Refinishing in general
I have a set of old Winchester Model 37 red letter. I have been working on getting this set together for many years. These guns are in a variety of conditions. Nothing serious wrong with any of them. The patina and bluing are different. The 410 is very nice, but it has been refinished by a professional at some point. I have absolutely no intention of selling the guns as I am going to pass down to my son. I have a fondness for the model 37 leading back to my childhood. My question is I am trying to decide if I should refinish the guns or leave them alone. I would like to think my son will keep the guns and pass down to my grandson but that will be his call. I am very proud of these guns and would not want to take away from the future value because of my stupidity. I would love to here from some of the long time collectors as I condider very much a novice. Same question for a model 100 my father left me. Thank you in advance.
Terry[?]
Terry[?]
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Refinishing a firearm ALWAYS detracts from value. Things like cars can be restored and add considerable value but NOT guns. Think of it this way: Suppose you start with a $500 collectable, spend $200 on refinishing and you now have a $200 shooter. I would suggest you leave your guns in the condition they are now in, explain the situation to your son, and let things stand as is. 0 -
I agree, let the life they have lived show, character of a good gun should be left alone. 0 -
Ambrose and k. stanonik, Thank you for helping me make my decision.
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Terry[:)]0 -
Careful cleaning and oiling,yes. Refinishing, no. 0 -
It's almost an article of faith, a mantra, that refinishing destroys value. Actually, it's another gray-area item.
A gun, fair condition worth $250 gets refinished. It won't double its sale value, maybe increase it to $300. You have the original $250 value plus refinish $250, now $500 in a gun worth $300.
Not an economic gain but it will look a lot better to the heirs.
People who know guns rather have them original but indfferent heirs might appreciate nice looking guns and decide they are worth keeping.
I refinish guns when refinish is part of making it a better gun. Old guns showing normal use and abuse but still capable of doing their job I don't refinish. My heirs are also gun-folk.
A couple before/after requiring refinish:
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quote:Originally posted by Ambrose
Refinishing a firearm ALWAYS detracts from value.
No it doesn't.
It depends entirely on the gun in question and what you have done to it.
If you're talking about refinishing a COLLECTOR'S gun, that virtually always reduces its collector's value. Collectors prize "original condition" more than anything else, and guns can only come with their "original finish" one time!
On the other hand, if you're talking about a worn "working" gun, or "shooter" that has no collectors value, one with a nice new refinish is still going to be more attractive than one with a worn ratty finish.
The issue here is that in GENERAL, it costs more to refinish a gun than the increase in value you get from the having the refinish done. Except under very unusual circumstances (eg you can refinish a gun yourself for minimal cost) you're not going to "make money" having a gun refinished.
For example, you can take a worn $200 gun, add $150 to have it nicely reblued, and you're likely to end up with a $250-300 gun.
The gun will still be worth more than when you started ($250+ vs $200), just not enough more for the refinish to pay for itself.
All that said, if the alternative is "refinish gun for $150" vs "watch gun rust away to worthlessness", then it may still "pay" to have the gun refinished if its a gun you want/need to use.
Along the same lines, not everything "has" to make economic sense. If you're attached to a particular gun for sentimental or other reasons, or if it can't easily be replaced, it may pay to have it refinished, even if doing so costs more than the value you'd expect to see selling the gun.
Edit: To answer the ORIGINAL question, you don't refinish collector's guns. Again, except under fairly exceptional circumstances, that only REDUCES the collector's value.0 -
As others have said, it depends.
A Winchester 37 is fairly collectable and I wouldn't refinish unless the gun was totally thrashed- even then it's a 50/50 question.
In general, I don't have an issue refinishing new production guns (meaning from the 70s on) unless some box set or whatever, or even older guns if not collectable. For instance I had my gunsmith hot blue a beater Mosin Nagant that I got for free, I refinished the stock, and was in it $80. I'm sure I took a $60 gun, spent $80 on it, and ended up with a $100 gun, so 'in the hole' but it did increase the value, and turned out very nicely.
Then there is restoring. I had an Argentine Mauser that someone had cold blued (poorly) and had the bluing on the receiver and bolt stripped to bring it back to 'in the white' factory condition; I'd say that RAISED the value beyond the cost of the bead blasting ($25) as it just looked... WRONG as it sat, and a collector would rather have a blasted receiver than one with ugly, splotchy cold blue on it.
So my take is- if the guns have already been refinished, if you want to touch them up further, go for it; otherwise don't bother.0 -
A good refinish cant detract from value if the experts dont know.
Ive seen some refinished guns that are phenomenal.......but mostly they are just a fair job and able to be spotted.0 -
As a collector-shooter I can argue it both ways.
A working gun should have a protective finish as rust doesn't sleep; even the smooth brown kind.
An 1863 Sharps I bought about 50 years ago is slowly losing barrel markings despite being kept oiled and clean after shooting or handling.
I don't like bare metal on any gun that is handled.0 -
Thanks everyone for the much appreciated information. Guess I will get some prices and decide from there. I would like to see the finish on the guns match the .410 (best) but I guess that is not
that important in the long haul.[?]0
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