I posted about a month ago that I had agreed to take on the job of selling some guns for a lady in my church whose husband recently died.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/181056-looking-widows-guns-tomorrow.html
I took her the money today for the last of the guns. I got rid of them a whole lot quicker and easier than I thought I would, and got at least as much money for them as I had figured, and in several cases, a good bit more.
I am pleased, she was pleased, and I think her daughter is pleased. I don't think either of them thought the guns were worth nearly as much as they brought.
In total, there were about 26 guns, and I got about $6600 for them. Keep in mind that there were several very ratty, barrel shot out military rifles. A couple of old Spanish Mausers with some pieces missing, things like sights, a Mosin Nagant, some kind of French military rifle I never quite figured out, and just about all the guns had rust on them. The rust varied from just a little flecking to severe. There were two or three pieces in good shape, one of which was the 92 Winchester pictured in the other thread, and a FN Mauser Sporter with a Weaver K4 scope that was sharp.
I mentioned that I called a friend to look at the guns with me and help me figure out what to ask for them. He wound up buying about ten of them. He gave a lot more for several pieces than I would have, but he was/is more knowledgeable about US Military weapons than I am. I was glad to have his help, and was surprised that he bought as many as he did. He is like me, an old guy who likes to fiddle with old guns. His thing is military guns, particularly Garands and Carbines.
I learned a lot about human nature, and in fact my faith in mankind, especially the kind of man that likes to fool with old guns, was somewhat bolstered. I had three different people who, after we struck a deal, gave me more money to give to Lola. At least one of them, I think, is a member of this forum from Georgia. One guy who bought a couple of military rifles, asked after he had paid me, "what are you getting out of this deal?" Nothing but satisfaction and having a lot of fun, I told him. He peeled off another $50 Bill and said it was for my gas and time. I told him I would give it to Lola. He said that whatever I wanted to do was fine.
I came out of the deal in fine shape. I got two guns out of the collection. One is a Model 28-2 I am going to write about in another thread. The other is a Stevens 311 16 gauge shotgun. It was extremely ratty looking. It had a lot of surface rust, the action was very sluggish on opening, and an old slip-on recoil pad had literally melted and stuck to the buttstock. One fellow who bought some of the rattier military guns offered fifty bucks for it. I told him I would keep it and give her that much for it myself, and he seemed relieved. I spent all day one day last week stripping and refinishing the wood, cleaning up the metal, and getting the action un-gummed. It turned out looking pretty doggone good, much better than I would have thought. It took a heap of scrubbing the stock with acetone and 0000 steel wool to get it there, though. Today when I took Lola the last of the money, I told her I wanted to buy it for $150. She said, "No, I'm going to give it to you for what you have done for me." I told her that I hadn't intended to charge her anything, and that I had really enjoyed the experience. "Don't consider it payment, then," she said. "Consider it a gift from me to you."
I have to admit, I wasn't hard to convince.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/181056-looking-widows-guns-tomorrow.html
I took her the money today for the last of the guns. I got rid of them a whole lot quicker and easier than I thought I would, and got at least as much money for them as I had figured, and in several cases, a good bit more.
I am pleased, she was pleased, and I think her daughter is pleased. I don't think either of them thought the guns were worth nearly as much as they brought.
In total, there were about 26 guns, and I got about $6600 for them. Keep in mind that there were several very ratty, barrel shot out military rifles. A couple of old Spanish Mausers with some pieces missing, things like sights, a Mosin Nagant, some kind of French military rifle I never quite figured out, and just about all the guns had rust on them. The rust varied from just a little flecking to severe. There were two or three pieces in good shape, one of which was the 92 Winchester pictured in the other thread, and a FN Mauser Sporter with a Weaver K4 scope that was sharp.
I mentioned that I called a friend to look at the guns with me and help me figure out what to ask for them. He wound up buying about ten of them. He gave a lot more for several pieces than I would have, but he was/is more knowledgeable about US Military weapons than I am. I was glad to have his help, and was surprised that he bought as many as he did. He is like me, an old guy who likes to fiddle with old guns. His thing is military guns, particularly Garands and Carbines.
I learned a lot about human nature, and in fact my faith in mankind, especially the kind of man that likes to fool with old guns, was somewhat bolstered. I had three different people who, after we struck a deal, gave me more money to give to Lola. At least one of them, I think, is a member of this forum from Georgia. One guy who bought a couple of military rifles, asked after he had paid me, "what are you getting out of this deal?" Nothing but satisfaction and having a lot of fun, I told him. He peeled off another $50 Bill and said it was for my gas and time. I told him I would give it to Lola. He said that whatever I wanted to do was fine.
I came out of the deal in fine shape. I got two guns out of the collection. One is a Model 28-2 I am going to write about in another thread. The other is a Stevens 311 16 gauge shotgun. It was extremely ratty looking. It had a lot of surface rust, the action was very sluggish on opening, and an old slip-on recoil pad had literally melted and stuck to the buttstock. One fellow who bought some of the rattier military guns offered fifty bucks for it. I told him I would keep it and give her that much for it myself, and he seemed relieved. I spent all day one day last week stripping and refinishing the wood, cleaning up the metal, and getting the action un-gummed. It turned out looking pretty doggone good, much better than I would have thought. It took a heap of scrubbing the stock with acetone and 0000 steel wool to get it there, though. Today when I took Lola the last of the money, I told her I wanted to buy it for $150. She said, "No, I'm going to give it to you for what you have done for me." I told her that I hadn't intended to charge her anything, and that I had really enjoyed the experience. "Don't consider it payment, then," she said. "Consider it a gift from me to you."
I have to admit, I wasn't hard to convince.
