Colt 1878 double-barrel 10 gauge #18910

[TheParson]

Recently I bought a double barrel 10 gauge shotgun in central MO. Although I am by no means, an expert on the subject, I have learned that this is a rare and potentially very valuable gun...since less than 3,000 of them were manufactured. Although it is a breech loading, top break shotgun, I am told it shoots only Black Powder shot shells with Paper hulls. Folks have asked me to post pictures on the forum, to help folks evaluate/estimate my shotgun's Fair Market Price.

Here are the pics.

 

[Bishop Creek]

10 ga black powder shotshells available here:

http://gadcustomcartridges.com/

 

[Hawg]

Might be worth a couple or three thousand if it was a special order with engraving and in better shape. I don't see any traces of case colors or bluing. It looks as if it has some pitting around the breech and was cleaned with an abrasive. There's plenty of these around for about a thousand more or less.