By Jason Reid [via ammoland.com]

Dictionary.com defines “expense” as “The cost or the charge of something.” We all understand what expenses are and how we incur them, especially when we’re 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 more 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 too . . .

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.

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 my 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. 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 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. The stock is a true side-lock for superior strength.

However, it’s the engraving – which took years to finish – that makes the gun a true legend. It was created by Artist Izumi Koshiro, the most important Samurai sword engraver alive. For this work, he used dragons as the theme for the receiver’s metal engraving. Dragons are symbolic; they ensure power and provide protection to the owner of the gun and his or her family. The result 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: the Sea Dragon on the right, a Celestial Dragon on the left. 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 is a symbol of wisdom or Yang energy.

Power, protection, wisdom and energy engraved by hand onto a high end shotgun, with golden in-lays. The Beretta SO6 EELL IZUMI is only shotgun like it in the world. There is a reason why this gun retails for $200,000 dollars. Investment or expense? Does it even matter?