A good friend of mine has a Ducks Unlimited Canada Commemorative Edition Browning Invector BPS Field, 10 gauge, 3 ½ inch chamber, 30†barrel, pump action shotgun. Year 1990.
It’s in the original Ducks Unlimited case containing Invector chokes:
• Lead Improved cylinder/ Steel Modified
• Lead Modified cylinder/ Steel full
And another in the muzzle. The case also houses other documentation on the shotgun and other Browning products from the time.
The shotgun has a high gloss walnut burl stock and forend, stainless steel, satin finished receiver, and deep blued barrel and magazine tube. Each side of the receiver is deeply engraved with flight scenes of geese done and signed by Lars Larson. Canada geese engraved on the left side and snow geese on the right.
The all original, gold triggered, pump action has never been fired and is in absolute mint condition. Her serial number is as follows: 90DUCAN432.
My buddy is thinking on selling this firearm if there is enough interest in it. I figured I’d ask around, see if I could find a price and some prospective buyers along the way. Any ideas on both?
My computer skills are not so great, so hopefully the pics come through. Have a look! Any ideas or questions and I’d be happy to comply.

So sorry! The pictures will be up as soon as I can get this damn thing figured out!

My guess is that a DU gun like you describe is worth about $50 to $100 more than a standeard version of the same gun at most. This assumes that it is in 100% NIB condition. If it is used the value drops right down to the same as a standard gun.

Many of these guns are just fancy shooters as there is not a real collectors interest in them.

Reelman, the firearm was worth over $3500 in 1990. I think that's a little more expencive than a standard Browning BPS of the same year. And you are right to assume it's in perfect condition because it is.

IS this a special DU gun or a "Dinner Gun"? If it is just a dinner gun I have never seen them really appreciate in value like a lot of people think they do.

Is the engraving hand engraved or machine done? Where did you come up with the $3500 value? Is that what he payed for it in 1990 or do you have some reference that listed it for that much?

quote:

Where did you come up with the $3500 value? Is that what he payed for it in 1990 or do you have some reference that listed it for that much?

I "came up" with the price from the friggin price tag. And what the hell is a "dinner gun"? A standard shotgun? Read the specs.

No need to get hostile!

I did read the specs and it sounds like a standard "dinner gun" which is a gun that each DU chapter gets to raffle off at there banquet dinner, hence the name "dinner gun". These guns ussually sell at the banquet for substantially more than they are worth because people get caught up in the bidding and they also can ussually write off what they pay for it a charitable dodnation. Sometimes these guns sell for $500 and sometimes they sell for $5000. It all depends on who is at the banquet and how much they had to drink! Often times the buyer realizes what he did after he sobers up and then trys to sell the gun to an unsuspecting buyer for the amount he has in it, even though it isn't actually worth anywhere close to what he payed for it. In other words just because you payed $2000 for a Remington 870 express does not make the gun worth $2000.

I think your friend would be VERY hard pressed to get anywhere close to $3500 for a BPS unless it was gold plated thick enough that you could take the gold off and sell it for $3500 at gold market value!

Good luck to you in finding a buyer and I would be very interested in seeing a picture of this gun.

My hostility assumes that you were questioning the confidance of my post. With your explination I now see your point. Forgive me for my temper.

I will definatly look into the origional aquisition of the shotgun, and see if what you say is true. Thank you very much for your insight, and the pics will be up once I can get a "USB" cable.

I have looked at a variety of DU guns, DU commemorative guns, and the other DU "collectables" out there. In general, in my experience, there is very little added value because a gun says "DU" on it or whatever the organization is. The commemorative gun has pretty gone the way of the duck stamp print. It does not matter if it is engraved, dipped in gold or made out of teak - at the end of the day, you still have a Remington 870 or BPS Field or whatever.

It is a very rare buyer that collects DU type guns and even a rarer buyer that would pay a higher than bargain basement price for a DU or NRA or NWTF.

If the tax laws allow deductions for this sort of thing in Canada, I would suggest he donate it back to DU for another auction and take a declared value of $3500.

On a side bar - My opinion is that the "commemorative" item scam is one that never goes away. Baseball cards, duck stamp prints, Winchester model 94's commemorating everything from Billy the Kid to Geronimo, Remington now making Parker shotguns, Browning resurrecting the Winchester Model 12 or 63 - go figure. Commemoratives and resurrections of favorites just don't make a good investment and are way over-priced for the value created.

My opinion only... Take no offense....



I wish your friend good luck.....