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Old Winchesters

Gene248
I have seen some auctions for old winchesters and they had been, I guess, factory refinished. Would this improve or reduce the value? I know it is no longer original but they sure look nice. Would it be worth the money to clean up an old '94 saddle ring rifle or just leave it original with hardly any blue left on it? About what does it cost these days to get a factory redo on a rifle?
Thanks,
Gene
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • perry shooter
    DONT REFINISH unless you get someone like Doug Trunbull .even then you will not recover the cost to refinish. A poor to good refinish will REDUCE the value of what you presently have.
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  • 338weatherby
    I'm under the impression that you only restore/refinish a rifle that has already been messed with. I have a '92 that is in good mechanical shape and has excellent wood but someone tried cold bluing on it. I am debating on having it professionally restored to keep as a nice shooter or selling it as is.icon_smile_question.gif
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  • tsr1965
    Gene248,
    quote:Would it be worth the money to clean up an old '94 saddle ring rifle or just leave it original with hardly any blue left on it?

    In most cases, it is better to leave the gun alone. Serious collectors, can see thru a refinish job, even if it is from the factory. Besides, that process has changed in today's factory, and you will not get the same finish that came original to the gun. Also, once it is refinished, you cannot go back. Chances are, you will have invested more in the refinish/restoration, than you will ever get a SERIOUS collector, let alone anyone else to cough up, money wise.

    perry shooter,
    quote:DONT REFINISH unless you get someone like Doug Trunbull .even then you will not recover the cost to refinish. A poor to good refinish will REDUCE the value of what you presently have.


    That is absolutely correct. The refinish will cost more than you will ever retrieve out of it, honestly. You can trick the unknowledgable, but that is not wise, as it will catch up with you.

    I have the privilage of living about 20 minutes from Doug Turnbull's operation. I have stopped in several times. It is nothing short of breath taking. There might be other restoration shops, that can better make a 100 year old Winchester, look like what a NIB 100 year old Winchester should like, but there is none who can make it look more beautiful. The Turnbull shop has their aces in their hand.

    338weatherby,
    quote:I'm under the impression that you only restore/refinish a rifle that has already been messed with. I have a '92 that is in good mechanical shape and has excellent wood but someone tried cold bluing on it. I am debating on having it professionally restored to keep as a nice shooter or selling it as is.

    Yes, if it has been messed with, you can have it restored. However, that might be only wise, if you intend to keep it. You will never get your investment of restoration back out of it, unless, like I said previously, you are dishonest.

    Hope this answers some questions, and I am sure Bert H can add some more to it, as well as some other's.

    Best
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  • Bert H.
    Gentlemen;

    There is no such thing as a Winchester "factory" refinish (at least since late 1980). The company that manufactured all of the pre-1964 Winchester firearms got out of that business in December of 1980. The U.S. Repeating Arms Company ceased to exist as of March of 2006. The current "Winchester" is a division of the Browning Firearms Company, and they will not touch anything that they did not make. The only available option since December of 1980, was or is too have a private entity restore or refinish the gun. A "true" documented factory refinish has very little effect on the value. Non-factory refinish work is very detrimental to the value (a 60% - 90% value reduction).

    In regards to the original question, it is not worth the $$$ to have an old Model '94 SRC refinished. The cost to have the work done will exceed what you could sell it for.
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  • Gene248
    Ok gentlemen. Once again I have asked a question and you came through with the answers I was looking for. I figured it was not a good idea to refinish one of these fine old rifles and you have confirmed it.

    Thanks,
    Gene
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  • toad67
    As Bert mentioned about Factory refinishing the key word is "documented". Most factory jobs came with a letter or work order receipt. If someone claims "factory" w/o legit paperwork I'd be leary. In this day and age I'd even be careful about fake letters of said work. Not sure though if they can do a records check to see if the work was actually performed.

    T67
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  • Gene248
    It seems that most of the auctions for old winchesters show them as pretty well beat up and I was not sure if having them restored would increase the price significantly. I now know that is most likely not the case. Thanks Bert for the explanation. Clears up a lot.

    Gene
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