idea of an upgrade: Selling your Glock to buy an H&K.

[gghbi]

Upgrades are in the eye of the beholder. Some actually add value in that they reduce the depreciation of a used gun, others are more questionable. Some of the former are correctly installed apex triggers and the like, work by known/reputable smiths, and improved sights. Some of the latter are many drop in changes, most grips, and similar changes. Some items that really need to be evaluated individually, but are are usually negative include things like stippling, and major cosmetic changes. These may or may not add 'value' but if they do, it is to a much smaller segment of the market, which is true of most all changes from factory specs.

The key is the more you customize your gun, the smaller the marketplace it will be seen as enhanced in value is. Also the changing industry can make what was once a useful customization, much less so. I have a 1911 that I used in IPSC many years ago, that I had worked on by John Yanek, a first class, but not well known pistolsmith. Now on the market you can buy factory guns that have many of the features that I had to have custom installed back around 1990 or so. Improved sights, beavertails, checkering on the front strap, and trigger guard undercuts are examples. Now the action work, slide tightening, and barrel fitting (with a bar-sto barrel) are still extra improvements that I value, but they are not worth what I paid for them if I ever have to sell this gun.

Back in the 1980's when I bought a 1911, I usually had the smith, polish the feed ramp, tune the extractor and clean up the action as a standard procedure for reliability reasons. Things in that area have improved considerably.

If you ever plan to sell your gun you will have to accept that a lot of what you put into the gun to make it 'yours' will not carry over to the market if I want to make it 'mine' unless you have made some very astute changes which is not likely. As is usual in these situations YMMV.

[danhr]

My idea of an upgrade: Selling your Glock to buy an H&K.

I believe you confused upgrade with sellout

[JenniferG]

I always ask "do you still have the original parts?" Most upgrades aren't. All those goofy and stylish hand grips and hand guards detract from the value of the gun.

[Christen]

I used to buy sell and trade a lot back in MASS, but i haven't on here. I would agree with the sentiments. I just assume once i start to customize and upgrade, I am not going to sell that piece and if I need to i will lose money on it. Don't we see this across the board with motorcycles and cars?.....usually you don't get your investment back.

My story: I really wanted a moss berg 590a1, at the time circa 2010 i could not find one anywhere. I picked up a standard 500 with a heavy barrel. I sent it to aimpro tactical and had it converted to a 590a1 but i didn't stop there. I had it coated in od green, ghost sights, smoother action, extended tube, magpul stock kit and forend later.

I was fully aware that this was going to be something i kept and i had fun with it. If I had to sell it, i'm pretty sure it wouldn't attract more than the 3 hi-points i spent originally even though i have spent close to three times that amount on upgrades. In fact I see the deals on them for like $290.....of well I don't regret it for a second!

If I am on the fence i only do things that I can remove and prob use on something else. I am a firm believer that anyone can sell anything for any price they want. I think a good way of handling it is to post the OG piece then add that you also have XYZ that you can add for ABC.