What factors affect the value of a gun?

Answer 1

So you have this firearm you want to ask about the value of. How much is it worth? Here are some things that gun collectors and shooters and other gun hobbyists would want to know:

Manufacturer / Make Is it a Colt, a Marlin, etc? Who made it?

Importer or Distributor: Sometimes it's not easy to tell who made a foreign gun that has been imported. The name on the gun may be the importer or distributor instead of the manufacturer. Okay, so tell us that name. It is F.I.E.? Century Arms? Samco?

Model Number: As a substitute for a detailed description of the gun, if you can find the model number this will tell us a lot. For example, a S&W model 29 is a .44 magnum revolver. If you just tell us you have a S&W (Smith and Wesson) but don't mention the model number, then I can't tell anything about the gun's frame size, or caliber, or type of action.

Caliber: The best way to describe the caliber is to read it as it is marked on the barrel or action of the gun itself. Don't just say ".22" because we might not know if you have a .22LR or a .22 magnum. If the gun is marked ".380 auto" make sure to call it that, don't drop the zero and call it a ".38 auto" because your 5th grade math teacher taught you that the zero is meaningless if it's after the decimal point and not followed by any other numbers. On gun calibers, all the zeros and decimal points matter.

Model Name: Some guns don't have a model number, but they have a name. Some have both. Sometimes you need both to properly identify a gun, other times the name is unique for a specific model number. For example, a Ruger "Bearcat" doesn't need a model number too. But High Standard made a bunch of different guns marked "Military" and "Supermatic." So for those, use both the name and model number if there is one.

Description: Even among guns of a certain make and model, there may be differences in barrel length, finish, sights, grips, and other features. So mention these things. Using the example above, you could say you have a S&W Model 29 with a 6" barrel, bright nickel plating, with handsome brown wooden grips that have grooves for your fingers.

Serial Number: If you don't want to tell the whole world what the full serial number is, how about typing all except the last two digits and then use a couple of X's as substitutes for the numbers or letters you left out.

For example, if your S&W model 10 revolver has serial number C910616, you could publish it as "C9106XX". This will help S&W collectors narrow down the year or years during which your gun was made.

Condition: This can be difficult for beginners and people who are not used to grading and classifying firearms by condition. But don't let that stop you from telling us what you can. You can picture what the gun looked like when it was brand-new, right? So tell us how it is different from how it looked back then. If there are rust spots in a few places, mention that. If the blued finish is worn off and shiny metal (or dull brown colored metal) is showing in some areas, say so. If there are any scratches on the metal parts or big dents on the wood parts, or if any of the plastic parts are cracked, mention that.

Thanks! Good luck.