ADVICE on pricing this Traditions Custom Build

[user 59734]

EC121 - thanks for that. I think I'm going to spend a lot of time on that site. Awesome.

 

[Relic shooter]

Your background in gun building skills appear to be well above assembling pre-inletted kits,
but that depends on what price-market your interested in.
A master craftsman like Ron Scott gets big bucks for his creations but not allot of us can afford his firearms.
On the other hand, builder-suppliers like Kibler provides superb pre-carved kits with top quality components.
Kits by Kibler have near unlimited pricing potential & is a faster build in hands of a highly skilled craftsman.

Just an opinion from a long retired ML builder who used a duplicating machine to speed up builds & income flow.
Relic shooter

An additional consideration, resale value ;
Being an avid shooter, antique arms collector & dealer in fine originals I stopped building years ago when prices of higher-end custom builds matched & exceeded the values of the fine original firearms that we were copying. Often, high-end custom firearms drop in value when resold where the originals I've collected, competed & hunted with have appreciated in value & are the real deal historically.

Another bonus as a competitor, there was nobody to affordably duplicate the suburb rifling styles the originals had at that time, especially the rifling styles used in fine original English & Jaeger rifles.
*NOTE; The above considerations are limited to just some of our forum members who may be overly obsessed with vintage firearms

 

[user 59734]

Just a beginner here but Traditions has their kits about 75-100 dollars less than finished products. This being a beautiful piece of craftsmanship I wouldn't fault you adding 250-300 dollars to the price you payed for the kit.

JJ - yes, I find it curious that at the end of the day, all materials considered, it costs more in materials (not including labor) to build a Traditions kit then buy a completed rifle. But this was a good educational piece.
When I started restoration work decades ago, I bought a non-functional Stevens double 12ga, and re-finished only one side as a demo gun. Perhaps that's all this Traditions will be good for.

 

[Frontier's]

Last weekend I won a booshway shoot, using an at the time, $289 traditions st.louis hawken kit i built I 2016. The other guns were $2000 custom hawken rifles ranging from 54 to 58cal.

Final winning shot, off hand, distance 213 yards. Got me a gallon jug of whiskey as the prize.

 

[Redlemur60]

Call it practise . Sell it for 500$
And just walk away.

 

[SPQR70AD]

64Springer - I agree (but that pallet wood from Spain carves up nicely)

dont really care if the stock on a rifle is some exotic wood and if it is nobody takes it out of the house. I want the money put into the barrel lock and sights. the wood on your rifle is more then acceptable

 

[SPQR70AD]

Last weekend I won a booshway shoot, using an at the time, $289 traditions st.louis hawken kit i built I 2016. The other guns were $2000 custom hawken rifles ranging from 54 to 58cal.

Final winning shot, off hand, distance 213 yards. Got me a gallon jug of whiskey as the prize.

good job love to see the elitists put down with a standard rifle

 

[user 59734]

Last weekend I won a booshway shoot, using an at the time, $289 traditions st.louis hawken kit i built I 2016. The other guns were $2000 custom hawken rifles ranging from 54 to 58cal.

Final winning shot, off hand, distance 213 yards. Got me a gallon jug of whiskey as the prize.

So there you go. Congratulations, and make that whiskey last more than a few days.

 

[user 59734]

dont really care if the stock on a rifle is some exotic wood and if it is nobody takes it out of the house. I want the money put into the barrel lock and sights. the wood on your rifle is more then acceptable

SPRQ - absolutely - form must follow function. Functionally, an '85 Ford F150 and a 2023 Ram 1500 TRX will both haul 10 sheets of drywall from point A to point B. Putting a paint job on the F-150 won't make it more functional.

 

[HSmithTX]

Wow, some responses are surprising and some not. Pretty simple question too. My opinion, list it on GB or similar, put $1000 on it and a buy it now of $800 or so. Those 'pigs' shoot well, and yours doesn't look like the 'pig' everyone else has, so now it's pretty and it will likely shoot with anything out there. For some people that is having their cake and some ice cream. Like they say in the car business, there is a butt for every seat and someone wants this rifle.

As an addition, muzzleloader guys are (in my experience) the cheapest of cheap or money doesn't matter much without a lot of middle ground. A lot of the responses in this thread tend to confirm that to me.

 

[#blackpowderbill]

BP Bill, I don't see where it was posted for sale, the builder was asking on price range values. I think honest answers were given, sometimes some folks jump the gun on reciting post rules, really don't think in this case RULE 21 really applies. The poster even asked for honest opinions and seems like they were given.

AH, Yea my opinion was,is 500$. Don't care if it sells or not. It ain't my dog

 

[user 59734]

Wow, some responses are surprising and some not. Pretty simple question too. My opinion, list it on GB or similar, put $1000 on it and a buy it now of $800 or so. Those 'pigs' shoot well, and yours doesn't look like the 'pig' everyone else has, so now it's pretty and it will likely shoot with anything out there. For some people that is having their cake and some ice cream. Like they say in the car business, there is a butt for every seat and someone wants this rifle.

As an addition, muzzleloader guys are (in my experience) the cheapest of cheap or money doesn't matter much without a lot of middle ground. A lot of the responses in this thread tend to confirm that to me.

Thanks, HSmithTX. We'll see what happens on the price. The beauty of this forum is that there's something for everybody - the purists, the quality builders, the hobbyists, the re-enactors, and the hunter who wants to spend the least to fill another tag during the early season. Like in the car business, everyone has a price point.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Advice is welcome (and since I have thick skin, don't be afraid to to tell me I wasted a few hundred hours for nothing). Thanks in advance.

So this has been moved to percussion rifles, and it's not an ad...

So you may list an item for sale, with your price..., you may not ask for bids in any manner...

You may ask what people might want to pay for something like this... as a discussion.

You may not do both, have an ad and ask for advice, because the ad section is not for discussion threads, and asking for advice is just that, a discussion thread.

Good luck on your future sale.

LD