Firearms without the case or manual

[Dr.Rob]

MANY MANY manufacturers will supply a manual for FREE, it's part of the 'safety' and consumer protection era of thinking.

There's a brisk market on e-bay and gunbroker on vintage hangtags and manuals, but if you have something made in the last 20 or so years chances are the mfg has a manual for it.

 

[Archaic]

So many of my guns are either bought used from an individual, inherited, swapped, etc. that I've never really worried much about the case. Mostly I'm more interested in whether it reliably goes bang when I pull the trigger. I've been able to find paperwork online for even the old oddballs (the Savage 20V), so I'm not too concerned with the manuels either.

 

[mo841]

When I buy a used gun I do not expect a box or manual to come with it. I also would not pay extra for the box and manual. When I buy a gun new, the box and manual usually gets tossed because its all the same " don't point at ur head and pull the trigger" type information. The only gun I have the manual for is my 500 because it comes with a nice case and I just stuck it behind the padding. I do think it is important to keep something like a cleaning kit that came with the gun because that is something usefull and cool to have.

 

[Trebor]

It depends on the gun. The more collectible the gun, the more valuable it is to have the original box, manual, warranty documents, tools, etc.

For some S&W collectors the tools and stuff can be harder to find than the guns, so a gun with a complete set of accessories (as shipped) is more valuable than a lose gun.

For guns that aren't collectible, but are "shooters," it really doesn't matter much to most people.