About a year ago, the wife and I had the gun collection appraised. We took them in to our trusted Gunsmith a few at a time, and he created an appraisal list for the insurance company. This was fine, until we got to this one particular shotgun..
Gunsmith: "You interested in selling this?"
Me: "I hadn't thought about it. I guess I could part with it. What's it worth and what ya got to trade."
At this point he tells me the gun is worth about $800 or so, and he would be willing to trade for the Springfield Armory M1 Garand I had been eyeballing for the last 6 months.
Gunsmith: "The shotgun and $200 and the rifle is yours."
I am thinking, "That's about an $1100 rifle, so I am getting a deal!"
We did the deal.
I found out last week.. He fucked me HARD! That shotgun was a classic, limited edition, Winchester 101 Pigeon Grade in .410, and was worth around $3500. One sold recently on a Gun Auction site to a guy back East for $8000.
Never, never, NEVER take anybodies advice on how much a gun is worth. Always do the footwork yourself.
On a bright side, I guess he has a guilty conscience, because he has re-built triggers for me, blued parts, and done other work, at no charge. But still.. DAMN!
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