In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
Help identifying guns
Tilton Hilton
Member Posts: 3 ✭
Hello. This is a site my husband Jim used. He recently died unexpectedly and, in addition to the trauma of that, has left me with a lot of guns I know nothing about and must do something with. I have signed into his account to try and get some help. I am wondering if any experts on this site could provide me with the name(s) of a reputable appraiser who is an expert in many types of rifles from all ages and years. Examples are guns from Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, and USSR. Some names are BRNO, Winchester, Mauser, CZ452, SKS, Ruger, Ithaca, Savage, Mossberg, Mosin Nagant, UMC, Springfield, and many others. And help would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Depending upon where you are located there are several people in the forums that may be able to help you. @Locust Fork and @Ricci.Wright come to mind, but there are probably others. Reach out to them is my best advice.
Where are you?
Sorry. Forgot to say I’m in the Pittsburgh, PA area
A little far for me, but one of our members should be close enough to help.
First - my sympathies for your loss.
As mentioned by others - on the eastern side of the country - the big names are Locust Fork and Ricci Wright - middle of the country - David Nunn - on the west coast - it is 'lock-stock-and-barrel'.
Here is locust Fork - aka - Kasey McKay's seller id:https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Sort=13&IncludeSellers=618902&PageSize=48
Here is Ricci Wright's seller id: https://www.gunbroker.com/All/search?Sort=13&IncludeSellers=562745&PageSize=48
You can go to any one of their auctions and "Ask The Seller A Question" - then using 'private mail' - exchange actual e-mail addresses / phone numbers / whatever and go from there.
Best Regards - AQH
Thanks much for the help
The sellers listed above are top-notch, experienced and reliable sellers. There are probably other auction houses in your area that would handle your items. A gunshop or dealer would offer you 50 - 60% of the market value and take all of them at one time. Good luck.
If you are trying to determine an estimated price for firearms in order to sell, then most experienced gun shops can do that as long as the person doing the appraisal is well experienced and not some new hire. Large stores such as Bass Pro and Cabela's buy firearm collections. Beware that some of those places will purposefully low-ball you in order to buy your firearms cheap and then make money on reselling them. Also, those places might be "knowledgeable" in general regarding firearms, but not experts on all types of firearms. Some might be more knowledgeable of American made firearms, but not so of foreign made firearms. Even very large gun stores might offer a person half of the true value just to make a profit. For example, a very large gun store which has hundreds of used firearms tried to purchase a German Luger pistol from a female friend of mine offering her $600. That pistol came from her dad's estate, and she needed the money but checked with me first. I researched that pistol, took lots of photos, and was able to get just over $1200 for her from a collector. Insurance appraisals are typically done by Certified Firearms Appraisal services. Some of those can even do the appraisal without on on-site visit with the owner providing good quality photos along with basic descriptions of the make and model. However, those appraisals can be expensive. The Bluebook of Gun Values is a good place to start on pricing but in my experience are at least 2 years behind with currently inflated firearm prices. You also need some experience with using Bluebook to determine more accurate estimates of values. The condition of a firearm has a great deal to do with the value.