The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Is the issue the market.. down south there are limited opportunities to shoot such fine rifles.

I bought my treasured FNK98k for 95 quid and only get to shoot it at Millpool, a military range. Whilst I will never part with it, I have recently bought another .308 which is scoped so I can shoot for a score rather than hits @600

This site has a finite membership who would be interested, you need to find the largest market possible to realise your value.

Problem is if people want a clasic its got to be vgood but yours is too good to be a banger (like mine was ) but not the 'right' one for a collector ,ive got a couple of mates that want them but one wants to pay £300 for a bit of fun while the other wants a specific year matching number blah blah blah ......
i got lucky bought 5 rifles from a closing club sold 2 scrapped 2 and left the enfield in the back of the RFD safe ,it had been stained withh mahogony varnish fitted with target sights (front one badly )but was a 5 groove barell anf fultons regulated .
I tried to sell it on here twice for 200 i think but no one wanted it .So i redid the stock had normal sights put on it and just shoot it ,its not 'correct' but good fun for no money .As one guy said at Bisley with a mint 4t ' if it goes bang and you smile when you shoot it what does it matter'

You have to be realistic about prices - there are a lot of No4s around, and the pool of potential buyers is limited and probably shrinking.

RFDs have some rifles up in similar condition at £320-380...

Hi guys thanks for all your input , she has now been sold

Glad to hear that hope you got a decent price.

I'm glad you managed to find a Buyer Nearly There

I'm not aiming this at anyone but just saying what I personally think about secondhand sales.

[*] There is one phrase that irritates the hell out of me and I have walked away from deals due to the sentence "I just want what I paid for it"..... NO! dam it! Think about it, the person has had the fun of using and owning an item until he/she gets fed up with it and then wants all their money back, in effect getting all that "fun for free"... the whole point of buying second hand is to save money! Personally I'm always giving things away for free or bargain prices... I've had my fun..... I like to see people walk away happy. Obviously there are some guns that appreciate in value... such as my "JM" stamped Marlin 1894 .357 that I bought second hand 14 years ago.... but if I ever came to sell it I'd still give the buyer an awesome deal or just trade it in at my favourite RFD.

[*] There can be considerable difference between one person's "Mint", "Excellent Condition" and another person's evaluation.
(My regular RFD commends me on the condition of my guns and the way I look after them).

[*] Only the other week, there was a list of guns circulating around one of my clubs. I don't personally know the guy as he used to be there on a different night, but he was selling because he had lost his licence... The prices were quite high. My thoughts are "why should we pay top whack for common, mediocre guns when he has no choice but to sell"? Unless there is something on the list that you really want, it should be a "buyers market".

On the contrary, HH, the item is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it! You are always welcome to walk away from a sale. Acquiring and selling on second hand firearms minimises your losses compared with buying brand new and selling on. Look at the premise of gun shops, they buy your firearm at a certain price and sell on for a profit. What's the difference between selling a brand new rifle and a second hand rifle in the same condition and the number of shots through the barrel? Nothing other than the number of owners, and that shouldn't have any weight in the difference in cost. So the person selling a second hand firearm could effectively get their money back, I don't see a problem with this?

If someone has had an item long enough, then selling it for their acquired price might actually not be so bad. Some members have recently stated that they bought their Lee Enfield for less than £100 many moons ago. I doubt they would sell it today at the same price?

In terms of stating condition, I fully agree with you. Many a time (shooting and non-shooting related) I have seen items described as perfect condition whereas in reality it looked like said item was tied to a tow bar with a rope and dragged around a gravel car park a few times.

I think there is a halfway house between HH1 and WelshShooter. I agree that there are some who see the Retail price of a new firearms and think that their 'Carefully looked after firearm' should fetch retail minus 10%. I had a friend who was an RFD and he got sick and tired of being asked to 'Sell on Commission' when the seller wanted far too high a price. We worked out the costs of having a stand at the Phoenix and the Trafalgar and it amounted to £5 a gun offered for sale. One gun had done over 4000 miles by the time we sold it! However there are certain firearms that have either become 'Collectible / Desirable / Fashionable and in short supply' and they can go for 'As bought or more prices'. My first No4 cost me £60 and I'm certainly not selling it for that. HH1s Marlin could well be an awesome deal at £400 / £500 and still show him a 'profit' as that's what inflation and a shortage on the market does. The internet has quite a lot to answer for as well with No4s and SMLEs there were a couple of dealers who made their stock look very good and priced at the top end of the market and it became clear after a few months that this had had an effect on the whole market as it pushed up expectations of a lot of sellers and so the £500 No4 / £8500 cased L42 arrived on the scene.

My Marlin 357 came from the Army Barracks where it had been bought for use buy the Cadets... club folded and they had to sell of a few rifles. This one had hardly been used. Came with rifle case and some spent cartridges. I think I paid around £280.