1917 Eddystone - pawnshop price

[smitty22gunr]

Hello all,

I saw a 1917 Eddystone in a small town gun shop today. I'm not familiar with them and now know only what can be learned in a three minute web search. As for the rifle itself, it looked to be in pretty decent shape. I couldn't take it apart to fully inspect, but the visible metal still bears good finish. The butt plate is the exception, having taken on a brighter buffed look, presumably from years of wear. The cleaning kit and rod were missing.

The wood is in very good shape but may have been sanded and refinished at some point, as no visible stamps remain (if there ever were any) and the surface is very smooth. The bolt is gray in color. The bore had strong rifling and some shine. There are what look like two little pits, but without a running a couple patches through I couldn't tell.

My question concerns price. The tag says $1799 and the guy said he could do better - $1200.

A quick check on gunbroker shows most examples listed at much lower than that. Anyone have a feel for a realistic value? Here's a few crappy pics:


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[rcmodel]

Stock for sure is refinished.

Value?

About half off the 'reduced' price.

rc

 

[.455_Hunter]

Run away!

 

[smitty22gunr]

Stock for sure is refinished.

Value?

About half off the 'reduced' price.

rc

When I first looked at the tag I thought it read $179.99. Boy was I wrong.

 

[desidog]

I think the "1" in front was intended to be the second strike through the $ sign.

 

[Dave P]

not more than 700$

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

I don't think I'd go for the 1,200 either.

I've been outa the 1917 game for a while but even the "deal" seems high.

Too, I'd want to see perfect cartouches, the bore, buttplate... lots of stuff before I gave what I would think to be a premium number.

Sweet 1917s are certainly flirting with a thousand dollars but from what we're shown on this one... nope.


Todd.

 

[Bullseye]

These are in my constant favorite searches on Gunbroker. My first deer was shot with a 30-06 1917 Eddystone. Different makers names on these, Winchester, Remington etc. British ones are in .303
I get on a kick and back off when I see the prices that are over $500.00 - $600.00 on rifles like that one.
Granted that one has a full stock, many were sporterized but still, I agree, that price is way out of line.
If you should find one at a great price, be sure to check that the bore hasn't been shot out. They do tend to kick like a small mule too with the metal butt plate.

 

[bannockburn]

smitty22gunr

I would say half of the reduced price of $1200 would be about right.

I kind of got a kick out the first price on the tag (looks to be $2400+ and was covered up by the orange $1699 +tax...cash sticker). They may be a small town gun shop but they sure like to play big city pricing games with their guns.

 

[joem1945]

Tag price way too high!!! IMHO $800.00 to $900.00. And that's if the bore is good and MW is slight.

 

[rcmodel]

The stock has been sanded & refinished.

What ever military collector value it might have had is gone.

$800 to $900 is way too high with the sanded stock taken into consideration.

rc

 

[smitty22gunr]

Thanks to all for the info and advice. I'm not surprised to hear that the price seems way off, as some of the stuff the guy behind the counter said seemed to come right out of Pawn Shop Selling 101. For starters, when I asked him how he got it he told me that he gave a lot more to the kid who brought it in because the kid didn't know what he had (supposedly the kid asked for $200). What really got headed toward the door was how quick he was to offer to come down $500 from the sale price!


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[eastbank]

i bought this ww-2 rebuilt 1917 3006 remington rifle in very good condition with good bore for 185.00 at a gunshow three weeks ago, a real steal. normal price seems to be 450-600 for a good rifle and more for ex rifles. eastbank.

 

[AlexanderA]

The price is certainly out of line. At a recent large gun show in Virginia, the going asking price for collector-grade M1917's was around $800. You could probably bargain them down to less.

The cleaning kit and rod were missing.

The M1917 does not have a cleaning rod. The butt trap is supposed to contain the oiler, which has a compartment for a pull-through and brush.

The proper sling is either a M1907 leather sling, or the Kerr patent sling. Original Kerr slings are getting pricey. Reproductions are being made.

On Eddystone '17's, in particular, you should check to see if the barrel is original (marked near the front sight with an "E" and the month and year of manufacture), or is a WW2 replacement (marked near the front sight with "JA" or "HS"). A replacement barrel might possibly indicate a cracked receiver ring. The original barrels were torqued on very tight, and when they were removed (for replacement), this put stress on the receivers, which sometimes caused hairline cracks. These can be very difficult to see.

 

[armabill]

Check the front end of the stock for an E also.

 

[cosh]

Saw two Eddystone M1917 at a Cabelas. Both under $400 sporterized with tapped receiver to add scope bases. One was very nice looking, other not so nice but less $$. I'd pass if a pawn shop had one priced that high unless it was really something special..with documentation.

 

[rcmodel]

The trouble with a 'sporterized' on is it's a crap shoot on whether the scope bases are on straight.

In order to do it, somebody had to mill or grind the rear sight ears off.

A lot of the were ground off in Bubba's garage with an angle grinder and three Bud's down eyeball precision.

So the rear base is in the wrong angle of the dangle, and there is not a whole lot you can do about it!!

rc

 

[harv1]

I was kinda wondering if the sn# was way low on a 1917 eddystone would it make it more valuable

 

[harv1]

no i wouldn't pay that

 

[AABEN]

Way to high 500.00 or less there is a lot of them out there. I have one that has been sporterized I have it scoped it does kick some