By Jason Reid
Rochester, New York – -(Ammoland.com)- What is the difference between expense and an investment?
Dictionary.com defines Expense, or Expensive, as: The cost or the charge of something. Pretty basic, we all understand what expenses are and how we occur expenses, especially as we are procuring our hunting gear for each season.
Investment is defined as: The investing of money or capital in order to gain profitable returns, as interest, income, or appreciation in value. In other words, spending money because the value of a particular item will be worth having in the future. How often do we justify the purchasing of hunting gear as an investment? I do, all the time and I am sure you do it to. It is and “investment” is the classic explanation to a spouse on exactly why you spent $500 on a new backpack.
My father taught me, guns are an investment. They hold their value if taken care of and can be used for lengthy periods of time, even passed down through the family. When it comes to guns, it is no secret, you get what you pay for.
I once spent $250 on a used pump shotgun. Guess what, it is a $250 dollar gun.
It is no secret, there are some impressive guns at the Safari Club International Convention event here in Vegas. Guns for every need and adventure, from Birds to elephants. Yet in the quest to find the highest quality gun, the price tag continued to rise. After seeing a few insane price tags, I turned the corner and saw the Beretta booth.
Beretta ( www.beretta.com ) . You hear the name, you immediately think quality. A friend of mine once lent me his A400 for a few groups of geese while sitting in a cut wheat field, he almost didn’t get it back. Walking into the booth the search was on, until Ian Harrison, Direct of Beretta’s Trident Program asked, have you seen the Izumi?
Combining the essence of the Zen, which in Asian cultures is the perfection and harmony of all things, and their Premium Guns philosophy, Beretta has created a gun called the SO6 EELL IZUMI. This gun took five years to complete by artisans on two continents. As per usual, the stock is made of Turkish Walnut and Harrison told me the stock is a true side-lock for superior strength.
However, it is the engraving which took years to finish which makes the gun a true legend. The artist, Izumi Kosher, the most important Samurai Sword Engraver alive, decided to use dragons as the theme for the metal engraving on the receiver. There is a symbolic reason behind the use of dragons. They are there to ensure power and provide protection to the owner of the gun and his or her family. This is a unique blend of culture, the symbol of power and protection from the orient, combined with the symbol of protection in American culture, a gun.
There are two different types of dragons engraved on the receiver, there is the Sea Dragon on the right and on the left there is a Celestial Dragon. Both are depicted bursting from waves chasing a small golden inlay sphere known as the Dragon Ball or the Sacred Pearl. For those of you not up to date with your early Taoism history, the “Sacred Pearl” or Dragon Ball is a symbol of wisdom or Yang energy. Power, protection, wisdom and energy engraved by hand with golden in-lays, it is only one like it in the world. There is a reason why this gun retails for $200,000 dollars.
In addition the gun is accompanied by a Tanto, which is a traditional Samuri Dagger and was created by five traditional Japanese Sword masters. Forged from iron Powder, the dagger has gold symbols, a dragon engraved into the blade, and the handle is made of shark’s skin.
So, is a gun an expense or is it an investment?
About Jason Reid:
Jason Reid is a writer and business professional from upstate New York. After deciding to pursue his dream of becoming an outdoor writer, Jason started a blog from his dorm room at Houghton College, growing it and working hard to earn opportunities. While bowhunting big game is his ultimate passion, Jason welcomes all outdoor challenges which force him to push his limits. Jason’s work can be viewed on his website Pushingthewildlimits.com
This is an investment. When ever you have something that no one else has then it becomes something that people will
search to have and own. The more rare the more valuable.
It’s an investment when it gains value over the cost of purchase, inflation and maintenance. When it can provide security for something that cannot be replaced, it is also an investment.