Value US Military Gun vs. Civilian
I have a Colt '61 Navy Conversion revolver that is marked RWM plus an anchor on the bottom of the barrel, which is a US Navy inspector's mark.
Gun is brown patinized but with very clear crisp markings and almost 100% scene, matching s/n 44xx, cal .38 CF.
Wondering if there is a general figure or percentage uplift the US markings give to a gun. I have several guns, some with and some without US Military markings. Also a guestimate of this one would be appreciated.
Gun is brown patinized but with very clear crisp markings and almost 100% scene, matching s/n 44xx, cal .38 CF.
Wondering if there is a general figure or percentage uplift the US markings give to a gun. I have several guns, some with and some without US Military markings. Also a guestimate of this one would be appreciated.
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Condition is everything with these guns. From the looks of this it has some use. I can also notice that the wooden grips have been clean as they don't match up with the rest of the frame. Not knowing exactly how much finish is left on the piece I would estimate it at somewhere around $1k. This is only based on what similar condition ones have sold for at auction.
Edit: I don't believe they made this in a non military version of the pistol in your pic and if so I don't believe it was called an 1861. Usually a military gun will command significantly more then a non military firearm. I don't believe there's any number you can give as to the percentage the guns value will increase since some guns were only made for the military. For instance a single action army with military markings are extremely valuable in just about any condition but if you have a black powder single action army non-military depending on the condition of the two the guns values could swing one way or another. Colts especially can get a little tricky.0 -
The piece above has no finish as I said, it has a fairly good brown patina without wear, inasmuch as the cylider scene is very good and other marks are clear and sharp. The grip seems to have been subject to water damage because the mainspring has rust and pitting.
To provide back-up info, here is a picture of two of my 1861 Navys, one as-issed in percussion and the other a conversion. The conversion does not have the US Navy mark. It is the reason for the question I posted. Both of these have about 50% original finish.0 -
I would suggest getting this book if you don't already have it. I has pretty accurate values for most guns and will be able to tell you more about what you have. I'm sure someone else can give you a general idea on the other pistols but I'm just not up on Colts right now.
Blue Book of Gun Values 20120 -
Grip shrinkage is common on old guns that have spent lots of time in an arid climate. I've seen a lot of them that had been in Arizona for a very long time, that looked similar to that one, and one of several old Colts that I replaced parts in fairly recently, actually had grip shrinkage similar to that one (although I don't know where it may have been). I even had a stock on a Reising SMG shrink (in Arizona) to the point that when I pulled the trigger, the trigger bound to the rear on the inside of the trigger guard, which was mounted to the stock (that almost got exciting, LOL).
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After some TLC is the grip, same grip, still a work in progress. 0
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