Pricing milsurps

[Peace_Maker]

I need to come up with values for my firearms for my personal property list. Anyone have some clues how to price my military firearms. I had a 1903, M1, M1 Carbine, Russian capture 98K, 1917 Enfield, and a Fulton M14 with mostly GI parts, and a few others. Would you use Gun Broker, the CMP, or websites?

 

[dennishoddy]

I'm not sure about milsurp pricing, but when all of my guns were stolen, the deputy told me you have one shot at putting a price on them.
The insurance company won't allow one to come back and say its worth more than I thought.
Price fairly.

 

[Peace_Maker]

Thanks, I am seriously thinking about writing a book about dealing with this whole ordeal, there is so many split second decisions to make that potentially affect tens of thousands of dollars. Hard to believe but what you say in a casual conversation with your adjuster could cost you thousands.

I'm thinking gun broker is the way to go. I've read the insurance depreciates guns 5% every year, that sucks because many of us keep our firearms in like new condition and they appreciate in value like a home. Hard to believe a 20 year old gun is worth nothing!

They depreciate in their favor, they say shirts only last three years and socks and underwear only last a year!

Another problem is putting a value on ammo. Hard to pin a value on 1K rounds of 30 year old sealed .762 ammo!

 

[Leggett71]

I would recomend three forums, CMP marketplace, Milsurps, & surplus rifles. Milsurps are probably the most difficult arms to price because values vary so based on how original they are or their history documentation. & there are a lot of forgeries floating around. The three forums have a vast liabrary of photos to compare your rifles to and experts that monitor the forums that are very responsive in giving opinions on value & authenticity of your collection if you post adequate photos for them to comment from.
Hope this helps.
Leggett

 

[ronny]

If you're dealing with an insurance company and you want to insure something for a value which might be difficult to substantiate in the future, you'd best get a value that you and the insurance company can agree on today. Then write the coverage at "stated value". Some companies will do this, some won't.

Anyway, I've found that one good way to get a contemporary value on a gun is to go to the "Advanced" search and then click on "Completed Items". Then put in your search item. Then, make note only of those which have actually sold. There will usually be a lot more items that didn't sell and that can give you an idea as to what your item isn't worth.

Same process might work for collectible ammo, although I don't get the idea you're talking about collectible ammo, but rather just old, shootable ammo. If so, that's worth what the same ammo at the store is worth today.

Having said that, spend some time on Milsurps, Surplusrifle, Gunboards, Greybeard, etc.

 

[MoBoost]

Proper firearm insurance will cover REPLACEMENT COST at time of loss.
http://www.locktonrisk.com/nrains/armscareplus.htm

It's a good idea to know how much coverage to put on your firearms, and good sources are mentioned above.

Home owner's insurance coverage on guns is a joke - everything even remotely related to guns fall under "firearms" limit, which is usually $1500-2500, and that includes the guns, the scopes, ammo, cases, reloading components - two decent rifles will push you over the limit.

 

[ronny]

I believe that limit is for unspecified guns. With most/some companies, you can list and specifically insure your guns for their actual cash value, and, in some cases, for agreed values.

 

[MoBoost]

With most/some companies, you can list and specifically insure your guns for their actual cash value, and, in some cases, for agreed values.

But then you de-facto end up registering your guns and I don't think you can get as low of a rate as NRA endorsed program I linked - 1.74% premium.

 

[FamousAJ]

I need to come up with values for my firearms for my personal property list. Anyone have some clues how to price my military firearms. I had a 1903, M1, M1 Carbine, Russian capture 98K, 1917 Enfield, and a Fulton M14 with mostly GI parts, and a few others. Would you use Gun Broker, the CMP, or websites?

get a blue book of gun values or something similiar. not only will you have a great guide, but a cool dream list to start with! $30 on Ebay

 

[ronny]

get a blue book of gun values or something similiar. not only will you have a great guide, but a cool dream list to start with! $30 on Ebay

Go to a gunshow and try to sell a gun to a dealer there. One of the first things they will do is pull out a blue book and show you how little your gun is worth.

When was the last time a dealer showed you a blue book value while trying to sell you a gun?

A blue book may be a good reference for an individual, but it sucks in a buy/sell deal given the volatility of gun prices today.


edit - I seem to be getting more and more cynical these days.