Is this triple-barrel firearm a treasure, or dirt?

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Matt304

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So here's where it starts. A friend is given a gun by his great grandfather that was passed down to him. Yesterday, apparently he decides, "I want to sell this" and made a deal to get around $500 for it. I had never saw the gun in person but it doesn't look tough for a smith to clean up. Anyways, my other friend was with him at the time and also isn't too familiar with firearms (he just got into shooting less than 3 years ago), but even he heard as the story went, it was "from 1905". So he started thinking something isn't right, and the guy who's buying, wants it bad it sounds. So my friend took pictures luckily. The pictures aren't the greatest. But it's all I have. When I looked at the pictures, I thought, "I should tell this guy DO NOT get rid of that gun for $500, before doing some research".

Maybe I saw something in it, like the engraving work, the wood, or the fact that it is a triple barrel gun in 30-30 chambered in the bottom, smaller barrel, that made me want to try and save his butt. What if it's worth $10,000 per se? I just don't know. You wouldn't want to accidentally sign away your car to your neighbor and say, "whoops".

I have these pictures and that is it. Sorry about their quality.

Does anyone know what these guns were used for? I cant tell if it's a bird gun with grizzly protection, or what.

Any info on what this is, could save a guys left arm. Thanks
 

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More pics uploaded.

Again, sorry about their detail. Some people can't wait that extra second for a digital lens to focus. :)
 

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I don't know crap about drillings except that most of them cost waaaaaayyyyy more than I can afford. Even a modern cheapy Savage 24 is $500.

You're friend absolutely should not sell that gun without having it appraised. I'm betting a couple thou at least, but then again, I'm no expert.
 
Selling away family heirlooms for $500......IMO, it really doesn't matter how much it's worth. Unless the kids are starving, why sell something you could pass down for hundreds of years?
 
He is lucky to have a friend like you. Unless this is some kind of extreme emergency then he should not be selling that rifle. If anything he could use it as collateral. Either way I'd wager (and this is just a guess) that drilling is worth at least 4 times his asking price.
 
whatever the value, i'd pay $500 for it ;)

that's a sweet shotgun/rifle. definately something to keep around for the family to admire. i'd have an appraisal done on it quickly, and then have it thoroughly gone over. personally, if that gun ended up in my safe, i'd hope that the value is low. that way, i could restore it and not destroy the "collectable" factor

it'd be really cool to see what comes of this three barrel gun
 
The engraving on the firearm is worth a lot more than 500.00 just as a wall hanger. No way I would let it go anywhere in that ball park.
 
Even without seeing it in person, I'd say it's worth a lot more than $500 unless it's a fake. Drillings rifles can get really pricy. There's a lot of work that goes into getting the barrels all shooting where they need to be to use one set of sites, and that work is done by actual craftsmen.

As far as the use goes, they were/are used mostly on multi-species hunts. For instance, you wouldn't have to carry a rifle and a shotgun if you wanted to harvest deer and turkey on the same hunt.

Definitely get it appraised.
 
As per above, the engraving alone suggests a good drilling worth more than $500 retail. But he should not imagine he has won the lottery and he MUST NOT have a Smith "clean it up ", at least not yet.

You say the rifle barrel is 30-30? It is marked as such or you are eyeballing it at 30-30? Not that it's impossible or hugely unlikely but it would be somewhat uncommon in a probably German gun from 1905. But those shotgun barrels could be 20ga. A light drilling like that is somewhat less common - worth more.

If you can get the forensic off and some good high res pics (sorry, these are not) it would go a long way to identifying maker.and chmberings, age and ballpark value. Your friend owes you.
 
There appear to be some marks on the barrels above the chambers - would it be possible to get clearer shots of those?

Drillings were mostly made by various German and Austrian makers - prices generally seem to start at around $1500 and go on up from there. Selling one - especially an heirloom - for $500 before finding out exactly what it was would be downright stupid.
 
Years ago while serving in Germany I saw one drilling like that. At the time it was the equilivant of 2800 dm in 80's DM's. That was about 4 months of my pay at the time.
If it is as old as you say and in good or better condition, I would probobly start the bidding at 2.5 K. That is a masterpiece of engraving.
 
robhof

As stated above "the engraving alone is worth more than $500". The fitting and adjusting of the 3 barrels to fire where pointed was a very long process and the Drillings were always considered a Gentleman's gun and priced high. There are fakes out there, because of the high price, but they don't usually hold up to any close inspection. Fit, finish and quality of the engraving are easy for even amateurs to spot. He should definitely have it appraised and definitely don't sell it for $500.
 
ABSOLUTELY this gun is worth multiples of what he has been offered. The pictures show a design way different than the common drilling: underlever hammerless action with a very rounded shape, double underlug lockup rather than the usual Greener system, tang safety, cocking indicators top of the breech, etc. These features, plus the wonderful deep relief engraving makes this a rare prize for collectors.

I'd suggest getting better quality photos of whatever markings are on the barrels and action, combined with the shots you already have, and send them to www.rockislandauction.com for an evaluation. These are some of the most experienced appraisers for firearms on the planet, and this gun will definitely get their attention.
 
That's a very nice drilling. Unfortunately a specific ID is difficult because there's no picture of the proof markings. I can read a part of something but can't make out the rest. Absolutely worth way more than $500. Whether it's a more mass-produced item or something custom is another question but I believe these were all custom. And that workmanship looks top-notch.

To give you an idea, the only vintage combination guns I've ever found under $1,000 were really ratty old cape guns. Most run over $5 grand and if it's a noted maker much more than that. They were used primarily by Continental hunters who wanted to be able to bag anything from bear to birds. They're extremely difficult to make well, since you have to be an expert on both fine shotguns and fine double rifles. They have to be light enough for wing shooting and heavy enough to cope with full powered rifle rounds. And the physics of all those barrels stuck together makes everything ten times harder to engineer. They were precisely regulated for certain loads at certain ranges. Sometimes with such precision that they'd be calibrated for certain *climates.*
 
A member on here by the name of DM also knows a ton about drillings, worth sending him a PM if you can get more pics of proofmarks, etc. Without more info what you've heard so far is all we know for sure. It looks like a legit drilling from that era and I bet it's chambered in something like 16ga over 7x57 or similar. It's worth more than $500, definitely. How much more depends on the maker, the chambering, and other details. Cosmoline pretty well covered it.
 
My advice would be, if he doesn't need money, don't sell it. It's value will only increase. It would be hard to find a better investment -- it's as if his great-grandfather left him a can full of gold coins.
 
combo guns or drillings especially become popular because often you were muted how many guns you could own so why not a shotgun and rifle in one. Hunt all game while carrying just one long gun. I doubt it's 30-30. Definitely get it looked at by a pro not the kid behind the counter at the lgs
 
It needs a proper apraisal to determine the value. That said I would feel comfortable paying $1,000 just by looking at the pictures you posted.

These old drillings can sell for several thousand or into the 5 figure range as well. The key again is to have a proper apraisal done by someone who knows the guns and the market.
 
Isn't that one of those double barrel 10 gauge with a rifle barrel too? I thought I saw one of those on Sons of Guns a while back. I don't believe that I would be getting rid of that without thinking about it or doing the research on it.
 
As others have mentioned, a clear pic of the inscriptions on top would likely show pertinent information to identify the drilling. You have pics of everything but. It appears that something is missing on the tang, perhaps a flip up sight for the rifle cartridge.

Don't try shooting any ammo until all the chambering are identified, depending on it's age even the shot shell may not be standard modern dimensions.


NCsmitty
 
NCsmitty raises an excellent point. If the gun is from 1905 the shotgun chambers may still be for the shorter shells of yesteryear, so even if you see markings for a specific bore don't assume it is safe for a modern length shell, let alone steel shot, etc. Plus the rifle chamber may have been reamed to a different spec to convert to a more readily available round, Ackley Improved, k-hornet, or similar. Once all that is verified the guy can sell it for a fair price without getting ripped off or keep it awhile and enjoy it.
 
A user would also want to determine whether the shotgun barrels are Damascus or fluid steel.
 
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