Grading/Pricing Sample Format
PRICING
The firearms prices listed in this book are RETAIL PRICES, that is, the prices at which you can reasonably expect to buy firearms from a dealer or collector. Any firearm can bring more or less depending on many variables. If you choose to sell your gun to a dealer, you will not receive the retail price but instead a wholesale price based on the markup that particular dealer needs to operate.
Also, in certain cases there will be no price indicated under a particular condition but rather the notation “N/A” or the symbol “— ”. This indicates that there is no known price available for that gun in that condition or the sales for that particular model are so few that a reliable price cannot be given. This will usually be encountered only with very rare guns, with newly introduced firearms, or more likely with antique firearms in those conditions. Many antique firearms will be seen in the good, fair, and poor categories.
The prices listed here come from a variety of sources: retail stores, gun shows, individual collectors, and auction houses. Due to the nature of business, one will usually pay higher prices at a retail store than at a gun show. In some cases, internet auctions will produce excellent buys or extravagant prices, depending on any given situation.
In recent years, internet sales of collectible firearms has become a major factor in this market. Auction sites such as www.AuctionArms.com or www.GunBroker.com have nearly overtaken storefront or gun show purchases for many collectors. In my own business, I find that the auction sites bring me more buyers with more money than I ever had from traditional venues. I usually set up at gun shows to buy merchandise then sell it on line so as to reach more buyers. The better-quality military arms I find rarely ever get displayed on my gun show table; they sell online first – frequently for more than they will bring locally. The downside of this for those not participating in the internet revolution is that they are missing out on a lot of interesting historical firearms that will never be offered through any other venue. This internet selling has leveled out the market. Any pricing found online is going to reflect a nationwide trend. In the “old days” one could find seasonal and regional differences in the prices of collectibles. A small gun or pawn shop in the middle of farm country might have had a matching Luger priced at $450 sit on the shelf for years. The local buyers weren’t interested because they purchased their firearms for hunting, not collecting. Now these local dealers need only offer these slow-selling guns on the internet and they suddenly have the entire country as potential customers.
Collectors will sometimes pay higher prices for a firearm that they need to fill out their collection, when in other circumstances they will not be willing to pay market price if they don’t have to have the gun. The point here is that the price paid for firearms is an ever-changing affair based on a large number of variables. The prices in this book are a GENERAL GUIDE as to what a willing buyer and willing seller might agree on. You may find the item for less, and then again you may have to pay more depending on the variables of your particular situation. There is a saying among collectors that goes “I didn’t pay too much for this gun, I bought it too soon.” This reflects a solid trend with collectible firearms that the prices continue to rise with each year.
Some factors are unique when attempting to set a price on a collectible military firearm, for example the presence of import markings or matching numbers. Both of these can have an impact on the value of a collectible firearm. How much? Good question.
Import Markings
Under the terms of the Gun Control Act of 1968, all firearms imported to the U.S. must be marked with certain information. This includes importer, model, country of origin and caliber. While this does not have any effect on new sporting firearms, it does add non-original markings to vintage military guns. In 1986, when military surplus firearms were once again legal for importation, most importers put all the required information in a very small stamping on the side of the barrel. In the mid-1990s, the government established new size criteria for the markings and most importers had to enlarge them. They also required that military surplus firearms be marked with a unique serial number on the receiver. This was because it was discovered that original serial numbers could have been duplicated on similar models. This new number is the one that gets recorded in the transfer records for a particular firearm.
In cases where identical models were imported in both pre-1968 and post-1986 eras, the non import marked examples might bring a higher price to some collectors.
To further confuse the issue, some importers recently started using a dot matrix import marking on the receivers of their products. They put all the required information on the receiver, not just the serial number. In some cases this is placed over the original markings. Now, to me, that does have an impact on the value. Since many collectors seek out examples based on unique markings, having those marks covered with new ones must reduce the desirability of these arms. Again, there is no set amount to discount these “billboard” marked guns; just be aware that many buyers will pass by such items.
Matching Numbers
Many foreign military firearms had all or part of the serial number stamped on the main pieces of the gun. The Germans were particularly fond of the practice. A Luger P-08 pistol or 98K Mauser rifle has the last two digits of the serial number stamped on almost every piece of the gun that is large enough for it to fit. Other manufacturers might only number main components. Some did not number anything but the receiver or barrel. Each country and maker had their own practice. Some entries in this edition will list parts numbering practices for the item. Some do not. I tried including the information when I began this project but found it took up too much space and time to go into such detail for each item. Suffice it to say that if you are examining a military firearm and any major part bears a number different than the one on other major parts, it is probably mismatched.
How much a mismatched part on a gun might affect the price is another factor that is impossible to include in the listings. If a major part such as the bolt is not matching, many collectors would not be interested in an item at any price. A bargain shopper looking for a shootable example of an item might not care that no two pieces on a gun have matched numbers. A good thing to remember is that higher the collector demand and price of an item, the more a mismatched part will impact the price.
Luckily for the collectors of U.S. military firearms, we seldom used the practice of numbering any parts but the receiver. There might be assembly or contractor numbers but not serial numbers. Only some early 1911 pistols numbered the slides internally.
I also mention in these pages several recently-imported models. In some cases this importation has caused a significant price reduction due to temporary oversupply of the market. The Russian Model 1891/30 rifles and Yugoslavian Model 59/66 SKS are examples. Other items, like the Swedish Mauser rifles that were imported in quantity in the late 1980s, have disappeared from wholesaler inventory and now command prices significantly higher than only a few years ago.
Many items that were imported in the 1950s and 60s have not been brought in since the 1986 lifting of the ban on imported military surplus. In these cases there is no accurate way to determine how many of a particular model were imported in the pre-GCA 1968 days. Detailed records of the old imports were not usually kept. Many of the companies of that era no longer exist. Likewise, there are some models and variations listed in this book that have never