value of bulldog handgun
I have one of these. It looks EXACTLY like this one, complete with the ivory handles and nickel finish:
http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/british-bull-dog-revolver/
It's a Webley's No 2 450CF. Most "ended" auctions for these I've come across are either years old (which doesn't give enough indication of current value) or do not even disclose the amount of the winning bid. The numbers I do find often range anywhere from $350-$1000 or so. I'd like to nail it down a bit more than that.
There is a SMALL amount of corrosion on the outside of the cylinder which hopefully will not impact the value too much. I'd rate this weapon at about the same condition as the one shown in the picture behind the link above.
What's it worth?
http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/british-bull-dog-revolver/
It's a Webley's No 2 450CF. Most "ended" auctions for these I've come across are either years old (which doesn't give enough indication of current value) or do not even disclose the amount of the winning bid. The numbers I do find often range anywhere from $350-$1000 or so. I'd like to nail it down a bit more than that.
There is a SMALL amount of corrosion on the outside of the cylinder which hopefully will not impact the value too much. I'd rate this weapon at about the same condition as the one shown in the picture behind the link above.
What's it worth?
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Problem with "nailing down" the current fair market value, is that you have specific knowledge of recent sales. These are uncommon 130+ year old antique revolvers. Unless you actually run across someone who has knowledge of recent sales, Hackers educated guess is probably as close as your going to get. 0 -
Well, let's say I wanted to sell the thing here on Gunbroker. I've thought about setting it up in an auction with a reserve price and seeing what happens. Any thoughts on what my reserve should be? 0 -
Most people say the best way to sell something is to start it low with no reserve and that a reserve would only scare bidders away.
I don't know if it's a popular enough gun for that though, i'd guess its worth $500-$900
but you never know it could go for more or it might not sell.0 -
Hacker's not far off, here's a very recent one in lesser condition:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=2299774580 -
cylarz: go back to the auction search just as you have done, with one excepton:
Sort by 'highest number of bids first'.
Thereby, you won't be seeing any closed auctions that don't show any activity.
And remember, the auction that closed without generating a sale is still valuable to you, as the highest bid when the auction stalled is the fair market value, only the seller didn't know that, and priced the item too high. Joe0 -
The problem for the seller, as I see it, with no-reserve-penny auctions is that if he would prefer to keep his item rather than sell for less than his expected amount and it winds up selling for less than that, he feels foolish. I am not a fan of no-reserve-penny auctions for that reason. Most folks don't have a store-full of guns to sell and the penny auction hits them hard if their item sells for considerably less than expected. So, I do not agree with the no-reserve-penny-auction conventional wisdom.
Setting the opening bid at the least acceptable amount does eliminate many interested bidders who want to engage in the auction process of one-upping other bidders and who might eventually bid up to the seller's expected amount or higher. Even so, this is the tact I take, even though my sale potential on GB might be limited. I would rather keep it than sell it for less than it is worth to me. Of course (as others have said), researching recent GB auctions where comparable items have sold should tell the seller whether he should offer his item for sale or not.
Some folks (not me) think the reserve auction solves this issue by allowing bidders to bid against the reserve amount. I don't care for reserve auctions either. I think they are frustrating and waste my time.0 -
Wolf, you took the words right out of my mouth. I had arrived at the exact same conclusion yesterday.
When I initially proposed that I sell the pistol with a reserve price, other posters here discouraged me from doing that, and when I gave the matter some more thought I realized they were making a good point. Why do you want to fiddle around bidding on some auction when you don't even know if you'll win, even if you're the highest bidder? The sale never takes place unless the bidding goes over the mystery dollar amount - who needs this?
While it would be nice to move this thing down the road and get some money out of it, it's not like I can't pay the rent this month if it doesn't sell, or doesn't sell for such-and-such amount. Anything I did get out of it would simply be reinvested in additional guns, ammo and accessories.
Full disclosure is that the thing isn't even mine - it actually belongs to someone else I know who's asked me to look into this, being that I'm more familiar with how online auctions work than he is.
He said that before he sells it, he wants to fire at least one box of shells through it - no matter what it costs - but my research suggests that ammunition would be nearly impossible to find at any price. (Makes me wonder why someone else would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a pistol they can't shoot.)
Do you guys know where I could find even a few rounds that would work?0 -
quote:Originally posted by cylarz
Wolf, you took the words right out of my mouth. I had arrived at the exact same conclusion yesterday.
When I initially proposed that I sell the pistol with a reserve price, other posters here discouraged me from doing that, and when I gave the matter some more thought I realized they were making a good point. Why do you want to fiddle around bidding on some auction when you don't even know if you'll win, even if you're the highest bidder? The sale never takes place unless the bidding goes over the mystery dollar amount - who needs this?
While it would be nice to move this thing down the road and get some money out of it, it's not like I can't pay the rent this month if it doesn't sell, or doesn't sell for such-and-such amount. Anything I did get out of it would simply be reinvested in additional guns, ammo and accessories.
Full disclosure is that the thing isn't even mine - it actually belongs to someone else I know who's asked me to look into this, being that I'm more familiar with how online auctions work than he is.
He said that before he sells it, he wants to fire at least one box of shells through it - no matter what it costs - but my research suggests that ammunition would be nearly impossible to find at any price. (Makes me wonder why someone else would be willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a pistol they can't shoot.)
Do you guys know where I could find even a few rounds that would work?
Looking through the data reference section of "Cartridges of the World", It appears to be the cartridge they identify as .45 Webley. Only way likely to get some is to pay a custom loader to alter some existing brass to fit the Webley cylinder. Standard lead light weight .452 bullets, would function OK in the reworked brass with a light load of low pressure Pyrodex or some other BP substitute. Long as he's willing to pay for it, I'm sure a custom loader would be happy to provide the ammo.0 -
Fiocchi makes .450 Corto(.450 Short Colt) which should work in your Bulldog assuming the gun is in shootable condition. Sportsmans Guide has some for around $40 a box of 50. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.450_Adams
You can also handload it by shortening .455 Webley brass-and Midway has brass cases.0 -
quote:Originally posted by ruger41
Fiocchi makes .450 Corto(.450 Short Colt) which should work in your Bulldog assuming the gun is in shootable condition. Sportsmans Guide has some for around $40 a box of 50. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.450_Adams
You can also handload it by shortening .455 Webley brass-and Midway has brass cases.
Absolutely DO NOT fire the Fiocchi .450 in this 1870s gun! Some lots are badly overloaded, and no way to identify which:
http://www.phelbs.com/HRFTX/WARNING.htm0
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