My Grandfather's Firearms

[DrummerGirl]

Hello! I apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post this. My family is in the process of moving and we are going through some things that were left behind for us. I have little knowledge on these guns, or any guns in general. It's been said that these have value, but considering I know nothing, and don't think there's anywhere near that I can take these, I figured I'd see if anyone online could help me! I took pictures of all 7 firearms, along with other things I found on them that maybe could help distinguish exactly what they are. Link for photo album:

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[BillGabby1]

I would suggest that what you have there is valuable, but the photos don't tell the whole story.
You need to have a professional examine them and give you an estimate of what they would bring at auction.
A backyard Auction is NOT the ones you want to go too.
You need one who deals in firearms or antiques.
You can start by taking a couple to a local gunsmith and ask if he knows of a reputable dealer who will tell you of their value.
DON'T just sell them for the first offer you get.
You might find a firearms auctions house listed in your phonebook or even in the newspaper.
Be sure to go into this with your eyes wide open and ask lots of questions and if possible get a second opinion.
Some of the folks here in this forum can give you a good idea of their value.
Best of luck.
Gabby

 

[Diamondback]

Have them appraised, but go through the paperwork to transfer and keep them if you can.

When my grandfather died in '89, the first thing that happened was my drunken-oaf uncle hocked Grandpa's service .45 for rotgut booze-money, and even him taking his final place as Worm Food last year hasn't let me forgive him for it.

If you can AT ALL avoid having to get rid of them, hold onto 'em, if for no other reason than keeping them available for future generations.

 

[Joe13]

If you can AT ALL avoid having to get rid of them, hold onto 'em, if for no other reason than keeping them available for future generations.

I'd be rolling over in my grave if you sold my guns!

You may not have an intrest in them but your son or nephew may at which point your expensive guns are priceless and unreplaceable.

Don't sell them - period.

I have my dads guns, my grandfathers on both sides (well my step grand father as one - my blood grandfather got dementia and his new family sold all of his vast collection of guns. It pains me to even think about it) and my great grandfathers gun.

Those are all family heirlooms and from the pictures you showed us, he loved his guns as much as many if not all of us do.

If your not a gun guy look online as too how to store them properly or have a gunsmith prep them for long term storage and buy a safe just large enough to fit them and hang on to them until you have a younger generation that has a love of guns and those will mean more to him/her then anything they own.

People who sell heirloom guns have the biggest regrets down the line when it dawns on them that they can be replaced.

Just my 2¢.

 

[BillGabby1]

I also think if you gave what city you are from there may be a dealer of gunsmith in this forum that is there and could help.

I second Diamondback, try to keep them if at all possible they are family heirlooms now.
I did notice one looked like it had some rust issues that should be looked at, and they all may need some preventative maintenance, ie: cleaning and oiling to prevent deterioration.
I just had a thought, do you have a gun range near by that you could go to?
They often have local businesses leave adds and even business cards. The Range Masters usually know many of these people and they may have an armorer there that could take care of the maintenance for you. You should be able to find them in your phone directory.
Gabby

 

[DrummerGirl]

I'd be rolling over in my grave if you sold my guns!

You may not have an intrest in them but your son or nephew may at which point your expensive guns are priceless and unreplaceable.

Don't sell them - period.

I have my dads guns, my grandfathers on both sides (well my step grand father as one - my blood grandfather got dementia and his new family sold all of his vast collection of guns. It pains me to even think about it) and my great grandfathers gun.

Those are all family heirlooms and from the pictures you showed us, he loved his guns as much as many if not all of us do.

If your not a gun guy look online as too how to store them properly or have a gunsmith prep them for long term storage and buy a safe just large enough to fit them and hang on to them until you have a younger generation that has a love of guns and those will mean more to him/her then anything they own.

People who sell heirloom guns have the biggest regrets down the line when it dawns on them that they can be replaced.

Just my 2¢.

Not looking to sell currently, but wouldn't mind learning the potential value. We are moreso just trying to learn more about them. My Grandmother (his wife) is just as curious as we are, so we figured it'd be cool to find some history about them if possible.

Someone above said to post my city, I live near Eugene, OR.

Thanks everyone so far for the advice!

 

[Diamondback]

If Estacada weren't a 2hr drive from you on a good day, I'd say drop @Velzey a Private Message or call. Who else do we have that's reasonably close?

 

[Goosebrown]

You can post pictures here. Photobucket on your images is unusable. What I could manage to see looked really interesting. I think one is a double rifle or maybe even a zweilling rifle/shotgun combo based on the sling and scope mount. That'd have some interesting history.

Good luck and glad to hear you aren't selling.

 

[partsed]

@MountainBear is closer to Eugene than @Velzey. Sweet Home/Lebanon area....

 

[The Heretic]

One looks like a european drilling to me (can't tell from the pic, but there looks to be a rifle barrel underneath the shotgun barrel) which would probably make it worth thousands, possibly quite a bit more with the engraving and other features, depending on condition.

Another looks like a double rifle. Also possibly worth quite a bit. Also probably european.

I agree with others, take them to an expert or at least someone knowledgeable when you get the time. These are not a run of the mill long guns.

Until such time as you can do that, please store them with care. I suggest, if they do not have cases, that you at least invest in inexpensive 'gun socks' that are silicone treated. If they have cases maybe put some desiccant in the case? If in a gun safe, some desiccant in the safe?

 

[uscsoldier]

If you do end up selling anything get more that one appraisal done, lots of unscrupulous people out there waiting to take advantage of people in your situation

 

[MountainBear]

I would be happy to take a look at what you have. I am in Sweet Home. I have been a licensed gunsmith for ten years, and worked selling guns longer than that.

It looks as though you have some very nice guns and it's quite possible that some may need a specialist to appraise them. It is, as others have mentioned, a good idea to get multiple evaluation of you are selling them. However, I am not in the market right now, so I wouldn't be trying to buy them from you.

@Velzey and others here can vouch for my honesty. Please let me know if I can be of any help. I will be unavailable until Monday, but would be happy to get together next week.

 

[Goosebrown]

@Velzey would know a lot I think.

 

[11Charlie]

From what I saw in the pictures they look amazing. There is nothing better than old guns passed down from generation to generation. The history in itself is fun to think about.

Good luck with your search and I hope that someone on NWFA can help you.

 

[Velzey]

There is allot of money in those photos! Allot!
I stumbled upon a Double gun a few weeks ago a fellow brought in. Book price on it in 50% antique condition is $28,000! His grandfather had brought it back from Germany in 1946. Had loading tools, scope, misc.

 

[joken]

Steve Nelson may help you, He is a custom rifle builder and guild member here in Corvallis. He is a good guy,
ACGG | Steve Nelson

 

[tac]

Hello! I apologize in advance if this is the wrong place to post this. My family is in the process of moving and we are going through some things that were left behind for us. I have little knowledge on these guns, or any guns in general. It's been said that these have value, but considering I know nothing, and don't think there's anywhere near that I can take these, I figured I'd see if anyone online could help me! I took pictures of all 7 firearms, along with other things I found on them that maybe could help distinguish exactly what they are. Link for photo album:

@DG - I'd like to be able to help out with identification, especially with the German [?] guns. I live in UK and have a ton of reference material, but I can't see the images as they are constantly covered with an unending series of adverts that reappear every time I cancel them.

I'd be grateful if somebody could send me the bare images to my email address to help me out.

TIA

tac

 

[DrummerGirl]

@DG - I'd like to be able to help out with identification, especially with the German [?] guns. I live in UK and have a ton of reference material, but I can't see the images as they are constantly covered with an unending series of adverts that reappear every time I cancel them.

I'd be grateful if somebody could send me the bare images to my email address to help me out.

TIA

tac

I apologize for the ads popping up! I'd be more than happy to email them to you!

 

[tac]

See your pm.

tac

 

[tac]

'kaaaaaaaaay. You have a selection of interesting firearms there, including one lever-action rifle that is American-made. I'll leave that to the Winchester/Marlin experts, since we can see none of the top of the barrel detail that would tell us exactly what it is, including the calibre.

The remaining guns are a mix of German double rifles ['zwilling'] and a shotgun/rifle combination gun ['drilling] and a shotgun or two. Suhl, the location of the civilian gun trade in Germany after unification in 1870, can be clearly seen on one of the guns.

One of the rifles - the drilling - appears to have a fairly modern Zeiss scope on claw mounts, but others have claw mounts but no scopes. From what proof marks you have shown us, all appear to be from between 1891 and 1939, and are of typical Suhl gunmakers/dealers style. The Krupp fluid steel barrels are typical of good quality barrels, and the 'prima' mark indicates the best quality at the time of manufacture. Sadly, the makers/dealers' names are out of focus, and really need to be taken directly on rather than at an angle, in order to be read, also the right way up helps a lot.

Those guns that have claw mounts but no scopes are going be horrendously expensive to equip with suitable scopes, due to the amount of work necessary to fit them. This fact will detract enormously from their value - in USA, by around $1000 or more - each - due to the lack of gunsmiths willing to take on such work. Quality scopes that would suit [Zeiss, Schmidt u. Bender, Hensoldt, Swarovski et al] are also very high dollar items - figure around $1800 - $3000 each. Unlike ring-mounted scopes, they would need to be gun-fitted using suitable claws to match those already on the guns.

I agree that they would need to be examined by a knowledgeable gunsmith familiar with such items. If you are not familiar with guns of this type then I'm very loathe to ask you to dismantle the guns so that we can see the many stamps and so on that would tell us the calibres/degree of chokes, date and type of proofs etc, as well as the age of the guns. Popular calibres in guns of this style - apart from the usual 12 gauge shotgun calibre - are very unlikely to be common in the USA, and many guns were actually made for dealers with their own proprietary calibres, ensuring that you went back to them for cartridges. Each rifled gun, unless clearly marked with a calibre that is less rare in the USA, would need to be chamber cast.

They really need to be taken to somebody to look at.

Sorry that is all I can think of right now.

tac