Help appraising a shotgun

[Six]

I'm not really into the ultra-tactical look, and instead went for a classic 870 Police to keep in the closet. The shotgun works great and I haven't had any issues with it. I just don't shoot it nearly as much as I thought I would and am debating selling it to move my money over to the guns I do shoot.

But first I thought I'd check what a fair price for this would be. I've only seen a few of these mentioned in the forums and have no clue where they're valued. I only found a single item configured the same, but it had the "Police Magnum" markings. So I need some help with a ball park figure for going rates before making a decision on whether I want to sell or keep it.

The shotgun is a Remington 870 Police. The receiver is marked "Remington Model 870 Magnum" and it will take 2 3/4" and 3" shells. There is no "Police" marking on the receiver, however a call to Remington confirms that it shipped as a 870 Police and remains in original configuration (Except for a mag extension).

It was made in the late 1980s, has a 20" fixed cylinder smooth bore barrel, walnut stock, and rifle sights. The walnut stock and bore are both look good. Used, but good.

The one concession I made was to add a +3 Choate blue steel magazine extension to give it a total capacity of 7+1. I still have the original magazine cap as well.

The finish is a high luster and very rich blue, and aside from a few minor scratches on the left side of the receiver, it's absolutely flawless - even if my pictures don't reflect it well.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

 

[Gordon]

I'd give ya $400. But I strongly advise you to keep it as you would have to pay 3 times as much to approach any gun on the planet which could be considered more usefull (i.e. destructive) IMHO.!

 

[imabballer]

I am a real estate appraiser, and I will say up front I know absolutely squat about appraising personal property. However, there are only three basic ways to determine an opinion of value on just about anything. (The cost, income, and sales comparison approaches.) The income approach really doesn't apply since unless you're going to use it to commit a robbery it's not going to make you any money to speak of. The cost approach would be great IF it was a pretty new gun. You could see what the same type of guns are selling for new and deduct or add for depreciation/appreciation, but with it being older it would be very difficult to determine depreciation/appreciation. With this type of property I would imagine the most reliable way to determine a fair market value would be to do a little research on the various gun auction sites and see what similar guns in similar condition are selling for. That would probably be MUCH more reliable than getting a guesstimated value from somebody on this forum who may or may not know anything about your particular gun.

I apologize for that being a little long winded but I'd hate to see you take bad advice.

 

[mgkdrgn]

As per the "blue book"

100% - $385
98% - $315
95% - $250
90% - $200
80% - $175
70% - $160
60% - $145

Just from a quick look at your pics ... I'd guess you are a 90-95% gun. Anything over that basically means unshot/NIB condition.

Midllands SC you say .... ;-)

Brett

 

[chuckusaret]

$400 is a tad bit high, in my area and in 95-98% you can get them for $325 up. The pawn shops and local gun shops start at about $400 but always take less. The gun does look good but keep it as is.

 

[Six]

mgkdrgn, what model are those blue book values for?

imabballer, the problem is that there are so few of the actual 870 Police guns for sale. The ones that are for sale are most often the recent tactical versions and NIB. The older blued ones with the Police Magnum markings are far more rare and seem to go for substantially more. I've looked around for similar ones, and the range seems to be from $250 to $650 - which is a pretty big range and I guess my problem is I'm not sure what features affect the price.

If it's valued around $250 I'd just keep it, but then if it's valued at $650 it's too nice to sell

 

[mgkdrgn]

mgkdrgn, what model are those blue book values for?

imabballer, the problem is that there are so few of the actual 870 Police guns for sale. The ones that are for sale are most often the recent tactical versions and NIB. The older blued ones with the Police Magnum markings are far more rare and seem to go for substantially more. I've looked around for similar ones, and the range seems to be from $250 to $650 - which is a pretty big range and I guess my problem is I'm not sure what features affect the price.

If it's valued around $250 I'd just keep it, but then if it's valued at $650 it's too nice to sell

Model 870 Police.