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Good Ol' Boy

Good Ol' Boy

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Mechanicsville, VA
Drove up to my folks house today to move some furniture around for them and finally got my father to let me help him look for his guns he didn't know were at. I wish I'd have taken more pictures but I will when I go back up next weekend to clean them all for him.

I learned some neat family history on most of them and he gave me SN's on the ones we thought might be of value so I could try some research.

The reason for the value interest is he has them under his homeowner's insurance and it was decades ago when he added them and I believe he should update the insurance company on what they might currently be worth. Most of these he has insured for between $2-300 or so.

Any help you guys could give me on value and a way to check exact dates by way of SN would be much appreciated.

The few I think are of some value are as follows...


Browning A5 Light 12- this gun he bought second hand between '66-67. It is in at least 90% condition. Not sure what year the gun is. It does have the Poly choke on it and it's a 26" barrel.

Browning Nomad- he has two identical guns with 6-7" barrels with adjustable sights and two mags for each gun. These appear near mint. These were also bought between '66-67 and were purchased new.

S&W K22- the gun has a 6-7" barrel and is in near mint condition except for the fact that it was stored loaded and the rounds dont seem to want to come out easily. I will further investigate when I go up next weekend but any advice on getting the rounds out is appreciated. This gun my pops remembers shooting as a kid and belonged to either his dad or uncle, so at least a '50s era gun, probably earlier than that.

S&W 27-3 - this gun my pops bought new but is not sure exactly when he bought it, we're thinking '80s to early '90s. It's a 6-7" barrel in near mint condition.



So any advice on value would be great. I'll resurrect this thread next weekend when I have more pics.

For now here's a couple shots of the A5 in the poor lit attic.



20190330_171449_zps3v922l5e.jpg


20190330_171320_zpslrxuelar.jpg
 
Last edited:
It sounds like your Dad's homeowners insurance is out-of-date. Condition is everything in determining gun values. As you know the S&W Model 27 is worth more than $300.00. On the other hand hopefully the chambers and cylinder on the K-22 are not damaged and it is just some dry oil or grease causing the problem.

Your Dads collection seem modest. Have your Dads insurance agent do a review of the policy. He may not need to have the guns specially listed. I have mine covered under the contents.
 
Take a wooden dowel with you (under .22 inches) and you can tap the .22 rounds out of the K-22 Masterpiece. They are sort of known for having tight chambers. And, depending on if the lead on the bullets has "fuzzed up" after being in there a long time, it's not too surprising. A pre-model (17) marked one is likely valued around $500-$600...maybe a little more.

The Smith 27-3s were made between 1982 and 88. That engineering change took away the barrel pin and removed the recessed chambers, and are considered a little less desirable than the previous versions. The Standard Catalog of Smith and Wesson shows a value in excellent condition of $750.
 
The K-22 should be a 6" barrel. Hopefully the cases are sticking due to dried out bullet lube or lead corrosion and the chambers aren't corroded. In good shape that's easily a $600 gun. I have an early 17 marked version I paid $500 that I know was a sock drawer was rusted slightly in spots. Cleaned up great.

A 27-3 with 6" barrel is likely good to sell for $700-750. Any clean N-frame S&W seems to start at at least $600 these days.

Your rough picture shows better than 90% on the Auto-5 Lightweight. Rough guess offhand I'd say $600-800 on that one. Auto-5s don't seem to go for super high prices in my experience, except for extraordinarily nice or rare models.
 
I would value the A-5 at around $800, maybe a little more. The M-27 from $800 to $1200. These prices are from actual sales that I have seen recently. I have not noticed any Nomads that have sold recently or any K-22's.

Those are some nice guns! I would defiantly talk with my insurance agent.
 
Good Ol' Boy

You might want to move the guns from the attic to another part of the house where the climate conditions can be controlled better. May also want to invest in some newer gun cases or a gun safe for storage. For guns that I'm storing for the long term I like to clean them first and then preserve the metal surfaces with something like Birchwood Casey RIG Universal Grease. It does a great job of protecting metal from rust and stays wherever you apply it.
 
I cleaned a revolver for a brother officer once and couldn't remove the cartridges. He hadn't unloaded it in decades and the brass had developed verdigris and fused the cartridges to the cylinder walls. They had to be pounded out of the cylinder and were a green brass color.

No damage resulted to the revolver, but the rest of the gun was just as disgusting, having been carried daily and never cleaned in that same time period.

Browning's site has dates of manufacture for some of their guns based on serial number.
 
There is one screw on the right side at the front of the side plate, remove that screw and the yoke, cylinder, extractor and bullets are free from the gun. Soak them in a good penetrating oil like Kroil or kerosene for a day or two and push them out with a brass punch.
 
There is some information to be gleaned from serial numbers, but not as much as you might think.
Your pistols surely have 6" barrels, I don't know of anything with a 7" barrel.
K22s have notably tight and somewhat rough chambers. After you tap the cartridges out, clean well and try different brands of ammo to see what loads and ejects easiest.
 
bannockburn said:
Good Ol' Boy

You might want to move the guns from the attic to another part of the house where the climate conditions can be controlled better. May also want to invest in some newer gun cases or a gun safe for storage. For guns that I'm storing for the long term I like to clean them first and then preserve the metal surfaces with something like Birchwood Casey RIG Universal Grease. It does a great job of protecting metal from rust and stays wherever you apply it.
Click to expand...





My father doesn't have a safe. We searched for at least an hour just to find the guns, he didn't even know where exactly they were. I'm beyond amazed that these guns were in the shape they are, being stored in the non temperature controlled walk in attics.

Unfortunately I know he's going to want to put them back up there as I've already talked to him about it. They will be passed to me at some point but right now they are his guns and he's going to do what he wants with them, as much as I hate the idea of them going back up there.

I'm just glad we were able to find them so I can properly clean and oil them. Logic says that since they are in the shape they are after being up there at least 20yrs they'll probably be ok for a few more years once I'm done going over them.
 
Good 'Ol Boy

Hate to say it but you're probably right; most likely he will want them back up into the attic. Maybe see if he would consider letting you get an inexpensive Stack-On 8 gun cabinet (price range is around $125 to $150), that could go in a closet somewhere in his house.

If that's not going to happen then protect and preserve them as best you can and maybe get new gun cases for them. With my handguns I like to keep them in gun rugs with a silicone cloth wrapped around them. You can find them online or at Walmart for around $5 to $7 each. Let us know how things go with him.
 
bannockburn said:
Good 'Ol Boy

Hate to say it but you're probably right; most likely he will want them back up into the attic. Maybe see if he would consider letting you get an inexpensive Stack-On 8 gun cabinet (price range is around $125 to $150), that could go in a closet somewhere in his house.

If that's not going to happen then protect and preserve them as best you can and maybe get new gun cases for them. With my handguns I like to keep them in gun rugs with a silicone cloth wrapped around them. You can find them online or at Walmart for around $5 to $7 each. Let us know how things go with him.
Click to expand...




Yup, I already told him I'm bringing all new soft cases for everything when I go up next weekend.

Thanks for the idea about the cloth.
 
Proofhouse.com will have the Browning date
Either of the 2 S&W forums will have folks with the book (as do I) with all of the dates by model, etc.
(You can always PM me the serial and model numbers and I can look them up)
 
Just my opinion, but unless someone has a collection well into 5 figures I wouldn't worry too much about insurance appraisals covering theft. Rather than paying extra money on insurance premiums, and raising red flags that may well get your policy canceled I'd spend the money on better security for the guns. Insurance companies don't like theft claims, especially those for guns. The way they look at it a large number of them are fraudulent and those not fraudulent should have been prevented by the policy holder. Filing gun theft claims is a good way to see your premium sky rocket or be canceled. I've had 2 guns stolen in my life, total value about $1000. I filled out a police report, but never filed a claim with my insurance company both times. One, the more expensive gun, was recovered by LE within a month. Any gun with sentimental value cannot be replaced at any cost anyway.

What you might want to do is look at the total amount of coverage on the home and it's contents in the event of fire or weather related claims. Depending on the location you might need flood insurance too. Changing the total value of the property and contents including the value of the guns will cover them. Unless this has been done recently everything is probably under insured anyway.

Property values go up as well as the value of contents over time. I almost doubled the coverage on my home and contents a few years ago and it had very little effect on the premium. I still had the same coverage that I had when I bought the home 15 years earlier. I figured out the current property value and estimated the cost to replace everything in the home. I was very generous with the value of the firearms to come up with the total value of the home and contents. If I'm burned out, or lose the home to a tornado they write me a check for the value of the policy. No need to document which guns or their value.
 
Some homeowners insurance companies will only cover a couple of thousand dollars of guns unless you take out a rider on the additional value.

Nice guns, especially the 22s.
 
Nuclear

Some homeowners insurance companies will only cover a couple of thousand dollars of guns unless you take out a rider on the additional value.
Click to expand...

Getting additional coverage with a rider is also a good idea, especially if it's been sometime since you've had a policy review with your agent.
 
Both the S&W K-22 and the model 27-3 would probably be 6” barrels. Depending on condition, they are probably worth close to $1,000 or more each from what I have seen recently on Gunbroker.

The K-22 is notorious for having tight chambers and difficult extraction so probably not a problem but be careful when extracting those rimfires.
 
Good Ol' Boy - of even greater importance than a "security cabinet" for these guns is getting them as clean as you can, then grease them up to protect them from the moisture.
If you put them in soft cases (not recommended - they can trap moisture inside), wrap the greased guns in old bath towels to keep the grease from completely fouling the insides of the soft cases. If you DO get a lockable cabinet, if possible, lay the cabinet on its back so the guns lie horizontally in it. If you have to stand it up, rest the guns on their muzzles as this will keep the grease from "melting" in the summer heat and flowing down into the action. OH - and rest the muzzles on some old rags to absorb what grease might flow down to the muzzle.

Either that or plan on going there at least once every 12-24 months to clean and re-oil the guns so you can monitor their condition. Good luck !!
 
So I spent a few hours cleaning today and didn't get to everything. Still have the two Nomads and all the long guns to do.

The K22 with the stuck rounds took some time but I was able to get them out without removing the cylinder.

There was also a Tauras PT99, Bersa .380 and a Rossi .22 that I didn't mention last time because I dont think they're that valuable. The Taurus and Bersa were in excellent shape but the Rossi was so gummed up it would not function. That one took a lot of time as well. I brought the Bersa home because I can't get it reassembled and wanted to mess with it some more. I watched a few videos on it and it came apart easy enough but for the life of me I can't get it back together. I'll probably start another on this but anyone with any suggestions I'm all ears.


Here's a group shot of all the handguns...



20190406_153807_zpsqufa4vlv.jpg
 
Good Ol' Boy said:
So I spent a few hours cleaning today and didn't get to everything. Still have the two Nomads and all the long guns to do.

The K22 with the stuck rounds took some time but I was able to get them out without removing the cylinder.

There was also a Tauras PT99, Bersa .380 and a Rossi .22 that I didn't mention last time because I dont think they're that valuable. The Taurus and Bersa were in excellent shape but the Rossi was so gummed up it would not function. That one took a lot of time as well. I brought the Bersa home because I can't get it reassembled and wanted to mess with it some more. I watched a few videos on it and it came apart easy enough but for the life of me I can't get it back together. I'll probably start another on this but anyone with any suggestions I'm all ears.

Here's a group shot of all the handguns...

View attachment 835215
Click to expand...

Don't know climate where your dad lives, but I live along the Gulf coast with prevailing onshore breezes and hot climate, humidity is a problem. I do have fire proof safe stored in the climate controlled house. Added a golden rod dehumidifier and some of my older guns have had no attention in 7-8 years other than wiping (inside and out) with a gun chamois soaked with Rust-Prufe oil when I could get it, now use Shooter's Choice FP10 CLP. Have had zero rust problems over many years. Prior to the gun safe had a wooden gun cabinet with a small (25W IIRC) light bulb in it to keep humidity down. This worked well also and was in non-climate controlled space.

Zipped gun cases, at least in this climate, have been the ruin of many firearms.

Muzzle down is good tip, cloth to absorb any drainage is good, but I always use an oil soaked patch in a plastic lid to protect the carpet in safe and also to keep from drying out all lube on the muzzle.

As for added insurance, you might look into NRA Armscare https://mynrainsurance.com/homehttps://mynrainsurance.com/home; won't affect homeowner's policy, does not require SN listing except on high $$ items and is fairly reasonable.

Your dad has good taste in firearms as has been stated. Glad the K22 cleaned up OK!

Regards,
hps
 
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