Last updated October 2026 · By Nick Hall, who has sold a few guns for less than he paid and a couple for more
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Quick Answer: A common gun loses about 12% the moment it becomes a used gun. That’s the median gap between new and used asking prices across 32 popular models I measured in our price catalog on October 22, 2026. Polymer pistols lose the most, at a median of 20.5%. Shotguns barely move, and a few guns, like the Ruger 10/22 and the original Colt Python, list for more used than new.
The asking price isn’t what you get, though. When I sold an S&W M&P9 2.0, the best cash offer was $345, half the median new price.
Table of Contents
How we tested: Every pick here is ranked against our testing methodology. Minimum round counts, accuracy and reliability protocols, the failures that disqualify a gun.
Gun Depreciation by Model: Our Data
Every guide on this topic quotes the same rule of thumb, that a gun loses 15% to 25% when you walk it out of the store. Nobody shows the guns behind the number. So I pulled every new and used listing for 32 popular models in our price catalog on October 22, 2026: 1,335 new listings and 1,424 used ones.
New prices come from every retailer we track. Almost all the used listings are from Guns.com, the biggest used seller in our catalog. I used the same filters on both sides, so custom shop guns, special editions, optic packages, demo guns and parts never made it in. Each model needed at least eight listings on each side to count, which knocked out 15 guns I wanted, including the Tikka T3x and the Winchester Model 70, because almost nobody lists them used.
| Model | Type | New median | Used median | Used vs new |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIG Sauer P365 | Polymer pistol | $630.49 | $499.99 | -21% |
| SIG Sauer P320 | Polymer pistol | $640.00 | $499.99 | -22% |
| S&W M&P9 2.0 | Polymer pistol | $693.54 | $500.49 | -28% |
| S&W M&P9 Shield | Polymer pistol | $487.60 | $350.99 | -28% |
| S&W M&P9 Shield Plus | Polymer pistol | $452.49 | $399.99 | -12% |
| Taurus G3C | Polymer pistol | $289.99 | $249.99 | -14% |
| Ruger Security-9 | Polymer pistol | $315.99 | $249.99 | -21% |
| Glock 43X | Polymer pistol | $649.99 | $479.99 | -26% |
| Ruger LCP | Polymer pistol | $251.99 | $229.99 | -9% |
| Ruger LCP Max | Polymer pistol | $359.99 | $329.99 | -8% |
| HK VP9 | Polymer pistol | $751.99 | $599.99 | -20% |
| Walther PDP | Polymer pistol | $615.99 | $649.99 | +6% |
| Beretta 92FS | Metal-frame pistol | $705.12 | $699.99 | -1% |
| SIG Sauer P226 | Metal-frame pistol | $1,021.49 | $899.99 | -12% |
| Ruger SR1911 | Metal-frame pistol | $988.99 | $799.99 | -19% |
| Ruger Mark IV | Metal-frame pistol | $592.99 | $509.99 | -14% |
| S&W Model 686 | Revolver | $936.99 | $799.99 | -15% |
| S&W Model 642 | Revolver | $566.49 | $499.99 | -12% |
| Ruger GP100 | Revolver | $866.13 | $824.49 | -5% |
| Ruger SP101 | Revolver | $744.99 | $638.49 | -14% |
| Ruger LCR | Revolver | $625.07 | $499.99 | -20% |
| Ruger Single-Six | Revolver | $619.38 | $549.99 | -11% |
| Ruger Blackhawk | Revolver | $760.53 | $800.49 | +5% |
| Colt Python | Revolver | $1,399.00 | $2,199.99 | +57% |
| Ruger 10/22 | Rifle | $349.99 | $399.99 | +14% |
| Ruger Mini-14 | Rifle | $1,049.99 | $969.99 | -8% |
| Henry Lever Action .22 | Rifle | $392.26 | $419.99 | +7% |
| S&W M&P15 Sport | AR-15 | $801.99 | $650.49 | -19% |
| Ruger AR-556 | AR-15 | $839.99 | $599.99 | -29% |
| Mossberg 500 | Shotgun | $448.49 | $399.99 | -11% |
| Mossberg 590 | Shotgun | $501.49 | $499.99 | 0% |
| Beretta A300 Ultima | Shotgun | $999.00 | $964.99 | -3% |
Median asking prices in our price catalog on October 22, 2026. New: every retailer we track. Used: listings flagged used, almost all from Guns.com. Standard models only, same filters on both sides, and at least eight listings on each side.
Twenty-seven of the 32 list for less used than new. The median gap is 12%, which is lower than the rule of thumb, and the spread is huge: from a 29% drop on the Ruger AR-556 to a 57% premium on the Colt Python. How much guns lose is the wrong question. How much your gun loses is the right one.
Depreciation by Gun Type
Group the same 32 guns by type and a pattern shows up fast. I folded the two AR-15s in with the rifles, since two guns is too few to call a category.
| Type | Models | Median used vs new | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polymer pistols | 12 | -20.5% | -28% to +6% |
| Metal-frame pistols | 4 | -13% | -19% to -1% |
| Revolvers | 8 | -11.5% | -20% to +57% |
| Rifles, including two AR-15s | 5 | -8% | -29% to +14% |
| Shotguns | 3 | -3% | -11% to 0% |
Polymer pistols take the biggest hit, and it isn’t because they wear out. A striker-fired 9mm will shoot for tens of thousands of rounds. They lose value because there are so many of them. Our catalog had 162 used M&P9 Shields and 166 used SIG P320s listed on the same day, and every one of them competes with a new gun the buyer can pick up at any counter.
Shotguns sit at the other end. A Mossberg 590 listed used at $499.99 against $501.49 new, a gap you’d lose in the tax. Pump guns get passed down, hunted hard and sold again, and buyers don’t expect them to look new.
Why Polymer Pistols Lose the Most
Seven guns in the table lost 21% or more, and six of them are polymer pistols. The seventh is an AR-15. Three things drive it.
- Supply. Popular carry guns sell in huge numbers, so the used shelf is always full. The Shield had more than five used listings for every new one.
- Newer versions. When the maker launches an updated model, the old one becomes yesterday’s gun. The original Shield lost 28%, while the newer, higher-capacity Shield Plus lost 12%.
- Sales and rebates. New polymer pistols go on sale constantly. A used gun has to sit below the sale price, not the sticker, or nobody buys it.
That last one is why the new median in my table runs above what you’d pay on a good day. The card below shows today’s lowest new P365 price at the retailers we trust most, which sits under the $630.49 median of every listing:
New price today; used ones listed at a median $499.99
The Walther PDP is the odd one out, listing 6% higher used than new. It’s a young design with only 32 used listings, and several of those were the pricier compact and steel-frame versions, so treat that one as noise rather than a gun that gains value. The used vs new guns breakdown covers when a used polymer pistol is the smart buy.
The Guns That Hold Their Value
Five of the 32 listed higher used than new: the Walther PDP, Ruger Blackhawk, Colt Python, Ruger 10/22 and Henry Lever Action .22. The Mossberg 590 came within $1.50 of new, and the Beretta 92FS sat just 1% under. Set the PDP aside, and here’s what the rest have in common.
They’re cheap to begin with. A new Ruger 10/22 had a median price of $349.99. There’s no room for a used one to fall, so used ones list right around the new price, and in this snapshot they sat 14% above it. Our gun values guide found the same thing a month ago.
New price today; used ones listed at a median $399.99
They don’t go out of style. A Blackhawk, a 92FS and a lever .22 look the same as they did decades ago. Nobody’s waiting on a Gen 6 single-action revolver. A gun whose design never changes never gets replaced by its own maker.
Some of them are collectibles. The Colt Python is the extreme case. Colt brought the Python back in 2020, but the used column includes originals from the first run, and collectors pay up for them. The used Blackhawks included a 1968 three-screw Old Model, which is a collector piece too. The Colt Python value guide breaks the old and new guns apart.
The Asking Price Isn’t What You Get
Here’s the part every depreciation chart skips. Those used medians are what dealers ask. When you sell, you’re on the other side of the counter, and the dealer needs a margin.
I found out what that costs when I sold an S&W M&P9 2.0 for our WeBuyGuns review. Before I accepted the offer, I priced the same pistol every way I could:
| Price point | M&P9 2.0 | Below the new median |
|---|---|---|
| New, median asking price | $693.54 | – |
| Used, median asking price | $500.49 | 28% |
| Private sale, what a buyer would pay | About $400 | 42% |
| WeBuyGuns cash offer | $345 | 50% |
| Local gun shop, cash | $300 | 57% |
That’s the real depreciation on a popular polymer pistol: 42% if you sell it yourself and 50% to 57% if a dealer buys it. The 28% gap in the used listings is only the dealer’s side of the story.
Selling it yourself on GunBroker landed in between. A pistol that sells for around $420 leaves you about $338 after $31.80 in fees and roughly $50 for an overnight handgun label. Our GunBroker fees calculator does that math for your gun, and the how to sell a gun guide compares every channel.
Asking prices run high on collectibles too. On our Colt Python value page, 43 originals that actually sold went for a median $1,810, while the 60 used Pythons our dealers listed had a median asking price of $2,266. Those two groups aren’t identical, since the dealer listings mixed old and new guns, but the direction is the same as on the M&P: what sells is lower than what’s listed.
Does Age Matter? The First Sale Is the Big Hit
A gun doesn’t lose value the way a car does, a little more every year. Almost all of the drop happens once, when it goes from new to used. In my experience, a one-year-old Shield and a six-year-old Shield in the same condition sell for close to the same money, because a buyer can’t tell them apart and doesn’t care which year it left the factory.
After that first sale, the things that move the price are condition, the model’s reputation, and whether the maker still builds it. Time on its own does very little. That’s why a used gun you buy at the right price can be sold years later for close to what you paid, and why our used guns pages are the cheapest way into a common model.
Police trade-ins are the clearest proof. They’re worn, they’re often an older generation, and they still find buyers at a steady discount because everyone knows what they are. Our police trade-in guns page tracks what they sell for.
Do Guns Beat Inflation?
This is where the guns-as-investments crowd gets their best numbers, and where they need to be careful. I ran two famous guns through the government’s own inflation index, the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI-U annual average.
The Colt Python. Rock Island Auction Company says the Python “originally retailed for a not-inexpensive $125” when it came out in 1955. The CPI-U averaged 26.8 that year and 321.943 in 2025, so that $125 is $1,501.60 in 2025 dollars. Original Pythons in our sales log sold for a median $1,810. That’s more than 14 times the 1955 price in plain dollars, and about 21% more than inflation over seven decades, or roughly a quarter of 1% a year. A great gun, and a slow investment.
The Ruger 10/22. Shooting Illustrated puts its 1964 launch price at “an initial price tag of just $54.50”, and American Rifleman agrees that “the original price, after all, was only $54.50”. The CPI-U averaged 31.0 in 1964, which makes that $566.00 today. A new 10/22 now has a median price of $349.99, which is 38% less than the 1964 rifle cost in real money. Used ones list at $399.99, 29% below what the first buyers paid in today’s dollars.
That second number is the one most gun owners should hear. Modern manufacturing has made common guns cheaper in real terms, and every new gun that gets cheaper drags the used ones down with it. Our gun price index found new gun prices slipping in real terms this fall too. Collectibles can beat inflation. Shooters’ guns don’t, and they aren’t supposed to.
What Makes a Gun Lose Value Faster
- A new generation. When Glock moved the 19 to Gen 6, the new Gen 5s still on shelves turned into leftover stock overnight. I dropped them from the table for that reason.
- Modifications. Stippling, a cut slide, a refinish or a trigger job narrow your buyers to people who want exactly what you did. Most want factory.
- Missing box, papers and magazines. A buyer pays for a complete gun. Every missing magazine comes off the price, and the buyer rounds up.
- Rust and holster wear. Finish damage is the first thing a buyer sees. Pitting is permanent.
- Selling in a hurry. A dealer’s same-day cash offer is the most you’ll pay for speed, as the M&P table shows.
Round count matters less than most people think on a modern gun. Buyers can’t check it, and a clean pistol with honest holster wear sells fine. Our gun values guide shows how condition grading works and what the grades are worth.
How to Lose Less When You Sell
- Buy right. Most of your loss is locked in on the day you buy. Buy new on sale, or buy used and skip the first hit entirely.
- Keep everything. The box, the manual, every magazine, the lock and the spare backstraps go back in the box.
- Store it dry. Our how to store guns guide covers keeping rust off a gun that sits.
- Keep upgrades removable. Swap sights or grips you can put back, and keep the factory parts.
- Get three offers. A shop, a mail-in buyer and a private sale price. On my M&P they were $100 apart.
Gun Depreciation and Your Insurance
There’s a second kind of depreciation that catches people after a fire or a theft. If your homeowner’s policy pays actual cash value, the adjuster subtracts depreciation from the replacement cost, and the market data above has nothing to do with it.
The claims depreciation tool at ClaimsPages lists firearms at “Depreciation rate: 5.00% / year”. Run a $600 pistol through that for ten years and it’s worth $300 on paper, while a used one might still list for more. The same tool says an item “still in use and functional for its intended purpose should not be depreciated beyond 90%”, which is a useful line to quote back to an adjuster.
Ask your agent whether guns are covered at replacement cost and what the firearm theft limit is. Keep receipts and photos of every serial number. A good safe helps with the theft side too, and our best gun safe for the money picks are a place to start.
Are Guns a Good Investment?
Most guns aren’t. A shooter’s gun is a tool that holds its value better than most tools. On a popular polymer pistol, my M&P sale got 43% to 58% of the median new price back. On a revolver or shotgun that holds its value, a private sale gets you much closer to what you paid. That’s a good deal for something you got to use.
Some guns do beat inflation, and they’re the ones nobody shoots: original Pythons, early production runs, rare variants in their boxes. Even then, the Python’s return over 70 years was about a quarter of 1% a year above inflation. If you want to own a collectible because you love it, great. If you want a return, buy an index fund and a gun to shoot.
If you’re ready to find out what yours is worth right now, check what new ones sell for with our gun price check, then see the used listings.
How I Measured This
The model table is a single-day snapshot of our price catalog on October 22, 2026, using median asking prices so one overpriced listing can’t skew a row. These are asking prices, not sold prices, and the used side mixes every condition from worn to like new. A few rows are small, with the Ruger LCR at 8 new listings and the Ruger Mark IV at 10 used, so read every number as a direction, not a quote for your gun. The M&P9 2.0 sale is our own, from October 2026. The Python sales come from our Colt Python value guide’s log. Inflation figures use the BLS CPI-U annual averages for 1955, 1964 and 2025.
FAQ: Gun Depreciation
How much does a gun depreciate when you buy it new?
Across 32 popular models in our price catalog on October 22, 2026, the median used asking price was 12% below the median new price. Polymer pistols dropped the most, at a median of 20.5%, and shotguns the least, at 3%. What you get when you sell is lower still: on an S&W M&P9 2.0, a private sale was worth about $400 and a gun shop offered $300, against a median new price of $693.54.
Do guns lose value over time?
Most of the loss happens once, when a gun goes from new to used. After that, condition, the model's reputation and whether the maker still builds it matter more than age. A well-kept used gun bought at the right price can often be sold years later for close to what you paid.
Which guns hold their value best?
In our data, the Colt Python, Ruger 10/22, Henry Lever Action .22, Ruger Blackhawk and Walther PDP all listed higher used than new, and the Mossberg 590 and Beretta 92FS sat within 1% of new. Cheap classics, designs that never change and collectible originals hold value best.
Which guns lose the most value?
Popular polymer pistols and AR-15s. The Ruger AR-556 listed 29% below new used, and the S&W M&P9 2.0 and M&P9 Shield 28%. There are so many of them on the used market that a used one has to undercut a new one on sale.
Do guns keep up with inflation?
Collectibles can, common guns don't. An original Colt Python cost $125 in 1955, which is $1,501.60 in 2025 dollars, and originals sold for a median $1,810 in our log, about 21% ahead of inflation over seven decades. A Ruger 10/22 cost $54.50 in 1964, or $566.00 in 2025 dollars, and a new one now has a median price of $349.99.
Does round count lower a gun's value?
Less than most people think on a modern gun, because a buyer can't verify it. Condition is what they see: finish wear, rust, and whether the box, manual and magazines are all there. On collectible guns, a gun that looks unfired is worth far more.
Do modifications lower a gun's value?
Permanent ones do. Stippling, a cut slide, a refinish or a trigger job shrink your pool of buyers to people who want exactly that. Bolt-on parts you can remove are fine, as long as you keep the factory parts to put back before you sell.
How does insurance depreciate a gun?
If your policy pays actual cash value, the insurer subtracts depreciation from the replacement cost. One claims depreciation tool lists firearms at 5% a year, which would value a ten-year-old $600 pistol at $300. Ask your agent whether guns are covered at replacement cost and what the firearm theft limit is.
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