Here at AccurateShooter.com we tend to focus on highly-accurate (1/2-MOA or better), custom-built bolt-action rifles. But for home defense, deer hunting, or just having fun with the grand-kids, factory-built firearms serve their purpose. With that in mind, we wondered, “Just what are the most popular mass-production firearms these days?” Gunbroker.com, the biggest firearms auction site, has tallied the top-selling new and “previously-owned” firearms in various categories for all of last year. Here are Gunbroker’s “Best Selling Firearms” for 2015.
GunBroker.com’s Best-Selling New and Used Firearms of 2015
Some things we expected — the Rem 700 is the top-ranking bolt-action rifle, and the Ruger 10/22 was the leading semi-auto rifle. But notably, the Ruger Precision Rifle (Below) is now the second-best selling bolt rifle in the country. That shows how popular “tactical” style bolt guns have become. It also proves Ruger has created a winner — a fine-shooting rifle that has quickly established a following.
The second most popular bolt-action long-gun is the new Ruger Precision Rifle
In the handgun rankings, there were some surprises. Despite being out of production, the Colt Python is the best-selling used revolver. Why is an out-of-production gun a top-seller? First, high-grade Pythons are actually increasing in value, making this “snake” a good investment. Pythons are also highly accurate, beautifully-finished revolvers with superb triggers. These qualities make the guns highly desirable to serious shooters as well as collectors.
Colt Python (Royal Blue) — An Appreciating Asset
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Each day, on Facebook, the NRA National Firearms Museum showcases something special from the Museum collections. Recently the Museum displayed a trio of snakes — three very special Colt Pythons. From bottom to top, these three prized wheelguns are: Colt Python serial number 2, number 3, and number 5. And yes, that is the original box for Python #2 (at bottom). The museum says such low serial number guns were typically produced for a company executive or key members of the gun design team.
Loved for their beautiful finish, nice balance, and great trigger, Colt Pythons have proven to be excellent investments. Since the Colt Python was first introduced in 1955, Python prices have gone through the roof. A pristine, LNIB early-era Colt Python can now command $4000.00 or more. The Museum estimates the price of Pythons has risen 14,300% since 1955.
You can see hundreds of other interesting firearms on the National Firearm Museum website, www.NRAMuseums.com. Or, if you’re lucky, you can see the collections in person. The NRA now operates three Museum locations: the NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia; the NRA National Sporting Arms Museum (at BassPro) in Springfield, MO; and the Frank Brownell Museum of the Southwest in Raton, NM.
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Well it looks like Gunbroker.com may (finally) have some competition. A new gun auction site, eGunner.com, has just been launched by Bud’s Gun Shop, a major retailer. eGunner.com was created to help gun stores sell their firearms inventory. But the site is not limited to commercial dealers. Private gun sellers can also list pistols, rifles, shotguns, and other shooting hardware.
Flat Fee Listings — Pay $10 or $15 When Gun Sells
eGunner.com has a very simple fee structure. It cost nothing to list an item for sale. There is a flat fee at the close of a successful auction: $10 for guns under $500 and $15 for guns $500 and up.
Here at AccurateShooter.com we tend to focus on highly-accurate (1/2-MOA or better), custom-built bolt-action rifles. But for home defense, deer hunting, or just having fun with the grand-kids, factory-built firearms serve their purpose. With that in mind, we wondered, “Just what are the most popular mass-production firearms these days?” Gunbroker.com, the biggest firearms auction site, has tallied the top-selling new and “previously-owned” firearms in various categories for all of last year. Here are Gunbroker’s “Best Selling Firearms” for 2014.
GunBroker’s Top-Selling New and Used Firearms of 2014
Tired of paying hefty fees to Gunbroker.com? Well there’s a new auction website, GunPalace.com, that lets you sell guns and gear at low cost (basic listings are free). Notably, GunPalace.com does not charge the typical final sales fees imposed by most auction sites. (Those charges could total $70 or more for a $4000.00 rifle). On GunPalace.com it is easy to list and sell handguns, rifles, shotguns, ammo, collectible items and more.
Video Explains How GunPalace.com Works:
GunPalace.com has a simple, low-cost fee structure. Basic listings are free, while there are modest fees for “showcase listings” and other upgrades. Importantly there is no hefty “end of sale” surcharge. Scott Patey of GunPalace.com explains: “It’s simple, our site does not asses a fee when an item sells. That keeps selling expenses low for sellers and prices affordable for buyers. If you are a gun-loving American, you are welcome on our site.”
Auction categories for sellers include: all types of guns (including rare and collectibles), plus gun parts, gun accessories, ammo, optics, safes, knives, hunting gear, military items, camping gear, ATVs, motorsports, and more. It is easy to register to begin listing items for auction. GunPalace.com doesn’t eat away your profits, as you pay zero final sales fees.
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What are the hottest-selling firearms in the “previously-owned” marketplace? As you might expect, the Remington Model 700 tops the list as the best-selling used bolt action rifle. The leading semi-auto rifle is the little Ruger 10/22 rimfire, followed by another Ruger, the Mini-14. Despite the high cost ($2K+ for the best examples) the Colt Python is the best selling used revolver. (People have realized that Pythons have proven to be good investments.)
These rankings were recently released by GunBroker.com. Every month, GunBroker.com publishes the Top 5 Best Sellers List for each major category of firearms sold on the popular gun auction site.
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AmmoBammo.com, an all-new auction website for guns, ammo, and gear, has just opened for business. This new site boasts “no listing fees ever”. Unlike Gunbroker.com, AmmoBammo has a very simple payment structure. There is no “up-front” listing fee, and no membership fee. If an item sells, AmmoBammo takes 2.5% of the proceeds — no matter what the price. That makes it easy to figure out what it will cost to sell your gun or gear. If nobody bids, or the bids don’t reach your thresh-hold reserve price, you pay nothing. If your product sells, you pay a flat 2.5% final value fee. That seems reasonable to us. Read detailed terms of sale here.
To celebrate its launch, AmmoBammo.com is offering a special promotion. Now through July 15, 2013, AmmoBammo is Waiving ALL Fees on auction listings, including the normal 2.5% final value fee. So, for the next couple of weeks you can sell your stuff, and not pay a penny.
Since this site is brand new, listings are sparse to say the least. As of June 25, 2013 at 12:00 pm, not a single gun was listed for sale (though there were many ammo listings). Hopefully the AmmoBammo site will gain traction as more sellers list their merchandise in the weeks and months ahead.
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Smart phones from Apple, Motorola, and Samsung offer some amazing features such as GPS-enabled mapping and internet connectivity. And now you can “stay tuned” to Gunbroker auctions even if you’re away from your regular computer. Gunbroker now provides a “bare bones” version of its website designed for web-enabled mobile devices.
Visit http://m.gunbroker.com to check out the mobile-friendly site. NOTE: to use the mobile version of Gunbroker initially, you need to be registered with Gunbroker.com and log in with user name and password.
Mobile Gunbroker Works with Regular Computers Too
You can also use the streamlined “mobile” version of Gunbroker from a lap-top or your regular computer. Search results come through blazingly fast, and you only need a small section of your screen. If you just want to get a quick idea of what a particular firearm sells for these days, the mobile version of Gunbroker may be ideal. And you can always switch back to the full-featured Gunbroker website.
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No doubt you’ve heard of CraigsList.com, the hugely popular FREE classifieds website on which Americans sell everything from household appliances to Harley-Davidsons. CraigsList ads are now more widely used in many communities than are newspaper “white pages” classifieds. Unfortunately, however, you aren’t allowed to sell firearms on CraigsList.
ARMSLIST.com offers FREE Gun Classifieds
Now there’s a similar free online classified service, ARMSLIST.com, that lets you list pistols, rifles, shotguns, ammo, and shooting accessories for sale. There are also categories for archery, fishing, and hunting gear, and even a category for vehicles. Just like CraigsList, listings are free*, including Want to Buy (WTB) listings. You can search ads by state or product type — and once within the rifle category, you can filter by manufacturer or action type (e.g. bolt action, semi-auto, lever action). ARMSLIST.com has only been around since 2009, so it doesn’t have as many listings as Gunbroker.com, but we expect ARMSLIST.com to grow in popularity once more gun-sellers realize how much they can save with ARMSLIST’s free listings. If you put a gun up for auction on Gunbroker.com or AuctionArms.com, but you’ll pay $40 or more in auction fees on a $2000.00 rifle. Also, many potential buyers simply don’t like the auction process, given the unpredictable outcomes and the delays involved in “closing the deal”.
As ARMSLIST.com grows in popularity, this service will really benefit both buyers and sellers of firearms. You can’t argue with free classifieds* — they allow you to sell low-price items easily with zero out-of-pocket costs. And as a buyer, in many respects we prefer the ARMSLIST.com listing system to an online auction with its inherent uncertainty.
* ARMSLIST.com does offer Vendor Accounts for “Power Sellers”. The fee is $20.00 per month. FFL-holders and commercial sellers can benefit from having a Vendor Account.
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How big is the market for guns? Well, you can measure the dollar values of gun sales in the Billions. Consider this: GunBroker.com reached $2 billion ($2,000,000,000) in cumulative merchandise sales on November 10, 2012. It took 10 years for Gunbroker to hit the $1 Billion mark in cumulative sales, but Gunbroker.com managed to reach the $2 Billion number only three years after it hit the ten-digit (billion-dollar) threshhold. That’s impressive growth.
Gunbroker.com, the world’s largest Internet auction site for firearms and accessories, has added more than 265,000 new users per year the last several years. Gunbroker.com is now the third largest ‘Shopping and Classifieds – Auctions’ site, behind only eBay and eBay Motors (Hitwise ranking). According to Quantcast, Gunbroker.com is also the 646th largest USA-based website.
Steve Urvan, CEO of GunBroker.com, declared: “Doubling sales in less than three years to reach the $2 billion mark is an incredible accomplishment …. We have made significant enhancements to the site over the past couple of years[.] The e-commerce industry continues to see considerable growth and reaching this milestone in such a short period of time reassures us that we have the right systems in place to be a major player[.]”
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The summer shooting season is nearly here. That means many of you need to raise cash or move older items to finance your new toys. What’s the best way to sell gun gear and accessories quickly? In today’s world, the Internet provides the easiest, most economical means to sell precision firearms, high-end optics, and specialized reloading tools. On our AccurateShooter Forum, we have a very active Marketplace with FREE Classifieds for registered Forum members. If an item is priced attractively, even a big-ticket item, there’s a good chance it may sell within 48 hours or even sooner. One Forum member told us: “Stuff sells fast on your Forum. I had a take-off barrel on the Savage Forum for a couple weeks with no takers. I put it up on the AccurateShooter Forum and it sold the same day.”
The Benchrest Classifieds operated by Benchrest Central is also a good place to sell benchrest guns (both centerfire and rimfire), actions, scopes, rests, and reloading tools. Benchrest Classifieds listings aren’t free, but the $3.00 basic fee is nominal.
Gunbroker and Auction Arms
The mainstream gun auction sites such as Gunbroker.com and Auction Arms have large audiences. These sites are good choices for selling factory rifles, shotguns, or pistols. Gunbroker.com is a bigger site than Auction Arms, with much more traffic. That means more potential buyers, but it also means you’ll be competing with many more sellers. Both sites allow you to set reserve prices, and offer “Buy It Now” (fixed price) options.
How Much Will It Cost?
Listing fees and policies for the important gun classifieds and online auctions are listed below. Check the pricing structure carefully. Gunbroker.com and Auction Arms have sliding-scale fees based on a complicated formula. But basically, the higher the auction price, the more you pay. For a rifle with a $1000.00 high bid, the fee is roughly $26.00 at close of auction. For a $2000.00 sale, the fee would be about $41.00. For a gun sold at auction for $3500.00, the fee would be $63.50. GunsAmerica has tiered fees due on sale–$10 minimum plus another $10 each time you pass a $1K mark. For example, the fee for a $1001-$2000 sale is $20, while the fee for a $2001-$3000 sale is $30.00. That makes a FREE listing on AccurateShooter.com or a $3.00/mo listing on Benchrest Classifieds look very attractive.
Classified Advert vs. Auction For a precision benchrest, F-Class, Tactical or High Power rifle, you may get the best results posting a For Sale ad on a Forum that caters to the right discipline. You want your ad to reach the right “niche” audience. On the other hand, a GunBroker.com auction will have tens of thousands of potential buyers. For our Shooters’ Forum Classifieds, we’ve found that, if you price your rig attractively (and you provide good photos), your gun should sell quickly. Plus with conventional Classifieds, you can sell immediately–you don’t have to wait for an auction to end. For scopes and reloading equipment (but not firearms, actions, barrels etc.), also consider eBay. Many gun-related items are still allowed on eBay and it does have a huge audience.
Insert Fees: $3.00/30 days $5.50/60 days $7.00/90 days No Fee on Sale.
Free for items under $25 price.
Free Insert. On Sale: $1.25 plus 2.5% of $25-$1000 plus 1.5% of $1000+
$4 signup. Free Insert. On Sale: $1.25 plus 2.5% over $25 to $1000. Over $1000 is $26 + 1.5% of price over $1000.
Guns: $10 up to $1K $20 up to $2K $30 up to $3K $10 minimum Non-Guns: 2% of price, $2 minimum
Photos
Free Unlimited Free Hosting
Up to 3 photos, 300 pixels max Free Hosting
10 per item Free Hosting
10 per item Free Hosting
One Image Free. $2 for 2-5 more images.
Text Limit
No limit
1000 words
No limit
No limit
n/a
Time Limit
No Limit
30-day terms
30-day Auction
30-day Auction
7 days or 60 days
Comment
Good deals sell fast! Very easy to use. But, old ads don’t self-delete.
Good deals sell fast. Logical categories. Small photos. Listing process somewhat difficult.
Too many commercial sellers. Bad customer service. Must have Credit Card on File.
Not many precision rifle buyers. Server can be slow.
Small photos, hard to navigate, many outdated ads. Complex upgrade options.
Customer Service
Active Moderator. E-mails answered promptly.
Webmaster answers E-Mail promptly.
Hopeless. No Phone #. Confusing FAQs. Emails not answered.
Support person responds to phone and email.
No phone #. Extensive FAQs. E-mail sometimes answered after 2-3 days.
Top Level Showcase
Yes. 15 newest ads appear at top level.
None
Yes. $5 extra fee for Showcase.
Yes. Java feed of closing auctions
Yes. New and Featured Listings (extra fee).
Traffic
8,500+ visits/day
n/a
#1 Online Auction*
55,000+ visits/day*
70,000+ visits/day*
* While these major auction sites have lots of traffic, their traffic is distributed over many thousands of auctions. It’s easy to get lost on the big sites. AccurateShooter.com and Benchrest.com offer a much higher ratio of visits per listing.
To learn more about selling guns and gun accessories online, read our full feature story on Online Gun Selling and Auctions. This story includes Sure-fire Tips for Selling online, plus advice on how to take and upload the right kind of photos. Products with photos sell much faster.
OutdoorsTrader.com is a FREE alternative to Gunbroker.com and AuctionArms.com for selling firearms, magazines, optics, and hunting gear. Set up like a Craigslist for gun stuff, OutdoorsTrader.com lets you place free ads for buying, selling or trading guns, ammunition and parts. Conveniently, you can search ads by state, or even by zip code proximity.
Because OutdoorsTrader.com is relatively new, there are relatively few listings at present, but we expect that to grow. We clicked on “Oregon” and found a couple dozen listings, mostly handguns. A search for “Colorado” revealed a half-dozen listings, half rifle, half pistol. So OutdoorsTrader.com has a long way to go to challenge the big players such as Gunbroker.com and AuctionArms.com. But we’re glad OutdoorsTrader.com exists — it’s always a good thing for consumers to have more options.
OutdoorsTrader Charges No Fees, Unlike Gunbroker
We hope OutdoorsTrader.com becomes successful. Gunbroker.com is fairly expensive for the seller, who pays when the item sells (at auction). On an expensive rifle, Gunbroker.com fees can be significant. The cost to sell a $3500.00 rifle on Gunbroker.com is $56.88.
By contrast, OutdoorsTrader.com is free to join and entirely free to use. Once an account has been created, the user may post ads of his own and also leave replies on other posted ads. OutdoorsTrader.com has been around for a couple years. We hope it gains in popularity so it can provide more competition to Gunbroker.
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What are the hottest-selling firearms in the “previously-owned” marketplace? As you might expect, the Remington Model 700 tops the list as the best-selling used bolt action rifle. The leading semi-auto rifle is the little Ruger 10/22 rimfire, followed by another Ruger, the Mini-14. Despite the high cost ($2K+ for the best examples) the Colt Python is the best selling used revolver. (People have realized that Pythons have proven to be good investments.)
Smart phones from Apple, Motorola, and Samsung offer some amazing features such as GPS-enabled mapping and internet connectivity. And now you can “stay tuned” to Gunbroker auctions even if you’re away from your regular computer. Gunbroker now provides a “bare bones” version of its website designed for web-enabled mobile devices.
The summer shooting season is nearly here. That means many of you need to raise cash or move older items to finance your new toys. What’s the best way to sell gun gear and accessories quickly? In today’s world, the Internet provides the easiest, most economical means to sell precision firearms, high-end optics, and specialized reloading tools. On our 
For a precision benchrest, F-Class, Tactical or High Power rifle, you may get the best results posting a For Sale ad on a Forum that caters to the right discipline. You want your ad to reach the right “niche” audience. On the other hand, a GunBroker.com auction will have tens of thousands of potential buyers. For our Shooters’ Forum Classifieds, we’ve found that, if you price your rig attractively (and you provide good photos), your gun should sell quickly. Plus with conventional Classifieds, you can sell immediately–you don’t have to wait for an auction to end. For scopes and reloading equipment (but not firearms, actions, barrels etc.), also consider 
