Reblue a Colt 25 or leave it alone?
I have a Colt 25 which I believe was made in 1915. I am selling it and want to know if I should reblue it first or sell as is. I also want to know the value of the gun as is, and after reblueing. The gun is in mint shape, but was in grandfathers pocket or glove box many years. There is no rust[img][/img], just wear.
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Leave it alone unless you want to get less than half of what you would have gotten. 0 -
Spider,
What is this gun worth? I really have no idea, but have to sell it to buy another gun.
Thanks,
Ken0 -
I have to disagree with spider, as is the gun is probably worth $200+-, a 'good' reblue will run you about $100 and a 'nicly finished' colt will bring $350/400 even if reblued. a reblue will negate all collector intrest, but as there isn't much finish now there isn't any collector intrest. 0 -
Wow, Now I know what to do.[?] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by MIKE WISKEY
I have to disagree with spider, as is the gun is probably worth $200+-, a 'good' reblue will run you about $100 and a 'nicly finished' colt will bring $350/400 even if reblued. a reblue will negate all collector intrest, but as there isn't much finish now there isn't any collector intrest.
Sorry but I can't agree with spending $100 to destroy its collector value without even seeing how much original finish is on the gun in the first place. If he's going to sell it anyway, why not let the ultimate owner decide whether or not to reblue it? That makes much more sense to me.0 -
I have to disagree with Mr. Wiskey here.
The laws of economics say that you can't increase a gun's value by $200 with a $100 rebluing job. If it were that easy, there would be no such thing as a gun with a worn finish!
A good rule of thumb is that its extremely difficult to increase a gun's value by MORE than the cost of fair-market value professional add-ons like a new finish. Refinishing may add to the value of a gun, but with certain exceptions the added value is almost always LESS than the cost of the refinish (meaning a net cost to you for doing it).
One of the exceptions is convincing the unwary that a refinish is the original finish. Not a good way to go, in my opinion.
Another exception is that a gun may be in such lousy external cosmetic shape that its virtually unsellable. In a case like that, a refinish may well pay for itself by making an undesirable gun desirable.
A final exception is if you can get the refinish done as less than the going market rate for the service (eg you are skilled and do a great job by yourself, you get your brother-in-law the gunsmith to do it for you on the cheap, etc).
More to the point, I don't know anyone who will actually do a good professional reblue (which requires disassembly, stripping off the old bluing, polishing, then re-bluing) for only $100. While I'm sure you can find *someone* to reblue your gun for $100, my impression is that the going rate for a professional-quality reblue is about $200.
Getting back to the original question, I don't see how a gun can be in "mint" shape, yet have wear on it. Those two are mutually exclusive, right? Usually guns are described in "percent" type finish. (EG the gun retains 95% of its original finish, etc).
If the gun is in otherwise good shape, but just has some bluing wear on the high spots, then I would urge you NOT to refinish it (for the reasons described above already).
If you want an estimate of the price, you'll have to post good pictures, but as a very rough guide, these pocket autos seem to be running about $200-650, with condition being a key factor in the price. For a gun in good shape with some (but not terribly much) finish wear, $400 is probably a reasonable place to START the discussion.0 -
leave ir alone the new owner can have it reblued if he wants to but he can't UN-REBLUE. it is only original once most times a gun is refinished to offer better protection against rust but I don't think a buyer is going to use a 25 as a Carry gun in today's world but rather just will be someone that wants a 25 colt for old time sake . 0 -
Sorry Mike you have it wrong. Leave the gun alone. 0 -
Thanks for the input guys, I tried to put a picture up but am not computer literate enough so I said forget about it. I have decided to leave it as is and sell it without reblue job. I have never been on this site before, but I cannot believe all the advice I recieved. I am impressed, I do Thank You all for your help. I am only selling the gun because it scares my wife because its so small. She says I can have a bigger gun so who am I to argue.[:D]
Ken0 -
Are you going to list it on Gunbroker? If you do post a link so that we can see it. It should sell in the $250 range. 0
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