Quoheleth
Member
A woman at church was recently widowed and asked a friend if he would be willing to look at her husband's firearms and determine an approximate worth for purpose of sale.
Tonight after a meeting at church, he & I were talking about the value of the guns. Most we can ballpark pretty well - a couple Remington 870s, etc. - but two have us scratching our heads a bit.
The first is a Ruger semi-auto .44 Magnum. I believe it was called the Deerfield, IIRC, and was sort-of a hybrid of the 10/22 and Mini-Thirty but chambered in the .44 Mag. The guy tonight said his research showed that Ruger marketed two "versions" of this gun, one a better grade and one a lower, "Walmart Special" grade. I haven't seen the gun and he couldn't remember the SN off the top of his head. From his description, the gun is in good condition. Any idea what a fair sale price would be on this rifle? For the sake of argument, let's say "good to very good" condition. Prices at the on-line auctions are literally a $500 spread, from $300 to $800 plus http://www.gunsamerica.com/Search/Category/580/Guns/Rifles/Ruger-Rifles/M44-Carbine.htm. Does $500 sound reasonable, or is the $400-range more realistic?
The second gun is a S&W revolver missing the yoke/crane assembly. It's a .38 Special. I suspect it is a Model 10 or earlier M&P, b/c I showed him my Model 15 and he said it looked very much like it but in nickle. When he pushed the cylinder release, the cylinder literally fell into his hand. Again, the gun is otherwise clean and in very good shape, but missing a rather important part. Would this have to be re-fitted at the factory? Obviously this greatly reduces its value...what would you ballpark this one at? Considering that police trade ins are running <$200, I'm thinking about $75.
Any thoughts are appreciated. I don't know that either of us really wants to buy these, but we might if needed, in which case, we want to offer fair prices.
Thanks,
Q
Tonight after a meeting at church, he & I were talking about the value of the guns. Most we can ballpark pretty well - a couple Remington 870s, etc. - but two have us scratching our heads a bit.
The first is a Ruger semi-auto .44 Magnum. I believe it was called the Deerfield, IIRC, and was sort-of a hybrid of the 10/22 and Mini-Thirty but chambered in the .44 Mag. The guy tonight said his research showed that Ruger marketed two "versions" of this gun, one a better grade and one a lower, "Walmart Special" grade. I haven't seen the gun and he couldn't remember the SN off the top of his head. From his description, the gun is in good condition. Any idea what a fair sale price would be on this rifle? For the sake of argument, let's say "good to very good" condition. Prices at the on-line auctions are literally a $500 spread, from $300 to $800 plus http://www.gunsamerica.com/Search/Category/580/Guns/Rifles/Ruger-Rifles/M44-Carbine.htm. Does $500 sound reasonable, or is the $400-range more realistic?
The second gun is a S&W revolver missing the yoke/crane assembly. It's a .38 Special. I suspect it is a Model 10 or earlier M&P, b/c I showed him my Model 15 and he said it looked very much like it but in nickle. When he pushed the cylinder release, the cylinder literally fell into his hand. Again, the gun is otherwise clean and in very good shape, but missing a rather important part. Would this have to be re-fitted at the factory? Obviously this greatly reduces its value...what would you ballpark this one at? Considering that police trade ins are running <$200, I'm thinking about $75.
Any thoughts are appreciated. I don't know that either of us really wants to buy these, but we might if needed, in which case, we want to offer fair prices.
Thanks,
Q
