Custom hawken value?

[S.Kenton]

Hi all,
54 cal. 34 inch barrel. The builder is unknown...I was old it was a TOW Jim Bridger Hawken, however i think it to predate the production of the TOW version of this rifle. Bore is great, wood is dinged up from years of use and it has basic handling marks all over the walnut stock ( could be maple stained dark) I know..I know...and hate to ask this...BUT
Any idea on value.??...I might swap it off for a full stock southern cap lock in a 45 cal or larger and don't wanna get took.thanks all!

 

[FishDFly]

Why not ask TOW, seems simple to me?????????

 

[galamb]

With custom rifles it's all about WHO built it.

Three custom Hawken's, side by side, with essentially the same design, furniture, barrel etc will command prices that seem picked out of the air.

If it was built by Louie Parker it could well bring north of 3K.

Perhaps half that if it was built by Taylor Sapergia.

An "unsigned" NICE Hawken that could have maybe/possibly have been built from a kit - used - might be worth the current cost of the unassembled kit if it's in very good condition.

Ultimately, it has to appeal to "someone" who is willing to part with what you want for it.

Black powder shooters can be a finicky bunch. Many can't imagine putting out the cost of a factory Pedersoli so opt for used T/C's or Lyman's.

Others, if they are going to spend $$$ want one "built for them" and would only consider an (existing) build if the deal was too good to pass up.

Being an "unknown" rifle your target audience is probably the guy who would order a rifle from a place like TVM etc and again, since used, would be looking for a "discount".

Based on that single picture and what you have posted on the rifle you might expect somewhere between 600 and 800 bucks.

A very close inspection could bump that range up or down accordingly.

 

[Vaino]

Looks pretty good...so why not post more detailed pics so a better idea of a realistic price could be arrived at?

Personally, I think $600-$800 is too low, and that might change due to more detailed pics.....Fred

 

[S.Kenton]

Thanks to all who replied, I will Try and get some more detailed pictures on here tomorrow.
Mr. Eames,
I'd just as soon ask these knowledgable folks as to call TOW and attempt to describe the rifle...I did give that some previous thought though and may consign it there to sell.

 

[Vaino]

No doubt TOW can sell your rifle, but their "take" is 1/3 of the selling price. Have sold 4 LRs using TOW's consignment sales but did so to gain a reputation seeing I was an unknown builder...it worked for me and the 1/3 was worth it. Have built and sold 3 Hawkens but for a bit more than $600-$800.....Fred

 

[Rifleman1776]

With custom rifles it's all about WHO built it.

Three custom Hawken's, side by side, with essentially the same design, furniture, barrel etc will command prices that seem picked out of the air.

Cynical attitude here. I well understand collector value here. Baseball trading cards can be 'worth' many thousands of dollars depending on the player they show and other factors. But actual 'worth' is almost nothing. With your example, three very similar rifles and knowing nothing about who built them will bring about the same price from buyers who don't give a flip about the name of the builder. If one craftsman can build a fine rifle from quality parts and sell for $1,500.00 where is the worth in a similar rifle from Mr. Famous who asks $5,000.00 for his?

 

[Gene L]

The worth is what someone will pay for it. If it's got a famous name and provenance, it's worth more. While it's obvious you can't sell a $1500 rifle for $5000, it's also equally wrong to sell a $5000 rifle for $1500. Who determines worth is the market here in the US.

It's hard to see detail on your rifle. It's worth whatever you can get for it and not a cent less.

I've got a couple of bamboo rods. One is a $150 rod from China; a good flyrod. The other is by a famous maker, and the quality is WAY above the Chinese rod and the name of the maker makes it worth a lot of money. Their value as a fishing rod is (about) equal, their worth is worlds apart.

 

[S.Kenton]

Why not ask TOW, seems simple to me?????????

Sorry... But this is has been sticking in my crawl since I read this....but IF you have nothing to add to this thread..then why post on it..? NOW that seems simple to me..

 

[S.Kenton]

Anyhow, when the sun comes back out here and the rain goes away, I'll try and snap some pictures. I am by no means a photographer...and it seems that all my pictures are always too dark or blurry..ill give it a shot though. Thanks guys! :thumbsup:

 

[FishDFly]

What is simple is to ask folks with experience, not speculators.

That is what I did when I was collecting coins, I knew my limitations.

 

[Spikebuck]

I look at ToTW guns for sale a lot just for the fun of browsing around...and of course in the process have brought a few home! :grin:

Since you say the stock has a bunch of handling marks and it is a "custom" gun, but from an unknown source, I'll bet ToW would list that gun for around $1100 to $1300. Now, that doesn't mean it's what it would sell for as I've never paid asking price on ToTW for any I've bought there and I would expect others don't either. And then as stated previously, ToTW takes a cut.

On the other hand, I've seen new extremely poorly built Hawken's for sale there asking $2000 and more!

 

[S.Kenton]

What is simple is to ask folks with experience, not speculation.

I think that most of the ppl who have resopnded to this thread have enough experience that they can give me the help I want/need. All in all this whole forum has a WEALTH of experience...and I would not hesitate to put forth any question I may have to this forum..one other thing;
If you notice in the responses, I have a mixed bag of of monetary values for my rifle,enough responses to give me a starting point for an asking price..or trade value ..which is exactly what I was asking for.

 

[FishDFly]

Good luck in your venture.

 

[Shifty]

S.kenton hello,Don't know about the value,but that is pert ner the perfect hunting rifle as far as i'm concerned and would bet that you would regret trading it off ,not telling you what to do but i would hang onto it and save up for the other one.I did on my last sale about two days after wards i said self why did i do that .And again I think you have a DANDY there,good huntin.

 

[tenngun]

What do you think is fair? Put that price on it and see if it sells. A good deal is wher both side walk away feeling they got a good deal.

 

[Dphar]

With custom rifles it's all about WHO built it.

Three custom Hawken's, side by side, with essentially the same design, furniture, barrel etc will command prices that seem picked out of the air.

Cynical attitude here. I well understand collector value here. Baseball trading cards can be 'worth' many thousands of dollars depending on the player they show and other factors. But actual 'worth' is almost nothing. With your example, three very similar rifles and knowing nothing about who built them will bring about the same price from buyers who don't give a flip about the name of the builder. If one craftsman can build a fine rifle from quality parts and sell for $1,500.00 where is the worth in a similar rifle from Mr. Famous who asks $5,000.00 for his?

From the forend shaping the rifle pictured here is likely an assembled kit. The big difference in "Mr Big Name" is that he might actually know what he is doing. So the rifle is more likely to be properly breeched and the rifle properly shaped so it actually looks like what its supposed to be. But the lines are often very subtle and many people can't see the difference even when it's pointed out. But people with an eye for line can.
Bad breeching. Looks like this from the inside. It was done by the barrel maker BTW.

Experienced makers check this before using the barrel and correct as needed. Why does a maker installed breech need correcting? Because correctly breeching a barrel takes too much time and could add $100 to the barrel cost.

And causes this fouling trap.

When cleaned it looked like this. The rebate was actually up in the bore rather than sealing it.

This is a proper job and will not leak fouling into the breech threads or those of the vent liner.

Then there is wood work and fits. How the lock and triggers are set up and work properly together and are SAFE. Many do not from the maker and some have errors built in that will cause problems in service. Experienced makers know how to fix lock and trigger issues. Beginners don't even know there is a problem. Here is view of a finished locks tumbler and how it passes through the plate as I received it. Its from one of the major names in locks.

This puts the sear out of alignment with the sear notches in the tumbler and will result in excess wear and eventual failure. I welded the tumbler hole shut and redrilled it in the proper place, reamed it, then turned the as cast tumbler shaft to fit and to smooth it so the tumbler would not enlarge the tumbler hole in service. There were other needed mods as well but this the one that was really visual and the most serious from the standpoint of safety.
So there is a difference in what comes out of the shop even when the parts purchased are all the same.
Dan

 

[S.Kenton]

S.kenton hello,Don't know about the value,but that is pert ner the perfect hunting rifle as far as i'm concerned and would bet that you would regret trading it off ,not telling you what to do but i would hang onto it and save up for the other one.I did on my last sale about two days after wards i said self why did i do that .And again I think you have a DANDY there,good huntin.

You may be right about sellers regret....I have a tenn. mountain rifle I built from a block of wood, with assistance of course. I may convert that rifle to percussion rather sell the Hawken.

 

[S.Kenton]

Having trouble downloading photos from photobucket with my iPad.....

 

[S.Kenton]