Value of my rifle

J

Jay24bal

New member
Hello All -

Every year at renewal, I update the rider on my homeowners policy to account for new large, personal property items we have bought in the last year, to include guns. My insurance company does not require appraisals on any of my guns as nothing is super rare or high value, but I do have a question on one of my new acquisitions.

My wife's grandfather gave me a Belgian made, Browning Hi Power Safari Grade rifle several months ago, that has been in the family since it was bought new in 1959. It is a beautiful gun, in wonderful condition (90-95% easily). Now, it is rather easy for me to go on gunbroker or look in the blue book and get a value, and I have. But my question is this, this rifle is of very early production for this model with only a 3 digit serial number. In your opinion, would this fact add any value to the gun?

I am not a collector, so I have no idea if this is something collectors would place value on. I have zero intentions of ever selling the rifle, just want to make sure I have sufficiently insured it in case it is something with a higher monetary value, and figured I would see what y'all thought before paying a higher premium in case it would not add any value.

Thank you.
 
Most homeowners policies are limited to $2000 for firearms loss in the aggregate, so if you are over that you may want to add an inland marine policy to your homeowners. An I/M policy lists each piece for a certain value. The NRA offers something as well if you need additional coverage.
 
I update the rider on my homeowners policy to account for new large, personal property items we have bought in the last year
Click to expand...
Most homeowners policies are limited to $2000 for firearms loss in the aggregate, so if you are over that you may want to add an inland marine policy
Click to expand...
OP already has one and he actually updates the values yearly like he is supposed to do.

Can't help with the valuation. I can tell you Safeco has a rider that simply eliminates the limit for most collectibles. Not as broad of coverage as most riders for scheduled property, but much cheaper and has the coverage most are comfortable with.
 
There are some collectors that will pay a premium for guns produced in a specific year, depending on the gun. First year of production guns may have a slightly higher value, also depending on the gun.

More important to a collector is condition. Even at 95% your gun is in the lower level for a collector. That is unless 95% is as good as it gets for extant examples of the gun.

Rarity is also a consideration, were there few of that type of gun made or if it is an unusual variation.

Basically you have some research to look forward to.
 
Hunting rifles rarely have any collector value. However, the chambering, sights, barrel weight, etc. matter as much as the condition.
The Blue Book isn't all it's cracked up to be. It gives averages of prices found all over the U.S. with zero regard for local supply and demand. And it's at least 2 years out of date. Takes roughly that long to compile and publish any book.
For example, there's one on Guns International chambered in .308 Norma Mag, the guy, a dealer in Kentucky, wants $1695. Ammo only comes from No$ler or Norma and isn't readily available. Doubt there's anything there that needs a cartridge you can't easily get. His price is excessive. Be different if it was a .243, .308 or .30-06.
Gunbroker et al is better being more up to date, but it's an auction and auctions are daft. Still a better 'ball park' than a book.
 
When you look at the auctions remember that what matters is not what is asked, but what it sells for.

When it sells, that means someone was actually willing to pay that price.

Of course, not everyone might be willing to pay that price.

Lets say you have a mint condition, 1975 AMC Gremlin, in purple. Now, if you find that one wealthy guy who HAS to have a purple 75 in his collection, he'll pay whatever he has to, to get one.

Take that same car to the dealer, and you won't get much, if anything.

Insurance?? What is the current replacement cost, for an IDENTICAL item?

That might be something other than average market value.
 
When it comes to insurance, take meticulous pictures and don't get pushed around. A friend of mine had several nice guns stolen and the adjuster came and looked at the pics and told my friend that they were worth very little. My friend then pulled out another firearm that wasn't stolen and ask him what it was worth. The adjuster quoted a price and my friend pulled out the true appraisal papers and then dropped the bomb. He wanted to know the adjusters qualifications in rare firearms. He had none. My crazy friend then called his lawyer, who called the state insurance commission, and promptly notified them that this particular insurance company was sending people out that were not qualified to appraise anything! My friend got the full value of his stolen property.
 
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