AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: YoungGuy on December 08, 2023, 07:23:04 PM
-
I am new to the world of amazing Historical Long Rifles. I have started collecting with my first purchase not long ago. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction for proper insurance for these high dollar items?
-
A good/high quality gun safe.
-
I have a stated value on my firearms & guitars , a rider on my home owners .
-
Collectibles Insurance Services is who I have used for years. It covers me for any accidental breakage that happens outside of shooting the gun. Theft anywhere in the World.
A rider on my homeowners insurance was cost prohibited IMO.
I really dont know how good they are, as I have never had a claim.
Fleener
-
I talked to my insurance guy. I pretty easily figured out I would be paying more insurance over a period of a few years than what my collection is worth.. My insurance is a safe and a loaded shotgun by the door.
-
If you buy/sell/trade probably more than 100 guns over 35 years like I did, keeping the insurance in order would be a major PITA! ;D
-
If you buy/sell/trade probably more than 100 guns over 35 years like I did, keeping the insurance in order would be a major PITA! ;D
Plus take away money I need for more guns. :)
-
I talked to my insurance guy. I pretty easily figured out I would be paying more insurance over a period of a few years than what my collection is worth.. My insurance is a safe and a loaded shotgun by the door.
Get a new Insurance company - I just look at the rider it's pennies on the dollar .
-
Actually collecting on the policy would be the issue. I had to get an appraisal of what items I wanted insured and have e-file with pictures of everything as well as proofs of purchase. I think fire/flood is a much greater risk for most of us vs theft. Ive seen Whats left of guns in a fire safe after a bad house fire- like a long stick of charcoal.
-
Young Guy, you might check NRA's insurance policies. Last I knew then had collectors' insurance for a much lower rate for arms you did not shoot - maybe $10 per $1,000 in value or so, but might be higher now. Back then they worked with an insurance company that was in Kansas City and easy to work with. They also had insurance for modern and muzzleloaders you do shoot, and some liability plans for instructors, etc. Good Luck. Bob
-
I would hesitate to surrender a list of my guns to an insurance Co. If the government wants to know who has what all they have to do is have those insurance companies hand over the information.
-
I got an idea; we could make all of our longrifles into lamps & nobody would want them.
-
I got an idea; we could make all of our longrifles into lamps & nobody would want them.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what was done sometime in the 1950s with this buttstock remnant:
http://erickettenburg.com/unkown-master.html (http://erickettenburg.com/unkown-master.html)
-
Yikes Eric! Reminds me of a story Wallace liked to tell of some collector doing this to a Bivins rifle. I guess it nearly made John have a coronary!
-
I was fairly appalled but apparently it was just a buttstock when found, buttplate gone, no box, and only a little piece of triggerguard tab left. Guy told me he used it for a shop project when he was in school in the 50s iirc. He had drilled a long hole up through it for a threaded rod, but weirdly there was also another hole in the end of the butt from the time it was built, much like a couple of the Reading guns. I wonder if they were being used as some kind of mount for stocking?
Anyway moral of the story - don't use old rifles for lamps!
-
How about a shotgun lamp???
(https://i.ibb.co/jTPKx1K/1200px-Great-Outdoors-Lamp-Shotgun2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/G04w1bw)
-
Collectibles Insurance Services only requires you to list with them guns with a 5K value and higher. They also require that your gun safe be X number of inches off the ground for flooding. I just built simple platforms out of 2X8" with a plywood top.
Fleener
-
Best insurance is never show anyone all that you own. Never trust anyone. Unless you know them VERY well.
Keep a handy theft removal tool at the ready.. Build or buy a very secure storage unit / safe.
Like a police officer said once while visiting. " Expecting bad company! " I said nope " Just prepared to get rid of it..."
-
I also use specialty insurance for my collectibles, mostly guns and cameras. I found out my home insurance, even with a rider, was not very likely to pay replacement value. Home insurance is for losing the home, not exotic collectibles. I found a great company that was cheaper to insure my stuff than the State Farm rider was. AND they WILL pay out what I specifiy in the policy for values. IT's up to ME. They just calculate the premiums. You can get $100,000 coverage for a couple hundred dollars a year.
I was robbed once when I was first married. They took all our wedding gifts, and all the items like stereos that I had gathered during 6 years in the Navy. It was a start over life lesson that I learned from. I now keep things insured. To me it's worth the 3-4 hundred a year, to know if I was robbed, I'd be handed a check. Rather than just stand there blinking at the empty house - again.
-
I would hesitate to surrender a list of my guns to an insurance Co. If the government wants to know who has what all they have to do is have those insurance companies hand over the information.
My thoughts exactly, Mike.
New Guy, get a gun safe and keep a shotgun in the house. Those are the best policies in my book.
Good luck in collecting and welcome!
-
I had a rider on my USAA policy at one time. The price was fair, but it was a real pain if you buy/sell/trade often. Also, the originals were insured as art, but the contemporary guns could not be insured as art. The contemporary guns were not considered firearms either. That left a hole in the policy for quality contemporary guns. I went with the better safe idea and gave up on the insurance.
-
Good luck however you decide Youngguy. I rest better when I'm on a camping trip or gone from the house knowing I have a layer of protection. A safe can be cut into in 20 minutes by battery operated grinders with a cut-off wheel. The burgler lifts the rifles out of the slit, puts them into his truck, and is gone while you are at the store. An alarm, dogs, and alert neighbors can help prevent that scenario. But if all else fails, I'd rather get $2,000 per long rifle from the insurance, than a big fat ZERO and a smoking hole in my safes.
I've told my story. Many other people have been robbed, thousands of burgleries in every town every year. To naievly think it will never happen to you is like thinking you'll never die or pay taxes.
To the OP, watch this on a 15 min safe breakin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7k4q3b2q1o
-
You can get a firearms rider to your homeowners insurance that doesn't require you to keep serial numbers or descriptions. BUT it would serve you well to keep a running inventory or what you have in the safe or gun room in case something happens. My insurance co. has never asked for an inventory, I just have a blanket amount. Locton Affinity (Lloyds of London) which is affiliated with NRA would probably give you stated coverage for an inventory if you wanted to go that way, but it ain't cheap.
-
Interesting video - my 9" Kawasaki angle grinder would have been into that safe in about 6 minutes easily - same cuts
& only 1/3rd of one "blade" used.
-
Yup 99% of gunsafes out there work to keep random crackheads from running off with your guns but they wont even slow down someone who knows they are going after guns. They also wont protect them against a hot housefire (including fire safes)or flooding. The idea that “my guns are safe cuz ive got a gunsafe and a shotgun”...well...no...
-
Insurance and gun safes are for "piece of mind". So everything is peaceful until you have a loss, then you learn the rest of the story. Our local county sheriff offers a home inspection with a focus on preventing burglaries and break-ins. He has seen our meager collection and concluded it's not the stuff smash and grab types are going for. They first hit the medicine cabinets and the likely spots to store modern firearms that can be used or sold on the streets. Antiques and contemps are too conspicuous to pawn or sell. His opinion is good locks and a simple alarm system and keeping the collection out of the public view. There are tons of easy to use security devices to help protect you and your goodies. Of course a high end collection can be targeted and professionals make away with all your treasurers never to be seen again. It was accordingly a planned "hit" and the things they took may have even been paid for in advance of the theft. We never carried adequate insurance to cover our stuff. I added coverage about 3 years ago and then dropped it this year. It was not "cheap" by any standard and had a $5000 deductible. There was a neat feature if one were to travel a lot to shows you had coverage but in the end that was not sufficient reason to keep it.
But you do what you need to do to sleep at night....when you are away!
-
I have one of those concrete safes for fire. It was expensive but I bought it before taking the vow of poverty(retirement). We are also home most of the time and have a 130 pound extremely territorial dog.
One thing has not been mentioned is security cameras. I installed them after someone went through our vehicles. They came back. The camera says “you are being recorded”. He calmly walked away and never returned. I did a police report etc. They did not recognize him.
-
Yup 99% of gunsafes out there work to keep random crackheads from running off with your guns but they wont even slow down someone who knows they are going after guns. They also wont protect them against a hot housefire (including fire safes)or flooding. The idea that “my guns are safe cuz ive got a gunsafe and a shotgun”...well...no...
Maybe not perfect, but safer than sitting in a closet, next to your Sunday go to church shoes.
Besides, at least around here, thieves are not looking for some old muzzle loader. They want modern pistols, AR's and such.