• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Overpriced sellers

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Status
Not open for further replies.
Hardly worth the effort walking through the door unless youre looking for some obscure spare part for a Gun you already have.
Interesting point, but last couple years "obscure parts" have all but vanished here. Most tables used to have a "junk box" for all sorts of gun related odds and ends. These were a gold mine for those with the knowledge to identify parts and pieces.
 
Way back in the 60's, there was an antique shop near me housed in a very old two-story building; it's very historic and now has offices. (It appeared briefly in the background twice as Sean Connery drove around with his female co-star in the 1962 or 1963 film, Marnie.) Anyway, the dealer had a big handwritten sign on the front door that said, "NO GUNS OR WEAPONS FOR SALE". Guess too many people had come in looking for such to suit him.
 
There are dealers that buy guns and flip them as fast as possible with little markup and then there are dealers that price guns at the highest possible retail price and just sit on them. I’ve seen the same dealers with the same guns with the same price tags on them for years at gun shows. They must just like hauling their stuff around from show to show.
 
I've noticed quite a few older ASM, FIE, Pietta, etc. revolvers being listed for well over the price of a new Pietta or Uberti on Gunbroker. Makes no sense. Correct me if I'm wrong (something of a newbie), but these replicas made from the 70s to the aughts are not as finely made as the new ones.....? Then there is the rust/corrosion that you can't see.

Plus a lot of these sellers are asking $35 to $45 for shipping.
 
It's all about supply and demand. They have it and how bad do you want it.
If your selling. what would it cost to replace it..? Doesn't matter what they paid for it.
I've seen custom flint locks go for six figures because of who built it. I wouldn't pay that kind of money and I don't care who made it.
It's always been my practice to never pay for something you can't get your money back out of...
 
you can do well at shows if you do it right. we have local shows where they think that if is not an ar. its not worth anything... muzzle loaders are toys.. i get great deals at these shows. saw an octagon barrel on a table , looked like a t/c saw the tag.$40.00 hardley got it off the table guy says $30. as i roll it over i see the green mt. stamp..was brand new, he got his $30.,, at another one t/c hawken stripped nipple 150.00 it had a t/c tang sight on it..sold. at a shop that is a garand specalist saw an octagon barrel way in back of rack, pulled it out. t/c seneca .45 tag $149.00 had the side plate crack, showed the counter guy , i walked out with it for $125.00 mint bore. there are many more. you dont go to an antique store for antiques , if you want a deal
 
Antique dealers are used to selling plates and old garbage. When they get a hold of some broke down original rifle, they think it’s priceless! I’ve seen old guns that were missing the locks, with major failures throughout the stock being held together with rusty wire with an asking price of $3k! I ask if some revolutionary war general owned it, or it fired the first shot at valley forge? They look at me with this stupid look on their face and assure me that this piece of manure is an “original “…
 
Before the internet, we had dealers with literally multiple tables full of parts. Always some of the most popular spots in any show, those are gone. True enough it's easier to find the part you need shopping via laptop, but prices are WAY higher and "shipping/handling" charges for a screw or pin that can be mailed in an envelope are not nice. Plus, sometimes what you buy isn't the right thing.

Shows have morphed into flea markets to sell tables. Last one in St. Charles saw ladies selling canned pickles & salsa. One has moved my location to the lobby. Next to a woodcarver and a guy selling gutter guards. Smaller shows at least are mostly firearms with knife guys.
 
I've noticed quite a few older ASM, FIE, Pietta, etc. revolvers being listed for well over the price of a new Pietta or Uberti on Gunbroker. Makes no sense. Correct me if I'm wrong (something of a newbie), but these replicas made from the 70s to the aughts are not as finely made as the new ones.....? Then there is the rust/corrosion that you can't see.

Plus a lot of these sellers are asking $35 to $45 for shipping.
A lot of improvement in metallurgy and CNC machining. Old is not always better. IMHO
 
  • Like
Reactions: TDM
I've noticed quite a few older ASM, FIE, Pietta, etc. revolvers being listed for well over the price of a new Pietta or Uberti on Gunbroker. Makes no sense. Correct me if I'm wrong (something of a newbie), but these replicas made from the 70s to the aughts are not as finely made as the new ones.....? Then there is the rust/corrosion that you can't see.

Plus a lot of these sellers are asking $35 to $45 for shipping.
A lot of it is about how collectable it is rather than how shootable it is for a lot of the older revolvers. A lot of the early makers and importers have been out of business for a long time. Also there are some very rare and scarce transition pistols of which very few were made. Some companies only made pistols for a very short time or special occaision like the Belgian made Centennial Centaurs or High Standards. Other considerations like most of the early engraved pistols were hand engraved, not acid etched or laser engraved like the new ones. It is easy to tell the difference. Buying the early navy Arms revolvers seems to have become popular.
 
Last edited:
I always carry a AAA battery and a flashlight. Drop it down the bore, shine the light on it. dirty, rusted or pitted sometimes brings the price down. Ultimately it's theirs and they can try and sell it for a crazy price.
Nit Wit
 
A lot of it is about how collectable it is rather than how shootable it is for a lot of the older revolvers. A lot of the early makers and importers have been out of business for a long time. Also there are some very rare and scarce transition pistols of which very few were made. Some companies only made pistols for a very short time or special occaision like the Belgian made Centennial Centaurs or High Standards. Other considerations like most of the early engraved pistols were hand engraved, not acid etched or laser engraved like the new ones. It is easy to tell the difference. Buying the early navy Arms revolvers seems to have become popular.
Quite true, as are Rogers and Spencer replicas.
 
It's all about supply and demand. They have it and how bad do you want it.
If your selling. what would it cost to replace it..? Doesn't matter what they paid for it.
I've seen custom flint locks go for six figures because of who built it. I wouldn't pay that kind of money and I don't care who made it.
It's always been my practice to never pay for something you can't get your money back out of...
"If your selling. what would it cost to replace it..? Doesn't matter what they paid for it."
That is how refiners price gasoline. Not on what they paid, but on what they expect to pay for the next crude.
 
I always carry a AAA battery and a flashlight. Drop it down the bore, shine the light on it. dirty, rusted or pitted sometimes brings the price down. Ultimately it's theirs and they can try and sell it for a crazy price.
Nit Wit
I do the same with a light up archery nock. Gets into smaller bores.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top