I've mentioned before that I bought a 1926 John Dickson & Son side lock ejector 12 gauge a while ago.

I sent it to a gunsmith and had him change the top spring and tighten the action a tad and he's done a right nice job of it.

The gun is showing it's age though. The barrels have lost a fair bit if browning/blueing and have a few dings in them. The stock also has a few dings and my home done stock refinishing leaves a lot to be desired and the chequering (esp on the forend) is badly worn.

Doe anyone know if the value of the gun would go up or down if I had the same gunsmith completely and professionally refinished with barrels rebrowned and dings removed, rechechequered and refinished?

Hard to say. Probably not. If it were original and in perfect shape you wouldn't want to bother with it. Being in rough shape probably not. If you're keeping it to use....who cares. I say probably not just for the fact that many English double guns were regularly sent back in the off season to be redone. My understanding is that this was a common practice for English folk with both double rifles and shotguns. Because it was frequently done it's not as big a deal with these guns as opposed to say Winchester levers for example. Just my 2 cents.

Brett

I have heard/read that refinishing collector grade firearms detracts from the value of them, but have no experience with them. I looked your shotgun up in my 2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms to see the value given, and they had it between $4,000 and $30,000 dependent upon condition.

quote:

Originally posted by Luckyducker:
I have heard/read that refinishing collector grade firearms detracts from the value of them, but have no experience with them. I looked your shotgun up in my 2010 Standard Catalog of Firearms to see the value given, and they had it between $4,000 and $30,000 dependent upon condition.

Damn that high price nearly gave me a heart attack.

Then I thought about it and would guess the higher value refers to the round action Dickson. Mine is the sidelock ejector but not the round action.

Hell, if the high value is for the SLE, I'll be very happy to give someone a good deal and let mine go for US$25K!

Hold that thought, I've got some monopoly money on hand.....

Back to the topic, my opinion (and I stress that this is a buyer's opinion, not a really knowledgeable dealer's) is that a well done re-do will at least increase the value as much as the costs of the refinish. However, if the barrels have several dings in them, they may be thin already, and I don't know on anyway of reblacking them, whatever, that doesn't remove some metal, which might not be a good idea. I'd check wall thickness end to end before going in that direction.

I also want to STRESS that this opinion applies to ORDINARY everyday using guns, even if quite valuable in themselves. A refinish of some historically significant gun (just as an example, a Colt owned by Custer, or Churchill's Mauser pistol, if such a weapon existed) would almost certainly detract from it's value, and possibly quite severely.

I emailed the gunsmith and asked his opinion..... He tells me that there's plenty of thickness on the barrels and the dings/pits are insignificant but he recommends I keep it as it is rather than have it refinished...... So that's good enough for me!

I guess I'd still sell it if someone made me a decent offer...... problem is, I don't really know what a decent offer is. I'd guess (joking aside) at something in the region of US$10K -US$12.5K or so..... but that's only a guess.

Shakari - I'll make you a rich man. How about $50 million for that gun? Of course, the currency I have in my hand has a picture of an elephant on the back and something about the Reserve bank of Zimbabwe printed on the front.

Tom,

Very generous offer but I'll stick with USD if you don't mind!

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Hell, if the high value is for the SLE, I'll be very happy to give someone a good deal and let mine go for US$25

Sold! PM me the address where I should send the check.

Steve, try Diggory at www.Vintageguns.co.uk

Both Kiri and I will vouch for him to the hilt.

He will ideally want to see it but i'm sure he can give you a godd idea as to it's worth and quite probably find a buyer to boot.

Tell him the boys sent you.

quote:

The barrels have lost a fair bit if browning/blueing and have a few dings in them.

Ouch! Dings in barrels are unsafe! I'd get them lifted ASAP and certainly before either using it or selling it.

GHubert,

Yup, I kind of know Dig but on serious note, I might consider selling it if I got a really good offer but I don't need the money and I like the gun so am not worried if I keep it.

Enfield,

They're nothing to worry about. The gunsmith called them insignificant and they're more slightly unsightly more than anything else.... and frankly, most peole wouldn't even notice them..... the only reason I do is that I'm the fussiest bastard in the universe.