Al Edge?

[Buckingham]

A local retailer has this rifle (which appears to be an Early Virginia) un-shot, listed for $3500.  I think this price may be a bit high, and I was not able to reach Al after following the directions at his website (www.aledge.com) so I thought I would ask here if that price is appropriate for his work.

This rifle has a 42" straight barrel in .36 caliber with no patina work done at all, and the hardware appears to be iron under a thick layer of brown paint.  Any idea of the possible real price of something like this would be appreciated; I think the retailer is a bit high on his valuation and I was hoping to give him an informed opinion of a more realistic value.






 
As always, any assistance is appreciated!

[EC121]

 Parts cost is approx. $6-700.  Add in some labor for a plain rifle.  My estimated price from shopping around would be $11-1500.   $3500 is more than "a bit high".  The metal is probably heavily browned instead of painted. 

[Mike Brooks]

Yep, looks like an $1100 gun to me. Looks like it was made from a kit from TVM.

[bob in the woods]

That was my immediate impression as well .

[sz]

There are 2 mindsets in business today.

#1 is the common mindset which was put fort by PT Barnum.
He said "it's morally wrong to allow a fool to keep his money"
This is how most companies in the USA run their businesses today.

#2 was put forth by God and is expounded upon in the Holy Bible
"I am my brother’s keeper".

This mindset says we should take care of our fellow man and help him out.  We should not take unfair advantage of others just because we can,  and we should esteem others higher than ourselves.

[Dennis Glazener]

Al Edge does good work but he also does kit guns for people if that's what they want. That's nowhere near a $3500 rifle. $1500 would be tops and probably $1,100 to $1,200.
Dennis

[snrub47]

Wonder who made those triggers, wish I had a set...........they are different that most kit gun/store bought trigger sets.

[Ky-Flinter]

Wonder who made those triggers, wish I had a set...........they are different that most kit gun/store bought trigger sets.

The triggers look like Dru Hedgecock's.  I have a set on a plains rifle I built.  They work very well.  I used to see Mr. Hedgecock at the CLA show, but he hasn't been there the past 2 years.  I hope he is ok.

-Ron

[WadePatton]

Retailers are doing themselves a disservice when they don't ask "retail" on some items, because some folks will walk right in and PAY IT.

Gives themselves room for "sales" and "special offers" and "great deals".  Go back and make an offer you can stand behind and see how fast the numbers come down.  Might not come down enough, depends on a lot of other factors. 

[EC121]

Without knowing the this seller's knowledge of the market he may think he has a super custom flintlock.   Probably got on line and looked up "custom flintlock" to establish the price.

[Buckingham]

Many thanks to all for the feedback!

I managed to get Al on the phone for a very pleasant hour-long discussion yesterday afternoon.  He strikes me as an affable, pleasant fellow, clearly knowledgeable about long rifles and I plan on visiting with Al tomorrow, time permitting, at his home just south of Fredericksburg, VA.

With respect to the rifle above, I sent the consignment shop an indication of a willingness to make a prospective offer of $1500 along with details and information from this thread, some other personal e-mails sent directly to me by members who know Al personally, and the results of my phone discussion with Al himself.  I will advise all of the feedback that I receive.

[Buckingham]

Just a quick explanation for the $1500 figure which I may prospectively offer to the retailer:

The rifle is on consignment from the widow of the former owner.  The store in Winchester is attempting to offer the rifle for sale as a way of helping her financially.

Since I agree that the actual value of this rifle is $1200 I elected to add a 25% premium based on the background of the consignee.

Thanks again to all for the great feedback!

[Mike Brooks]

Consider the circumstances that's a reasonable offer.

[JW]

Did you ever get in touch with Al?  I've met him a couple times - once about fifteen or sixteen years ago when I was a teenager and again about two years ago when I needed some work done on a rifle of mine - I'm only about 40 minutes away from him. His work is impressive.  I wanted every gun he had hanging around in his shop.  So was this a kit gun?

[Buckingham]

Did you ever get in touch with Al?  I've met him a couple times - once about fifteen or sixteen years ago when I was a teenager and again about two years ago when I needed some work done on a rifle of mine - I'm only about 40 minutes away from him. His work is impressive.  I wanted every gun he had hanging around in his shop.  So was this a kit gun?

Greg from The Olde Towne Armory did not even bother to acknowledge my email thanking him for his time, or my offer which included all of the information which I learned in this thread and in direct discussions with Al over the phone on two separate occasions.  I will take his non-response as an implicit rejection of my prospective offer and the logic I used to arrive at the figure discussed above.
I will be visiting with Al the week after next to discuss a possible build.  Al does not remember the rifle featured in this thread based on our phone discussions and he does not have the capability to receive emailed pictures so I am hoping that the pictures I carry with me to that meeting will help him to recall this rifle and the details of its build (and corresponding sales transaction.)