Norm Flayderman

Percussion half-stock target rifle by one of New England’s finest gunmakers, John S. Dutton of Jaffrey New Hampshire c. 1850s. Made for George F. Ellsworth, whose name is engraved on an eagle inlay on the left side of the butt. 42-caliber with detachable false muzzle on the 31-inch octagon barrel. Illustrated here surrounded with a unique collection of original manuscript notebooks (dated 1858-78), all kept by that gunsmith John Dutton, with his personal notes and drawings on how to make and decorate rifles. The double patchbox of this rifle was a trademark of Dutton’s. (As illustrated in Steel Canvas; The Art of American Arms, with permission of the author)

The proliferation of superbly assembled and printed, color illustrated auction catalogs, the likes of which have never been previously seen in this field represent a credit to the auction houses that issue them and to the antique arms community in general (and they certainly place generations of gun catalogs that preceded them in their shadow).

This great change of pace was ostensibly brought about by those few auction houses that had the foresight (and good fortune) to acquire from consignees significant outstanding specimens of antique arms and make them available on a reasonably steady basis. With proper promotion and marketing they frequently achieved startling values.

New England-made flintlock, half-stock rifle of exceptional quality; attributed to noted gunmaker Silas Allen of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts (1750-1834). Silver and brass mountings with silver wire inlays on the handsome curly maple stock. New England made rifles of this type were seldom embellished as elaborately. (As illustrated in Steel Canvas; The Art of American Arms, with permission of the author)

Widely reported in both the general and the antiques press, those exceptional prices were ostensibly the stimulus for owners of similar material to take advantage of what was developing into a really hot market; there was no doubt that it truly was just that. In their aftermath, a veritable flood of great material, the very best of their respective types emerged on the auction scene and so it has remained.

It is important that the collector bears in mind that those record values were achieved by what are considered to have been the very top, the ne plus ultra, of their particular category of firearm and that those very same prices seldom transpose to even slightly lesser rarity, quality or condition levels of identical models. There is little doubt that the notoriety of those auction values has been favorable for the hobby.

They have certainly been responsible for a remarkable turnaround for a number of auction houses. In order that the neophyte collector as well as the veteran gun trader not be carried away by the excitement of those recordbreaking values, it bears repeating that they have seldom had relevance or influenced values on antique arms of the same types if anything less than the very best or the most rare.

A few words about auctions are in order here for the collector … and the dealer. Auctions will continue successful only if they do not revert to their former common practices of taking everyone’s “cats and dogs” with protected prices, while allowing the very owners of those pieces to bid them up during the auction. These abuses were so flagrant that they colored the entire American gun auction market, with but a handful of notable exceptions.

With reputations at stake, it has been observed that many houses have taken great precautions to keep their acts clean. When a legitimate collection has been offered at auction on a no-holds-barred basis, results have often been spectacular. Those results certainly attracted the attention of the collecting world and were equally noted by the auction houses themselves.

Many abuses to which auctions have been, and still are, subject will continue to be the major stumbling block to their success. An uncomfortable feeling exists when auction houses either own all the material themselves or have given healthy loans or advances towards the material they are about to auction. By the very nature of these actions there is an obvious conflict of interest.

This article is an excerpt from Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms. Click here to learn more.

The hazard of fire is also ever-present. Not a few articles have been written on insurance; the subject is well covered in the James E. Serven book The Collecting of Guns and in several American Rifleman articles. In broadest terms, antique and collectors’ firearms are not best covered under the most commonly used “Home Owners” policies.

In most circumstances under that type coverage, a maximum fixed percentage (usually 10 percent) of the total value of the policy would apply to items such as firearms. Also, a limit or maximum dollar value would be set for any one piece, coverage generally applies only to guns actually on the premises and claims most often are paid on an actual cash or cost basis or even according to replacement cost less depreciation.

Establishing some of these factors often entails considerable administrative as well as emotional problems after a loss has occurred. Special waivers and riders can cover some contingencies, but experience has shown that collectors rarely bother to adequately investigate their coverage for antique and collectors’ guns under a Home Owner’s policy.

The result is very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse has gone. One of the best and broadest types of coverage for antique and collectors’ firearms is under policies known as “Fine Arts Floaters.” Any good, knowledgeable insurance agent will be familiar with them. A number of attractive plans are even offered by some of the larger collecting organizations.

The key feature of the Fine Arts policy is the fact that each and every gun in the collection is itemized and valued and kept on record with the insurance company and agent. These policies normally have provisions allowing for coverage even when the guns are on exhibit at a show and in transit. Should a loss occur, settlements are normally quicker and are generally for the amount on the scheduled list.

It is, of course, quite necessary to continually update the schedule as prices change, or as items are bought or sold. Coverage under Fine Arts policies has not only been found to be broad in scope, but often features advantageous rates. They are well worth investigating.

APPRAISALS
Professional appraisals are often important in establishing values for antique and collectors’ guns. Such evaluations are specified requirements for some insurance policies, for any estate and gift tax purposes, for tax plans of various types and damage and loss claims. They play an important role in determining originality of a collector’s item, by supplying a professional opinion in writing.

The key to acceptability of the values or opinions stated in an appraisal by the party to whom they are submitted are the credentials and background of the appraiser. It is a simple matter to find anyone with the slightest knowledge of guns and have them write an evaluation, pulling figures out of the air so to speak; all that is needed is a typewriter and paper.

However, the collector should well understand and remember that those evaluations are subject to review by quite a few official parties before acceptability and that one of the major features scrutinized is the credentials of the appraiser; his experience within the field of guns (not merely a general antiques appraiser) and his reputation are principal factors.

Major appraisers associations are able to furnish lists of recognized experts whose specialty is firearms. A number of well-known dealers in the antique arms field are quite well qualified and handle evaluations as part of their normal business routine. Appraisal fees vary considerably and are dependent upon the qualifications and credentials of the appraiser, his expertise and professional affiliations, and, of course, his location.

Fees are often based upon hourly and daily rates or on a flat rate based on quantity involved. The common practice of charging a percentage of the appraised value of the item or collection is looked upon unfavorably. It is no longer in use by most major auction houses and is actually forbidden in the bylaws of some major appraisers’ associations.

Editor's Note: This article is form Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms.

2015 Standard Catalog of Firearms, 25th Edition

The 2015 Standard Catalog of Firearms, 25th Edition is the preferred desk reference guide to the realm of antique, vintage, and modern firearms from around the world, and is now in its 25th edition with more than 26,000 listings of collectible and modern firearms. This industry-leading reference on firearms valuation and pricing has everything you need, whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or collect firearms.

Appetites for gun collecting are often whetted by mechanical ingenuity, artistic features or historic associations. The possibilities and potential in collecting antique American arms are virtually unlimited; but these must be matched to both one’s pocketbook and the amount of time one can devote to what can become a possessive mistress.

Probably the best approach to beginning a collection is to assemble a basic arms library and read those books thoroughly. But, alas, years of stressing this point and offering the same advice many times over has found it to be the least often accepted counsel.

Whether time is too precious or gun money tends to burn a large hole in one’s pocket, it seems the neophyte collector just cannot visualize that book hanging on two hooks on the wall! This note of sarcasm is well intended, if the collector- to-be can persevere and acquire a few recommended basic primers, he will find his money very well spent indeed.

Larger city libraries are bound to have a good shelf of gun books as do many of the larger book stores; a few dealers specialize in arms books and issue catalogs, or, a visit to a gun show will usually find dealers with a wide variety of titles on hand. The Bibliography, Chapter IV, should be found helpful as a guide to basic works. Thoroughly digesting such primers will provide a good cursory knowledge of what gun collecting is all about. Recommended as a basic starter is the recently published “331 Essential Tips and Tricks for the Gun Collector” by S.C. Mowbray (2006). Chapter IV.

Armed with the basics, the next order of progression should be some astute travel—to a museum featuring a well-rounded or specialized collection (quite a few of these will be found throughout the country), to a gun collector’s home, to a dealer specializing in antique arms, or to a nearby gun show; (none of these need be in any special order). New horizons will quickly be opened, especially at that visit to the first show where anywhere from a hundred to a thousand (or more!) tables may be seen displaying and offering for sale thousands of antique guns; a fascinating and unforgettable experience.

Probably on display will be more guns than can be seen in most individual museums, plus a variety of accessories, parts and literature. The shows also offer an excellent forum for meeting with a very wide crosssection of collectors and dealers. On the assumption the aspiring collector was able to attend that first gun show and not purchase anything (but some books), the next logical step should be to subscribe to a few of the regularly issued periodicals devoted to or featuring articles on collectors’ arms.

The importance of belonging to the National Rifle Association cannot be over-emphasized. Their highly respected and widely circulated publication The American Rifleman contains a great many informative articles for the gun collector, and the Association offers services to collectors who are members. Other periodicals devoted entirely to antique arms are of great value to the collector and should be subscribed to (see details in Bibliography). A host of other magazines covering modern weapons is readily available, and most of these carry some articles on antique and collectors’ firearms.

The importance of all these periodicals to the neophyte is not only their wealth of informative articles, but the profusion of advertisements of dealers and collectors nationwide who are offering their services or their lists or their items for sale. One of the best mediums of exchanges in the antique arms business is mail order. Advertisements and listings for all the regularly scheduled gun shows throughout the country will also be found in these publications.

Before money is laid down for that first gun, it would be wise to have selected a general area in which to confine one’s collecting activities. Likely a choice was made by reading and by studying museum and private collections; at least some general guidelines should have been established, and the search for specimens can be confined to within a given category. A key asset for the neophyte is a mentor whose opinion is valued (and who is not trying to sell one of his own guns!); an outside impartial opinion as to the wisdom of the first choice will do much to start the collector on the right foot when making that first selection at a gun show or at a dealer’s shop; it is also a great aid in building self-confidence.

If on his own, then good common sense and judgment of human nature should take precedence when assessing circumstances surrounding the purchase of that first piece. Checking the reputation of a dealer or collector source is a worthy step, and remember that a guarantee, either verbal or written, is only as good as the party giving it.

The matter of GUARANTEES is worth dwelling on for a moment. Regardless of what one might be told about a gun, and even if said data is committed to writing, there are so many vagaries involved that unless the party making the guarantee is reputable, it will be found worthless.

Proving an item is not what it is stated to be in a court of law is a highly involved process and a costly one as well. Courts and (most) lawyers know nothing about antique guns, so it is a matter of hiring witnesses (an expensive matter) and trying to educate judge and possibly jury as well!

Unless a gun is worth many thousands of dollars, there is little likelihood that the aggrieved owner will ever get satisfaction if the seller does not choose to honor a complaint. In only the most flagrant violations does a collector have a chance to get together a consensus from the seller’s peers and coerce him into making a disgruntled refund.

This discussion is not intended to lessen the importance of acquiring a detailed bill of sale, which in some cases may deter the seller from passing off a spurious piece. A general observation in some five decades of dealing has shown that those highly detailed, multi-part bills are rarely asked for or offered, nor are they necessarily what they appear to be if the seller had larceny in his heart from the beginning!

The entire subject has very broad legal and ethical implications not within the realm of discussion for this book, other than to bring them to the readers’ attention and strongly stress the extreme importance of knowing the party from whom the purchase was made. It is very much a matter of a man’s word being his bond. A source of satisfaction for the majority of those active in gun collecting is that such a statement stands not merely as a hackneyed cliche, but a standard of one’s ethical code. Undoubtedly the best rule-of-thumb on purchasing antique guns, and one that is heard repeatedly, is to limit one’s buying as much as possible to quality and condition.

Far better it is to have one good piece than a dozen “dogs.” This is one of the most difficult points to get across to new collectors, especially when they are itching to buy that first piece! From studying human nature and collecting habits, it may be broadly stated that the new collector most often commits all the sins that he has been pointedly warned to avoid and that he ultimately comes to the realization that those were not such bad warnings after all. Those seeming bargains just are not bargains and are so damned hard to pass by!

The mere fact that a gun bears a price tag and is being sold by a dealer or collector in his shop or at a show is not necessarily a measure of actual or accurate worth. That tag does not always indicate the actual price a seller is willing to accept. In some instances it may even be purposefully inflated, outlandishly so; a rather crafty device to tempt the prospective buyer to make an offer, after which the trap closes quickly on the unwary!

The buyer must be prepared to analyze not only the weapon, but the person selling it, including their knowledge in that particular area, their method of doing business, their standing and reputation as a collector or dealer.

On auction buying: The final rule-of-thumb on bargains is worth remembering when it comes to attending an auction. Under no circumstances ever bid on any gun (or any other item for that matter) unless it has been very closely examined at the exhibition preceding the auction by yourself (preferably) or someone representing the collector and whose opinion is valued.

This is a time-honored, unwritten rule equally applicable to neophyte as well as expert. The novice, with no idea of gun values, has no business bidding at an auction and is gently cautioned to possess his soul with patience and wait until he has some collecting experience under his belt before entering bidding competition. Common sense dictates that when one stands toe to toe and slugs it out price-wise—and that is what auctions are all about—he should at the very least know what he is doing.

In the early 1970s the greatest, often record-setting price increases were noted. Momentum remained high through the entire 70s and right on into the early 80s. True, there was a leveling off and a readjustment in the deep recession in the early 80s but prices (except in a few isolated instances) never slid backwards at any time and demand never slackened; overpriced mediocre merchandise merely stagnated much as it always had.

Both demand and prices had increased almost on the same scale as the runaway inflationary trend common throughout most of the world in the late 70s. When inflation eased so too did the general price rise. The demand factor continued to reign supreme.

Reviewing the “Introductions” of the preceding eight editions of this Guide offers a credible means to get a handle on what has taken place in this hobby in the past 30 years; a practical and reasonably accurate barometer. The general trend certainly affects ever-increasing values and also recognizes the added emphasis focused upon detail and manufacturing minutiae which continue to dominate many areas of specialty collecting.

Those same preceding years have seen greater significance, justly deserved, accorded to antique arms directly associated with specific eras and events in American history and the individuals that may have personally owned and carried them.

An interesting and influencing factor in changing the American antique arms market had been the entrance into the picture of the European buyer. Until the late 1960s, the European antique arms market, especially as it existed for the sale of American arms, played no role of any consequence. In fact, up to the 1960s Americans had been able to purchase large quantities of antique arms in Europe (both American made pieces as well as European arms) for import and sale throughout the United States.

In the late 1960s this trend was completely reversed. Rising European affluence and a great influx of new collectors there caused rather meteoric rises in prices for arms in Europe, making it practically impossible for an American to purchase over there and import. European buyers (dealers and collectors) came to American shores to gather up great quantities of their own arms as well as American manufactured pieces to export for sale in their own countries.

This situation was quite volatile and very much subject to the economy of the several countries involved as well as their currency restrictions (often subject to
unpredictable fluctuations).

The European factor caused considerable change in the American market beginning in the early 1970s and was especially noticeable in affecting prices of American made guns of the Civil War and Indian War eras, mainly pieces in poor and mediocre condition. Quite a few Europeans have a great fascination with those periods of American history, and a heavy demand was created for weapons of those eras, partly influenced by a proliferation of television and movie Westerns.

However, the European collector is generally not as discriminating a buyer condition-wise as is his American counterpart. Hence, the demand was much greater for lower quality pieces, and prices for those arms shot up disproportionately. Demand and sale of American arms oscillates in direct ratio to the fluctuations of the economies (and money restrictions imposed) of individual European countries.

In the early 1980s the European buyer, once here in prodigious numbers, had, like the passenger pigeon and the buffalo … or even the dodo bird … become an almost extinct species!

Although he no longer directly affected the American market, he left behind a very wide following of lovers forsaken who, like the mariner’s wife, look forlornly to sea waiting for the ship to return! Those same “lovers scorned” continued their lonely vigil with many sitting on piles of mediocrity they had accumulated for the foreign market; one which had merely been a temporary aberration on the collecting scene!

The hysteria those dealers created in their frenzy to accumulate hoards of ordinary merchandise for Europe, left a trail of carnage behind them in the many unknowing collectors and small-time dealers who thought their mediocre guns were suddenly turning into gold all over America … never realizing that it was only the temporary, short-lived European market that kindled, and ultimately doused the demand!

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a slow return of European and a few Scandinavian buyers to the American market searching for antique American arms as well as those of their respective countries. By the mid 90s even that sporadic trend slackened. Their impact has been much more modest than it was with the earlier wave.

Restrictive gun laws in a few countries have caused some to limit the scope of their purchases here. While generally adding to the collectors’ market, they have not generated the volatility attendant to their earlier entry.

Another interesting observation and reality of the antique arms business in America, and one for which no explanation is offered, is the changing pattern of the professional full-time antique arms dealer. In the 1940s and 1950s there were quite a few full-time dealers issuing catalogs on a regularly scheduled basis.

The number of such dealers today has dwindled to the point that less than a handful regularly issue sales catalogs. Very possibly this number may dwindle to nil, since there are but the slightest signs of dealers coming into the field who intend to regularly catalog their merchandise.

Likewise, there is an apparent decreasing number of full-time dealers who have retail establishments open to the public at regular hours and to which the collector may freely visit. The trend, with increasing frequency these past years, has shown a great influx of new and full-time dealers in the field, but their manner of conducting
business is completely at contrast to the time-honored approach standard in almost every other collecting field. As a matter of fact, the modus operandi is peculiar to this antique arms business and offers an interesting insight into it.

The general antique arms dealer of today—and most likely those of the future—normally conducts business along four parallel lines: he travels to the better known and larger gun shows throughout the country; he advertises some of his best pieces in one or two of the better known and widely circulated antique arms publications; he has a small gun room or showroom associated with his home and will allow visits by appointment only; and, with ever-increasing frequency maintains a Web site on the Internet.

In the early 1970s the greatest, often record-setting price increases were noted. Momentum remained high through the entire 70s and right on into the early 80s. True, there was a leveling off and a readjustment in the deep recession in the early 80s but prices (except in a few isolated instances) never slid backwards at any time and demand never slackened; overpriced mediocre merchandise merely stagnated much as it always had.

Both demand and prices had increased almost on the same scale as the runaway inflationary trend common throughout most of the world in the late 70s. When inflation eased so too did the general price rise. The demand factor continued to reign supreme.

Reviewing the “Introductions” of the preceding eight editions of this Guide offers a credible means to get a handle on what has taken place in this hobby in the past 30 years; a practical and reasonably accurate barometer. The general trend certainly affects ever-increasing values and also recognizes the added emphasis focused upon detail and manufacturing minutiae which continue to dominate many areas of specialty collecting.

Those same preceding years have seen greater significance, justly deserved, accorded to antique arms directly associated with specific eras and events in American history and the individuals that may have personally owned and carried them.

An interesting and influencing factor in changing the American antique arms market had been the entrance into the picture of the European buyer. Until the late 1960s, the European antique arms market, especially as it existed for the sale of American arms, played no role of any consequence. In fact, up to the 1960s Americans had been able to purchase large quantities of antique arms in Europe (both American made pieces as well as European arms) for import and sale throughout the United States.

In the late 1960s this trend was completely reversed. Rising European affluence and a great influx of new collectors there caused rather meteoric rises in prices for arms in Europe, making it practically impossible for an American to purchase over there and import. European buyers (dealers and collectors) came to American shores to gather up great quantities of their own arms as well as American manufactured pieces to export for sale in their own countries.

This situation was quite volatile and very much subject to the economy of the several countries involved as well as their currency restrictions (often subject to
unpredictable fluctuations).

The European factor caused considerable change in the American market beginning in the early 1970s and was especially noticeable in affecting prices of American made guns of the Civil War and Indian War eras, mainly pieces in poor and mediocre condition. Quite a few Europeans have a great fascination with those periods of American history, and a heavy demand was created for weapons of those eras, partly influenced by a proliferation of television and movie Westerns.

However, the European collector is generally not as discriminating a buyer condition-wise as is his American counterpart. Hence, the demand was much greater for lower quality pieces, and prices for those arms shot up disproportionately. Demand and sale of American arms oscillates in direct ratio to the fluctuations of the economies (and money restrictions imposed) of individual European countries.

In the early 1980s the European buyer, once here in prodigious numbers, had, like the passenger pigeon and the buffalo … or even the dodo bird … become an almost extinct species!

Although he no longer directly affected the American market, he left behind a very wide following of lovers forsaken who, like the mariner’s wife, look forlornly to sea waiting for the ship to return! Those same “lovers scorned” continued their lonely vigil with many sitting on piles of mediocrity they had accumulated for the foreign market; one which had merely been a temporary aberration on the collecting scene!

The hysteria those dealers created in their frenzy to accumulate hoards of ordinary merchandise for Europe, left a trail of carnage behind them in the many unknowing collectors and small-time dealers who thought their mediocre guns were suddenly turning into gold all over America … never realizing that it was only the temporary, short-lived European market that kindled, and ultimately doused the demand!

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a slow return of European and a few Scandinavian buyers to the American market searching for antique American arms as well as those of their respective countries. By the mid 90s even that sporadic trend slackened. Their impact has been much more modest than it was with the earlier wave.

Restrictive gun laws in a few countries have caused some to limit the scope of their purchases here. While generally adding to the collectors’ market, they have not generated the volatility attendant to their earlier entry.

Another interesting observation and reality of the antique arms business in America, and one for which no explanation is offered, is the changing pattern of the professional full-time antique arms dealer. In the 1940s and 1950s there were quite a few full-time dealers issuing catalogs on a regularly scheduled basis.

The number of such dealers today has dwindled to the point that less than a handful regularly issue sales catalogs. Very possibly this number may dwindle to nil, since there are but the slightest signs of dealers coming into the field who intend to regularly catalog their merchandise.

Likewise, there is an apparent decreasing number of full-time dealers who have retail establishments open to the public at regular hours and to which the collector may freely visit. The trend, with increasing frequency these past years, has shown a great influx of new and full-time dealers in the field, but their manner of conducting
business is completely at contrast to the time-honored approach standard in almost every other collecting field. As a matter of fact, the modus operandi is peculiar to this antique arms business and offers an interesting insight into it.

The general antique arms dealer of today—and most likely those of the future—normally conducts business along four parallel lines: he travels to the better known and larger gun shows throughout the country; he advertises some of his best pieces in one or two of the better known and widely circulated antique arms publications; he has a small gun room or showroom associated with his home and will allow visits by appointment only; and, with ever-increasing frequency maintains a Web site on the Internet.

This article is an excerpt from Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms. Click here to learn more.

2015 Standard Catalog of Firearms, 25th Edition

The 2015 Standard Catalog of Firearms is the preferred desk reference guide to the realm of antique, vintage, and modern firearms from around the world, and is now in its Silver Anniversary, 25th edition with more than 26,000 listings of collectible and modern firearms. This industry-leading reference on firearms valuation and pricing has everything you need, whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or collect firearms.