Any Winchester Lever Gun Experts??

[stumper]

Trying to help an older lady value her husbands guns and I'm kind of stuck on a few. There are three old rifles in the group that are refinished and it's throwing me off on valuing them. It's hard enough to value a refinished S&W but I'm lost with these rifles.

1st - Remington No.4 Rolling Block in 32cal short. Excellent 96-97% reblue but metal was pretty heavily buffed in some areas prior to blueing. Excellent wood. Bore is mostly shiney with a few light freckles.

2nd - Winchester Model 1892 in 32-20 Win. (Made ~1918), 24" octaganl bbl. 97-98% of a nice reblue, metal was not buffed bad prior. Bore is nice and shiney and wood is great. Nice looking gun.

3rd - Winchester Model 1873, 3rd Model in 32-20 Win. (made ~1885), 24" octaganl bbl., dust cover is present. About 96-97% of a nice reblue over buffed metal. Bore is ok but has some rust and pitting. Wood is in nice condition.

I have a couple pictures of each if it would help but just looking to give her a ballpark value. Thanks

 

[Sebago Son]

The refinished Winchesters will be slow sellers unless priced very low. Values of avareage Winchester levers unless they are special order guns with Pistol Grip stocks, non-cataloged barrel lengths, or unusual features are currently depressed. These guns will be classified as "Shooter Grade" and then only if they are mechanically up to the task. I think that 10 years ago during the hieght of the Cowboy Action Shooting Craze you could have gotten more.

For a quick sale I'd offer the '92 at $500 and the '73 at $750.

Drew

 

[gregintenn]

For a quick sale I'd offer the '92 at $500 and the '73 at $750.

That would be a quick sale indeed! I'd at least double those figures.

 

[s&wchad]

I think Drew nailed the Winchester values. Refinishing really hurts old collectible guns. Both would bring more if they were chambered in .38-40 or .44-40 , as would SRC's.

The #4 Rolling Block will probably bring around $300. Refinished .32 rimfires are not terribly desirable.

If you plan on helping them sell the guns, you can always ask more and listen to offers, but I wouldn't set expectations too high.

 

[2152hq]

The '73,,buffed and re-blued. Pitting in bore. I'd put it out at $750, Original condition wood will help, but refinished anything drives value down.
It's an Antique by Fed Law so that can help sell it in some instances. Certainly if you want to sell it over the internet yourself.

The '92,,reblued but if the metal hasn't been polished at all under that re-blue,,that's a good thing. If the wood is original finish and in good condition ,,it has a nice bore apparently and an octagon bbl (those seem to sell easier,,,,I'd price that higher. Around $1000.


The Remington #4 being heavily buffed and re-blued and in .32RF is more of a project gun for someone to rebuild to a .22RF or perhaps convert to a 32CF & refinishing the metal in the process. Wood sound nice. A few spots in the bore,,again a project for someone.
The early ones w/the TD lever on the side have their threads often stripped. They are a LH thead.
I'd price that #4 at $150/$200 to move it along.
Even that may be asking a lot from the description.


If any of these rifles have any optional tang, special order bbl or front sights on them,,they can be worth a good portion of what the rifle itself is. Don't give away the value of those special order sights.

just my .02 of course..

 

[Alpo]

Got a 92 32/20 I bought in '01. 650 retail. Not refinished.

Got a 92 38/40 I bought in '05. 700, private sale. Refinished.

Both rifles, not SRC. Both made in the 20th Century. Pre-1899 guns sometimes bring better prices, but then again, these two are safe with smokeless, and that makes 'em more valuable to some.

Logic says the values would have gone up, but a whole lot depends on what they look like. You said "buffed". Does that mean "buffing marks visible under the reblue" or does that mean, "all rollmarkings buffed off".

I just noticed they are both octagonal. That's worth more. My 32/20 is a round-barreled rifle. One of the reasons why it was as cheap as it was.

Placing any kind of value on just a description is, pretty much, a waste of time.

 

[stumper]

The buffing on the Remington took off the edges and flatened pin heads. The markings are all still visible albeit showing the buffing. The 1873 is sort of the same but the markings are more crisp than the Rem. The 1892 is very nice.

I was thinking roughly $1000 for the 1892 and $1200 for the 1873. Sort of derived that from taking BB price for an original gun in like condition, cutting it in half and then taking away more for the quality of the metal cleaning, bore etc.. You think these might be a bit too high?
I appreciate everyone's feedback and help with these. I'm not sure just yet what she is going to do with them. There are family members that want them and at this point she is just trying to find out what they might be worth.

 

[ladder13]

Drew knows his levers, and other guns. His expertise helped me score a Win94AE and a Browning 92, both in 44 mag. Thanks Drew.

 

[Alpo]

Always been my understanding that when someone says "90% gun" or "70%" gun, they were referring to the amount of original finish left. And that a refinished gun, no matter what kind of shape it is in, is never considered any better than a 10% gun.

Maybe, with the old guns drying up, people aren't that picky anymore. Maybe "any gun", even a refinished one, beats not having on at all.

I know I wouldn't pay those prices.

 

[stumper]

My use of the percentage ratings here refers to the amount of clean finish remaining on the guns, which in this case are refinishes. I agree that refinishing distroys a collectable's value. How much that is, depends on the gun and the individual buying. I can take a good stab at this with old Smiths but my knowledge of these old Winchesters and Remingtons is lacking.