Whats the rarest firearm you own?

[inkd]

I don't know how rare it is but it's probably worth the most out of anything I have.

Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 National Match in 30-06.

Pretty good condition, I bought it from a gunsmith friend of the family and it was a working gun for him. He shot High Power matches with it and hunted with it.

It has a cool old Lyman apeture sight system on it.

 

[rj1974]

I don't know how rare it is but it's probably worth the most out of anything I have.

Pre-64 Winchester Model 70 National Match in 30-06.

Pretty good condition, I bought it from a gunsmith friend of the family and it was a working gun for him. He shot High Power matches with it and hunted with it.

It has a cool old Lyman apeture sight system on it.

Ummmm , yeah I will be needing that thanks

 

[Alphabrew]

It's not rare or valuable but I have an Ortgies Pocket with holster that was taken off a dead German soldier at Anzio beachhead, but I have no documentation to support that claim. Still a nice .32 auto though. Must have been a personal sidearm.

 

[Boom Boom]

Springfield M1898 Krag .30-40 HBAR match rifle with left-handed stock
factory-engraved Robin Hood No. 1 revolver

 

[Chaunsey]

hmmm im seein a lot of words, but not so many pictures.

 

[Alphabrew]

My Ortgies:

 

[Alphabrew]

I never noticed this before but I think the holster has an eagle with a swastika in its claws:

 

[budman93]

The wife has this old Marlin.

That is a beautiful gun...

 

[aray]

I have an 1862 Springfield Armory 58 caliber rifle, recovered off the field of battle in Gettysburg. It was originally a Union weapon however it is personalized (initials carved in stock) and I'm told that Union soldiers were not allowed to personalize their weapons. So that means it was lost to a Confederate for a time, and then lost again at Gettysburg. I have the paperwork provenance for all owners since that time.

FYI the bayonet is real too but was purchased separately as the rifle did not come with one originally.

I have a relative who fought and was wounded on the first day of Gettysburg so it makes it all the more real to me.

 

[teratos]

Wow, Ray. Awesome history to that gun.

 

[trapture]

My Rarest is a Lee Enfield No. 2 that was bored out to be 3" .410 Shotgun. Usually these were only bored out to 2 1/4" (British .410 Shells)

 

[zebramochaman]

1917 Colt Army 45, carried by my father when he was an Army MP.
MFG in 1918 she 95 and still shots straighter then my S&W 9mm.

Wow that is special. Not only that your father carried it which is unbelievable but because it is part of history.

 

[trickg]

So what is it with Colt and Wincheter where value is concerned? Most guns, even if they are old and somewhat rare, never seem to command the premium of Colts and Winchesters. Is it simply a name thing where Colt and Winchester are more closely associated with "The Wild West" than other brands? (Which is interesting, because from what I have read, Smith & Wesson had a pretty big role too.)

 

[Chaunsey]

So what is it with Colt and Wincheter where value is concerned? Most guns, even if they are old and somewhat rare, never seem to command the premium of Colts and Winchesters. Is it simply a name thing where Colt and Winchester are more closely associated with "The Wild West" than other brands? (Which is interesting, because from what I have read, Smith & Wesson had a pretty big role too.)

absolutely, its all about popularity, colt and winchester guns have the name recognition, the history, the americana factor etc.

even many years ago, when there were very few weapons collectors, there were people collecting colts and winchesters of the wild west era.

there are lots of people out there with money who would like an old west revolver, not even necessarily just gun collectors either, and so the bigger the pool of people that want something, and there not being enough of them for everyone, the price goes up and up.

with real original colt SAA's the value just keeps going up with no end in sight.

part of it is also that high end guns have become an investment too, they always go up in value, and because its an investment, that vastly increases the number of people with enough money to think about buying them.

 

[trickg]

My Dad's SAA sold for $5700 at the auction we held, and it wasn't even pre 1899 - it was 1909/1910 based on the serial number lookups I've done.

The value on that old Winchester is silly - I mean, it's just a rifle, right? It's all in the eye of the beholder though and when it comes to those old guns, especially with the 1886 due to the fact that so many people had them customized with special order stuff, the more rare they are with their combination of features, the more valuable they are.

I'm curious about the value of smoothbore's Parker - I thought that would have been insanely expensive, but looking around, while it's definitely a costly gun to have, I don't think it's quite what I thought it was going to be.

 

[StantonCree]

One of these little babies. I paid too much for mine, but I don't regret it. Chinese AKs are the bestest.

No cracks or chips in the stock? That thing looks beautiful!!

 

[smoothebore]

My Dad's SAA sold for $5700 at the auction we held, and it wasn't even pre 1899 - it was 1909/1910 based on the serial number lookups I've done.

The value on that old Winchester is silly - I mean, it's just a rifle, right? It's all in the eye of the beholder though and when it comes to those old guns, especially with the 1886 due to the fact that so many people had them customized with special order stuff, the more rare they are with their combination of features, the more valuable they are.

I'm curious about the value of smoothbore's Parker - I thought that would have been insanely expensive, but looking around, while it's definitely a costly gun to have, I don't think it's quite what I thought it was going to be.

As soon as I take some good pictures I'm going to list that Parker on Gunbroker. I need to turn that investment back into cash. The asking opening bid will be $4,350.00 with no reserve. That's with the trunk case included. That's actually less than I paid, but hopefully I can attract some bids. Who knows, the market really stinks right now.

 

[Jimbob2.0]

So what is it with Colt and Wincheter where value is concerned? Most guns, even if they are old and somewhat rare, never seem to command the premium of Colts and Winchesters. Is it simply a name thing where Colt and Winchester are more closely associated with "The Wild West" than other brands? (Which is interesting, because from what I have read, Smith & Wesson had a pretty big role too.)

Yup, name, mystique, collector base. Rare doesnt always equal valuable, but its a good start

 

[Chaunsey]

Yup, name, mystique, collector base. Rare doesnt always equal valuable, but its a good start

the garand is good evidence of that.

technically its one of the most common old guns in america, but because of its popularity, the prices are far higher than many far more rare guns.

 

[aray]

I was asked to post a photo of the initials carved into the stock of the Gettysburg Confederate-captured Union 1862 Springfield Armory 58 caliber rifle, ref: http://www.mdshooters.com/showpost.php?p=2241018&postcount=110

The photo is below. Note it is a bit unclear: is it RF or RC? Is the vertical line accidentally too long (RC) or intentional (RF)? Wish I knew...

If I had to guess I'd say RF because: the size of the R and the F match up well, whereas you'd expect a C to be twice as large; related the horizontal bar for the F is aligned with the horizontal midpoint of the R as you'd expect. But that's just a guess since that vertical line appears to be made with just a single cut of the knife. All other bars the owner whittled out multiple strokes thus making his intent clear and unambiguous.