AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: William Lamoreaux on April 14, 2018, 01:20:46 AM
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I have 2 Squirrel Rifles that are quite old. They belonged to my father and one of them he found in a barn in the 1940s in a box. It does not have a wooden ram rod on it. I do not believe they work and can find no marks of any kind of who made the guns.
I am looking for a forum that might appraise the guns as to a sale price on today's market.
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email: wlamore@msn.com
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FfJB8E7%2FDSC01498_1.jpg&hash=097a4766f3f2cf22ded031136ebb27653935bea3) (http://ibb.co/bZQDgn)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2Fg11au7%2FDSC01502_1.jpg&hash=32860268df7bf6b26c294a581ddb55c8bef8843e) (http://ibb.co/jyUjnS)
(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpreview.ibb.co%2FgRepMn%2FDSC01506_1.jpg&hash=815b08a520ae66e078cb391d0833851c1ac0b3da) (http://ibb.co/b1ZOgn)
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Both appear to be shotguns, not rifles.
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personally, I would not value these rifles more than $20 for the two of them. They look like they are in very tough shape.
Since there is not any makers mark on them, there is no value that could come from a "known" and collectible maker.
Perhaps there is more value to you as family heirloom.
Of course this is just my opinion and I am sure you might find someone that has a different opinion.
Fleener
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Snapper's right in that the value in these old shotguns (not rifles) is in the sentiment and family story. I call these old timers "Cracker Barrel guns". The kind you see over the fire place at the Cracker Barrel restaurant. On a good day the better of the two might bring $100.
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Sorry for my ignorance. I have always been interested in this type of gun but always thought you loaded with a wadding, black powder and then a ball. Is that why you call it a shotgun or is it like the modern shot guns where you use a lot of little balls as the bullets. I guess that long barrel made them pretty accurate for shooting game.
Thanks ahead.
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Guns like these were usually loaded with birdshot for hunting small game, and were ok for deer at short range with a large round ball. A common man’s everyday gun.
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If they aren't rifled, they are called smoothbores or fowlers(or shotguns in modern parlance). Doesn't matter what projectile they shoot. In their current condition they fall into the decorator/ wall hanger category.
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If you put wadding in first your black powder won't go off because the flash channel will be blocked. It is black powder, wad then shot or ball. Just like a modern shotgun shell is loaded without the casing.
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I have shot a lot of old guns, but I don't think I'd be shooting those, they're pretty rough.
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With a round ball effective range was probably about 60 yards or so, quite adequate in dense woodlands. With shot they would perform about the same as a modern shotgun with a cylinder bore (While I do believe that slight chokes had been introduced by the mid 19th century, the probable date of those guns, I'm not sure if a plain utility shotgun like those would have been choked, though).
They are both simple utility shotguns, probably used by farmers for pest control, occasional small game hunting, and possibly teaching the next generation the basics of gun-handling. Not the least bit glamorous, but important nevertheless.
For what it is worth, I paid about $225 for a European shotgun of comparable age that I found at the local fleamarket. Mine looks pretty decent from a distance but has probably been refinished, had spurious Confederate marks carved, and been subjected to some poorly done "repairs," which make it worthless as a collector's item. I bought it mostly as a study piece and because it had a wooden triggerguard, something not seen in US made guns, and only afterwards realized that it was partially made with recycled parts from around 1750, which makes it much more interesting to me. I'm happy with it, but I doubt I could sell it for more than I paid.
So I think it depends greatly on who you are selling it to, but I don't think that you'd ever get much more than $150 or so.