This ain't our first rodeo on this subject. And I've been watching others in similar situations.
My wife's instructions are pretty simple, when I croak, she's to call David Carroll and have him stop on his way past. He comes this way every other month and I'd guess as a favor he might even make a special trip. One of our friends died a while back. His widow was faced with just such a situation. She had maybe 300 guns to sell, and it took her a few years to get up the nerve to part with them. The local gun shop came to her home early and did an inventory and made her a low ball offer. Worse, it was the only one she got and she used it in the estate. Caused her some grief and cost her a bundle in income tax between what the used as the value at the time and the increased value when she sold them.
From that we took a few lessons. First, get multiple estimates, and the LGS that wants to sell them also wants to buy them "right." Its OK if you sell to them, but if you allow someone else to sell and they get significantly more, it'll cost you. In all fairness, David eventually took the guns and sold them at various shows and online. But he got twice as much as the initial estimate. That was in the middle of the recession we're going through right now. In the instance of my passing, she'll just let him take the guns he wants to take. I've already given my sons a few guns....
If she wants to give them another one or two, its OK. But the idea is not to allow relatives to cherry pick the collection, taking away the lions share of money she may need in her later years.
I've been in a few LGS over the years. I've seen a bunch of guns, but I've seen some treasures sell for a fraction of what they should. For rare or sought after guns, they belong in the hands of a good marketer who knows the guns and buyers.
Here I don't even agree with Feral (usually I do). I don't mind the 15% commission if the total pie is twice as high. I got burned one time on such a sale, and it won't happen again. My guns go to someone I trust and have seen make similar sales.
And I've seen the other side a few times. Where someone dies and the widow doesn't know how to sell the guns. So she tries the LGS and they offer her pennies on the dollar. So she goes to a trusted friend or two. I learned long ago that its a thankless job, and a loser to get involved in. They see the world one of two ways. If they feel the guns were just old junk, they may be satisfied getting a fair value. But the opposite is often true. They feel their hubby was the smartest gun guy around. Every thing he touched was gold, and his walmart shotgun, all scratched and dented, with rust is worth twice what a new one is worth. And if you try to sell for her, you'll be going to multiple gun shows and it'll be a rare instance they agree to you selling at a fair price. You usually end up paying for the tables, your hotel, meals, and travel "because you were a trusted friend."
The reality here: I don't even know what my guns are worth. But I know there are people who can do a better job than I can.
Now for my story when my father died. My mother hated guns. So we had to summon my brother from the frozen north to come home. And as a surprise my mother had already laid them out on the bed. She said she wanted them out of the house because she didn't want to sleep with them one more night. Then she told us to look at them and she'd be back. So I figured I wasn't dealt the best hand, but there were 2 guns I wanted badly. So instead of handling or looking at them, I picked up a Remington 721 I'd sold to my dad years before, and then his 32 Regulation Police. Those were 2 guns that stood out as unusual for my old man.
So my mother returned and told my brother since he was older, he got to pick first. And like clockwork, he picked the Remington (the only scoped gun.) So I took his Winchester M12, the gun we'd hunted together with so many times. And he then took the revolver. I really wanted that gun, but I could live without it. I took the 1917 Enfield that we'd sporterized (maybe ruining it). But we'd spent the time together working on it.
Then I walked out. My mother said wait, we've still got a dozen guns left. I told her to let him have them, I've got the family guns. The moral here is that guns can vary in monetary value and in value as family heirlooms. I was dad's companion and gun nut. My brother hated guns and still feels they shouldn't be privately owned.
If you're in a family situation where you feel one son or daughter should have a gun upon your passing, make it clear beforehand. Most of us don't have the luxury of knowing when the end is coming. Just give away the guns now. While you're still alive and no one can argue or protest. Get them gone ahead of time. Then you can cut the protester out of your will!
People can and will say anything after you've died, but they won't open their mouth while you're alive.
My big problem: Who's going to haul all my ammo to the dump?