Quote:
Originally Posted by Norcal_lover
. . . so I find myself waivering between treating the gun like a collector might (however the heck that might be) or simple cleaning and patching and returning to my living room wall . . . And there were 20k sent to Russia so there must be lots still in circulation . . . So, as crass as I might appear, can anyone tell me where I can get ballpark estimate of the value of my gun?
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First of all, glad you got that letter to be carried forever forward with the gun. Only issue of originality are the stocks, which were walnut and now are Ivory, but I do not think that is a big deal when valuing the gun, since Ivory stocks are almost impossible to come across for this model. A collector would do just as you suggest, wipe it down, lubricate the mechanism, and clean the bore and chambers. Collectors are a little like doctors who practice "do no harm".
This is not part of the 20,000 that went to Russia, but a part of only 5000 commercial Russian Models that were sold mostly in the US. As it turns out, the Russian contract guns are now much more rare than the Commercial guns. Almost all contract guns are gone, while the US commercial guns survive in greater numbers.
Value is subject to condition. Looking at your images, I would say that your gun is in the top 20% of all remaining Model 3 Russians out there, with maybe 80%+ finish. I would guess at "Fine" condition and that would mean the value could approach $5000 in value, based on the value of a Fine condition Model 3 2nd found in Supica/Neal SCSW4.