Winchester Repeating Arms Company. Herb Houze
to the open market. It is important not to lose that chain of descent, and but a slight bit of effort is needed to draw up a brief statement as to background (how long the gun remained in the family, how it was passed down father to son, etc.), fully identifying it by description and serial number and any peculiar features. The seller must then notarize both the validity of the statement and his signature. Although the mere affidavit is in no way proof positive of the originality of the item (and the document is subject to abuses), it does add much to the strength of the background and credibility.
It is quite possible to considerably increase the value of an uninscribed (or otherwise historically unmarked) weapon that has historical association as long as substantiation can be made with documentary evidence. Value can be increased proportionately with the credibility of the documents; the closer they come to validating the piece “beyond the shadow of a doubt” the better the gun becomes. Excellent examples would be weapons known to have been used by Western badmen while performing nefarious deeds or by lawmen in their pursuit. Such pieces have always held a certain amount of morbid fascination (in the case of badmen) or romance of the West (in the case of the good guys). Of the literally thousands that the author has heard of over the years, but a handful ever turned out to be legitimate. Such items are worth a considerable amount of money, and their value is based chiefly on the strength of the accompanying documents. The buyer is cautioned to be extremely skeptical when buying such pieces merely accompanied by a dossier of documents which are actually completely peripheral. Quite often arms are offered for sale attributed to use by specific individuals and accompanied by tremendous amounts of data on those individuals. Although the data is found to be accurate as far as the individuals and historical events are concerned, on close scrutiny these materials fail to substantiate the originality of the gun itself and are rather “accessories after the fact!” In such cases the seller had hoped to overwhelm the unsuspecting buyer by the pure mass of documentary data, none of which substantiated the piece in any way. Thus, accompanying documents should always be carefully scrutinized and analyzed when they are instrumental in evaluating a piece.
The matter of inscribed historically associated guns and their values does not lend itself to simple formulas and offers one of the widest ranges of price variance in the gun market; they also offer the greatest challenges.
7. An Effective Tool For Historical Research
It has been surprising that the well-researched, multi-volume work “SERIAL NUMBERS OF U.S. MARTIAL ARMS” (Springfield Research Service) has not been better utilized by collectors. Augmented periodically, it offers a wealth of historical data, much of which may tend to increase values of certain firearms. The information is taken directly from U.S. Government archives, including those of the Springfield Armory, Office of the Chief of Ordnance, Adjutant General’s Office, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance.
Listed by serial number sequence are many thousands of various handguns and longarms purchased by the U.S. from the Civil War to WWII. Data often includes place (or sometimes, unit) where issued. Guns range from Civil War Colt and Remington revolvers and cavalry carbines to WWII M1 rifles: Colt Single Actions, S& Ws, Springfield “Trap-door” longarms, Krags, M. 1917 rifles, Model 1911 autos and much more.
Of course, not every gun purchased by the U.S. is listed. And, it may be akin to looking for “a needle in a haystack.” But, finding a gun among those listings could enhance its value appreciably. A WORD OF CAUTION: Locating a gun just one number apart from a listed piece doesn’t count! It’s considered a complete miss. The mere close proximity does not indicate that it was part of the same lot or issued to the same unit. Interesting, yes; premium value, no.
To make the best and most effective use of this “tool” for historical research, the collector would do well to contact the Springfield Research Service, P.O. Box 6322, Falls Church, Virginia 22040 or check their website: www.armscollectors.com/srs.htm. (An alternate, possibly upgraded, website: www.springfieldresearchservice.com) A vast amount of information from the archives and government records is available (for a modest fee) through them. Such data may add substantially to the historical significance (and often value) of some antique arms. The service offered also issues a quarterly “Newsletter” available upon subscription.
8. Unlisted or Unknown Variations
The mere fact that a model, sub-model or variation does not appear in this book should not be interpreted as proof the gun is a rarity. In no sense does the author wish to imply that every known variation or deviation from the manufacturer’s “standard” gun has been located or cataloged! The reader is cautioned here, as he is throughout the book, not to jump to conclusions! The fact that a piece differs from standard might even suggest it is not entirely original. Much might have happened to an object that has been in existence 80 to 275 years since it left the factory or the maker’s premises. Not a few interesting and fine quality alterations were made to guns over that period by very competent gunsmiths, often satisfying the owner’s particular needs or whims. Both the quality of the workmanship of such alterations and the passage of time tend to give them the air of factory originality. At times the value of a gun may be enhanced due to the oddity factor. Most such alterations, however, when proven to be non-factory in origin normally do not increase the value of the gun and in many instances, actually detract from it.
When variations are found to be original, quite a number of factors must be weighed to assess the possible increase in value. Leading factors are the make and model of gun and demand for it on the collector market. The value of the variation may be said to increase in importance, and hence value, in direct proportion to the demand for the gun as a collector’s piece. Thus, an unusual barrel length on a small caliber rimfire revolver of one of the lesser known makers may have merely a curiosity value for a few collectors and a price increase of 20 to 40 percent. That identical variation found on a similar period gun by one of the more eagerly sought after makers could very well increase value by 100 to 500 percent. Each situation must be analyzed carefully and weighed on its own merits.
Suspicions should be especially aroused at unique, not previously known or recorded, one-of-a-kind guns. Should more than one such ultra-rare piece turn up within a close time or geographic proximity then extreme caution and skepticism may be in order. When what is nontypical becomes typical should immediately be cause for concern.
It is in the area of variations that the counterfeiter and forger has had a veritable field day. As a matter of fact, he has the opportunity to hone his inventive abilities to a very fine edge. With the knowledge that variations do appear that have never previously been cataloged (one of the interesting aspects of gun collecting) quite a few intriguing variations have been made strictly to dupe the unwitting collector. Some of these were no doubt intended as good humored, pure practical jokes; an ingredient known from the days when guns had modest values. With the passage of years some of those early fakes or gags have acquired an age patina giving them a more credible appearance than the more recently made forgeries. The collector is forewarned of such specimens and should keep his wits about him when offered an unusual variant, coolly analyzing the piece and using good common sense as his basic guide.
9. Serial Numbers
An idiosyncrasy of gun collecting is the premium price often placed on arms with very low serial numbers; such prices being for the number alone and not for their indication of an early model or the fact that they indicate a low production. This number game plays a more important role with the large makers such as Colt, Smith & Wesson, and Winchester and is treated separately in the text within each of those sections. The serial number of the gun in no way affects its appearance, purpose or use and is merely a fascinating feature for some collectors on some guns. Before paying a premium price for numbers (one or two digits especially), the buyer is cautioned to learn a little about that gun’s numbering system and whether or not the sequence was consecutive from “1” right through to the end of production, or whether serial numbers were in batch lots. Quite a few American guns are found with low serials since they were marked from “1” to “20” or possibly “1” to “100” and then numbering started all over