How to almost double the price of your 1873

[jdad]

I know that the correct vintage sight can "finish" a rifle, but this really is beyond me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... NA:US:1348

[JB]

I bet it you offered him an even $1,000, he'd probably take it.

[kimwcook]

I'm with ya, holy cow, $1,000 + for a sight.

[Mike D.]

The Winchester 62B is a very scarce sight and quite easily worth the bid it has at this time. Considering that later Lyman and Winchester sights can bring half that amount and are far more abundant, this price is fair. If I had a Model 1873 that "needed" this sight I would most certainly try to get it.

[Ysabel Kid]

WOW!!! What's it got in it - gold?

[missionary5155]

Good morning
I have to ask myself... If they are so rare... howcome?
Is this one of those items No one wanted.. it was not practicle... it was a real pain to use ???
As 44-40 was the top cartrige in the 73 model who really needed a long range sight. Looking at pictures of 1873´s taken 100 plus years ago there are few tang mounted sights seen. Most fellers who were going to shoot at game over 150 yards knew where good single shot rifles were and used them.
I like a tang sight. I have peep / tang type sights on most my rifles. But I do not see many pistures of these sights in common use.

[FWiedner]

But... but... it's RARE...

[adirondakjack]

Hey, if ya want one, he's got one. Economics 101.

Did I ever tell ya about the time I rescued a baseball bat from use as a window prop at an auction house? I told the auctioneer "put that old bat up, I'll bid on it." He looked at me like I was nuts. I bid $5 and took it home. I knew it was old, really old, and it was. Made no later than 1905, it sold on Ebay for $185.

The auctioneer was happy to get $5 for it. I was happy to get $185, and the lady I sold it to already had it sold to a fellow in Singapore for over $500. I take it there are no 100 year old ball bats propping up windows in Singapore.

[Aussie Chris]

Wowsers.......I can think of better things to spend my hard earned money on. Like cars and girls.....

[KirkD]

Wowsers.......I can think of better things to spend my hard earned money on. Like cars and girls.....

That sight must be a hundred years old at least. Cars and girls don't look that good when they're a hundred years old.

[JB]

Stroebel's gunsight book lists that site as valued between $200-$400, but I guess if someone's willing to pay over $1,000 for one, they must need it bad!

[Griff]

Hey, if ya want one, he's got one. Economics 101.

Did I ever tell ya about the time I rescued a baseball bat from use as a window prop at an auction house? I told the auctioneer "put that old bat up, I'll bid on it." He looked at me like I was nuts. I bid $5 and took it home. I knew it was old, really old, and it was. Made no later than 1905, it sold on Ebay for $185.

The auctioneer was happy to get $5 for it. I was happy to get $185, and the lady I sold it to already had it sold to a fellow in Singapore for over $500. I take it there are no 100 year old ball bats propping up windows in Singapore.

There's a lesson in there... somewhere. Good analogy But you're lucky one of the other auctuin attendees didn't smell a rat!

[Bogie35]

Wowsers.......I can think of better things to spend my hard earned money on. Like cars and girls.....

That sight must be a hundred years old at least. Cars and girls don't look that good when they're a hundred years old.

[Sixgun]

Like Mike D. says, its a rare sight. Its got "condition" too A couple of months ago I could have had one for $750. IIRC, I had about $75 in my pocket. Even if I had the bucks on me, I would have turned it down as I can think of other ("other", not better )ways to part with the c-notes.

Old Savage was talking about a 73 that was for sale in his neck of the woods that had one of those sights on it. I was interested but the rifle sold right away. Smart guy, that buyer was-------Sixgun

[bdhold]

here's a prettier set - certainly not in my market
http://cgi.ebay.com/Winchester-windgage ... 0197686475

[TX Gun Runner]

Half the ones being offered are FAKES and I would never buy one from a pics that is for sure .....

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Stroebel's gunsight book lists that site as valued between $200-$400, but I guess if someone's willing to pay over $1,000 for one, they must need it bad!

There's actually three people bidding on it. It started at $800. I've learned the hard way a book is only one persons idea of what it's worth. The best source is to search completed auctions. This will show you what something actually sold for.

A good example is the Browning 86's and 92's. They generally sell for about 30% more than the book.

[Aussie Chris]

Very true KirkD, unfortunately

[adirondakjack]

Hey, if ya want one, he's got one. Economics 101.

Did I ever tell ya about the time I rescued a baseball bat from use as a window prop at an auction house? I told the auctioneer "put that old bat up, I'll bid on it." He looked at me like I was nuts. I bid $5 and took it home. I knew it was old, really old, and it was. Made no later than 1905, it sold on Ebay for $185.

The auctioneer was happy to get $5 for it. I was happy to get $185, and the lady I sold it to already had it sold to a fellow in Singapore for over $500. I take it there are no 100 year old ball bats propping up windows in Singapore.

There's a lesson in there... somewhere. Good analogy But you're lucky one of the other auctuin attendees didn't smell a rat!

Hey Griff, how's things?

Yep, a price is only an OFFER to sell. An auction renders OFFERS to buy. A thing, no matter what it is, is worth whatever the folks who know about it are willing to pay right now, and not a penny less.

[bdhold]

not taking you guys to task, but there is no way to write a book and in it set an enduring price on a finite number of historic artifacts with a growing collector base.
Howell Raines in Fly Fishing the Mid Life Crisis stated that by the time you're 50 you should become a renowned expert on some obscure topic. Mine is the between-the-wars fly reels made by JW Young and Sons in Redditch, England. I'm asked on the internet to give values every day. What's it worth? While you can watch auctions and sales between collectors, you can keep range on fair value. But bottom line, it's worth to you what you're willing to pay for it, and it's worth to somebody else what they're willing to pay for it.
Puts me in a position of being the guy who can set the market on reels like this


Very closely tied with value is the question of what is a "classic" vs. what is a curious relic.
Made side-by-side in Horton Connecticut, Meek Reels and Bristol steel fishing rods both sold for about $15 to $25 in 1917. If you convert $20 from 1917 to its current Consumer Price Index (today's money), it's about $350. Guess what? Meek reels are selling for $350, and you would be lucky to get $15 for a Bristol steel fishing rod. A classic endures in value, so if you have something very nice and desirable, you can set by its original value - simply that it has held its value over time.


still the choice of many distance-casting champions, and they are a hoot to cast.

[Grizz]

Bulldog and AdirondakJack nailed it; this is how free markets work, by price discovery and two willing contacts. This is the market determining the value. I love the part about the reel being worth today what it was when it was made. That's the effect of the government interference in the free markets and their willful devalueing of the currency. So I can't lament the lack of 30$ 1911s if I have a half-ounce of gold. What all this means is that "things" aren't expensive, our money is cheap. Problem with this knowledge is that it dies with us because the new generation doesn't learn about it until they can't do anything about it either.

There are folks who are willing to part with things for less than top dollar. This is also a function of the free market, and I've been blessed on this forum by some who have. It's still a matter of two free people agreeing on the price of a transaction, price discovery, and making the market at that time.

You guys rock!

Grizz

[barbarossa]

Luv that sight.I wish someone made a replica of it. It would look great on my Uberti 1of 1000

[JB]

Stroebel's gunsight book lists that site as valued between $200-$400, but I guess if someone's willing to pay over $1,000 for one, they must need it bad!

There's actually three people bidding on it. It started at $800. I've learned the hard way a book is only one persons idea of what it's worth. The best source is to search completed auctions. This will show you what something actually sold for.

A good example is the Browning 86's and 92's. They generally sell for about 30% more than the book.

True, the books often drag behind current market prices. I've found idiots and gun auctions to go hand in hand. I've sat through many auctions and watched people pay $250 to $300 for a used gun they could buy brand new at Walmart for $219.99! I've told my family to sell my guns at public auction.

[2571]

At that price, I'm glad t he shipping is free.

[L_Kilkenny]

True, the books often drag behind current market prices. I've found idiots and gun auctions to go hand in hand. I've sat through many auctions and watched people pay $250 to $300 for a used gun they could buy brand new at Walmart for $219.99! I've told my family to sell my guns at public auction.

Here that brother. Auctions IME are not very good places to find deals and steals. Ya end up bidding against others that want an item and ALSO people who don't want the item but are bidding just to bid and run up a price. The best deals I've seen at auctions are the so-called boxes'o'junk that they throw together of misc stuff. You can find some real treasures in some of those boxes. As for gun value's.......I rarely see a dealer with gun prices in line with book value (most are well over in today's market) but they'll dang well beat you over the head with that book on a trade or if you're selling.

LK

[KirkD]

Bulldog, nice stuff you got there!

[bdhold]

thanks - a lot of reels have passed through my hands to get those.
As I learned how to date these, I recognized an inordinate number of mint reels from around 1939-40.
I figured out they belonged to people who didn't survive the war - put away as a treasure for a generation, then re-emerged on the collector's market. Have had more than a few of these through my hands.


I display them in a curio, but I also I fish them - it seems like the right thing to do