We've discussed this before. Never to a satisfactory conclusion (at least to me.)
There are so many variables, each situation is different. Things for you to consider are the number of guns, their value, how much your widow will need the money, etc. Also, who you got the guns from or how many.
Yes, the above advice on a specific bequest is probably the best way for a small number of guns that have value to you and hopefully to the person receiving the bequest. Don't lose sight of the fact that many offspring would prefer street drugs or electrical gadgets. Don't give treasured guns to those who have shown prior bad judgement. My personal feeling is that once you're dead, it doesn't matter if you give one son or daughter 2 guns and another none.
My personal story when my dad died might be illustrative. My mother called me and my brother into their bedroom. She had all his guns on the bed, and she told us to look them over. She didn't want those awful guns in her house one more night.
So not trusting anyone, least of all my anti gun mother and brother, I picked up Dad's old .32 Regulation Police. He bought it from the local chief of Police when he was 14 years old. Yes, they'd bury both of them under the jail today. For them, not a problem in 1925. It wasn't perfect, which is nice for saying it had been a working gun. Then I switched my attention to a Remington 721 I hated. It was pretty, but had a cheapo scope on it (I think I still might have the crescent between my eyes) with short eye relief. I'd sold it to dad in 1968 because I hated it. Then I moved on to a flashy if cheap Spanish double 20 gauge. He'd bought it after my shooting improved when I bought a Browning double in 1974. But then suddenly my mother returned.
She looked at my brother, said "you're the oldest, you pick one first." Immediately he selected the old .32 that I'd looked at first. Sucker. I snatched up the Winchester M12 we'd spent so many happy days hunting together. It was Dads pride and joy. My brother gave me a puzzled look, and he snatched up the M721. Good, we got that out of the way.
It was my turn again, and I selected his Winchester 1917 Enfield.
Again, a gun I hadn't even glanced at. I'd held that old .30-06 so many times over the years it was like an extension of my arm!
Then in one fluid motion, I took my two guns and headed out the door!
Of course my mother yelled that we weren't finished yet. I said I was. I got the 2 guns with the most sentimental value, the ones with real family history and meaning to me. Besides, I had son's those guns needed to go to. The .32 was expendable. And I new good and well the other dozen or so guns weren't worth much at all when my brother sold them (he did.) The moral: Dad wasn't expecting on dying that day. Had he been given time to consider, I bet he'd still have given me the two I scored that day, but without deceit like I felt compelled to use to get them.
David Carroll, a very occasional poster here, or even Lee, our new boss, will help with the right collections. David is doing that this upcoming week, including National Gun Day in Louisville, KY. A very well known collector passed away about 5 years ago. His widow has finally seen the way to dispose of that collection. We're talking a half million $$ or more of fine S&Ws, mainly, some of the best in existence.
Find a trustworthy shop or purveyor (reseller) you can trust on the bigger collections. The hardest part of their job is to educate the grieving widow on the realities of life. Some guns go up in value, some go down, some stay the same. As a rule, any gun the old man bought at a mass merchandiser/discount house won't increase much. Any gun he bought new and took hunting in the field for the last 40 years, probably has a couple of nicks and scratches. That, by definition, isn't "new", "excellent", or even "very good". Think "poor" condition, and use the blue book values under that heading.
