First, a disclaimer, I really don't know the answer to your question. That said, I have had guns engraved and certainly do know engravers work that, like any fine art, will either hold their value or increase in value. That said, what I would suggest is that IMO embellish your gun to make you happy and not as an investment.

 

I don’t know about retaining value but I do know that I shoot 25% better scores with a nicely engraved Kolar

nice wood adds 10%

 

Nice engraving.

 

Jon Novak was doing some of the factory engraving. Jon does great work. He announced last month that they have parted company amicable.

 

 

While I can’t answer if it’s a good investment I do like the engraved guns

 

There is a prestige grade for sale on trapshooters for $13.5. I’m not sure what those sold for new, but I’m sure a lot more than he is asking. In my opinion, you would have to hold onto it a long time to even break even as far as investment goes.

 

I am a huge fan of Kolar guns, been shooting one since 2011. With that said, I will say that the engraved Kolars do not seem to hold their value the way an engraved K-80 does.

I'm also not impressed with some of the "standard" engravings, meaning, not a custom engraving.

 

Seems odd to me as the plain Kolars look like an unfinished gun. A simple MX12 style border pattern would really help the look. In person their engravings look, imo, fantastic. The two shown above are just beautiful!

 

Are you talking about the round body? Because the standard grade has a border pattern around the clamshell already.