Know what your Llama firearms are worth with this up-to-date 7-page .PDF download from the Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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Know what your Luger firearms are worth with this up-to-date 13-page .PDF download from the Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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Remington “New Model Navy” (Belt) Revolver, Engraved and Nickeled with Ivory Grips. Photo by Paul Goodwin, The Guns of Remington.
Long-range blackpowder shooters still speak with reverence of the famed Remington Rolling Block Rifle – which is as it should be, since many of these grand old guns are still being shot today, more than a century after they were manufactured. The old Rolling Block is also currently being reproduced by Italian gunmakers, proof of its enduring popularity.
Yet so many magnificent Remington firearms don’t fit into a well-defined collector category. Consider the Model 14 or 141 slide-action centerfire rifles, for example. These were unusually accurate, entirely reliable, well-designed arms, yet they don’t have the romance of, say, the classic Winchester lever-actions or Colt’s Lightning Magazine Rifle. The little 14-1/2 Remington pump rifle has a considerable following, but even it generally doesn’t possess the je ne sais quoi, the indefinable glamour that translates into high-dollar auctions.
Or consider the Model 30S sporting rifle manufactured from 1930 to 1940. It went into production five years before the much better-known Winchester Model 70, yet its collector interest is negligible compared to that of the Model 70. Much the same can be said of Remington’s excellent Models 720, 721, 722 and 725.
So why is it that Remingtons, as of this writing, falls into what we might call the “second tier” of collectible American firearms? Two reasons, I think. The first lies in the fact that, with few exceptions, particular Remington firearms generally aren’t associated with a well-defined historical period. Winchesters are eternally tied into the legends of the American frontier. Colts are immutably linked to both the Old West and World War I and II. Smith & Wessons typify the Golden Age of large-bore American handguns and, moreover, will forever be synonymous with the term “magnum.”
Remington Model 10. Photo Courtesy Jim Stark.
The second reason is that Remington’s most outstanding firearms have been sporting arms, not military ones. Remington wasn’t the gun “you loaded on Sunday and fired all week”; the Spencer was (some say it was the Henry). Custer’s troops fell to the last man shooting trapdoor Springfields, not Remington rolling blocks. Teddy Roosevelt charged up San Juan Hill with a double-action Colt .38, not a Remington Model 1890. During the Philippine Insurrection, you “civilized ‘em with a Krag,” not with a Remington. Alvin York went over the top in World War I armed with his Model 1917, but whether it was a Remington-made rifle is not recorded.
So there it is. Remingtons have been turned out by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, virtually without interruption since 1816. Yet Remington rarely receives credit for the innovations it has introduced to the American shooting scene.
The strongest blackpowder revolver of the Civil War? The Remington. Remington’s Rolling Block outlasted the Sharps. Remington introduced the first successful autoloading centerfire rifle and the first American-made autoloading shotgun. Remington introduced the most versatile, foolproof pump shotgun of all time, as well as the first successful, truly high-powered gas-operated autoloading sporting rifle. The first mass-produced long-range centerfire pistol? A Remington. The first polymer-based .22? A Remington. We could go on and on here, but I think you get the point. Like the late Rodney Dangerfield, Remingtons often just don’t get no respect. Yet that unhappy situation may at last be changing.
Of course, all antique (pre-1899) Remingtons are collectible and have been collectible for some time. Values for these guns can be expected to rise more or less in lockstep with the rest of the antique firearms market. I’m beginning to detect upward movement in the Model 30S, Model 8/81, and Model 14/14-1/2/141 markets as these undeniably high-stylin’ rifles are finally beginning to find their collectors’ niche. Values for the 550 and 552 .22 semi-autos are inching upward. Values for the XP-100, both the original single-shot and the later repeaters, are appreciating rapidly, as are the Model 600 and 660 of the Woodstock era.
Yet in terms of appreciation, the fastest-rising star of the Remington family just has to be the Nylon rifle series: the Model 66, 10, 11, 12, 76, 77, 10C and all their variations. The value of these rifles has appreciated dramatically in the past few years. They aren’t just hot – they’re HOT.
I predict that Remington’s nylon rifles will become the rifles of America’s baby boom. There simply hasn’t been anything like them, before or since. During their heyday, the mid-1960s, these funky little .22s were the Batmobile of American rifles – and now, as we ’60s kids have grown into grandparents and taxpayers, many of us are finally in a position to indulge ourselves by buying these unique blasts from the past. A friend of mine recently sold a mint Model 76 lever-action in Apache Black for an amazing $3,200 — more than 32 times its original selling price.
This excerpt is from the introduction to the Standard Catalog of Remington Firearms. The book includes a history of the Remington Arms Co., the grading system, info on the Remington Society of America, and a comprehensive description/price list of Remington firearms, including model data and production dates.
Know what your Marlin firearms are worth with this up-to-date 35-page .PDF download from the Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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The house is worth $35,000. A screen dangles by a wall-unit air conditioner. Porch swing slats are smashed, the smattering of grass is flattened by cars and burned yellow by sun.
“I’ll do the talking on this one,” agent Tim Sloan, of South Carolina, told partner Brian Tumiel, of New York.
Success on the front lines of a government blitz on gunrunners supplying Mexican drug cartels with Houston weaponry hinges on logging heavy miles and knocking on countless doors. Dozens of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — sent here from around the country — are needed to follow what ATF acting director Kenneth Melson described as a “massive number of investigative leads.”
All told, Mexican officials in 2008 asked federal agents to trace the origins of more than 7,500 firearms recovered at crime scenes in Mexico. Most of them were traced back to Texas, California and Arizona.
Among other things, the agents are combing neighborhoods and asking people about suspicious purchases as well as seeking explanations as to how their guns ended up used in murders, kidnappings and other crimes in Mexico.
“Ever turning up the heat on cartels, our law enforcement and military partners in the government of Mexico have been working more closely with the ATF by sharing information and intelligence,” Melson said Tuesday during a firearms-trafficking summit in New Mexico. Read more.
This will be a valuable and efficient addition to the NICS process for the following reasons:
Currently, place of birth is a mandatory field on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4473 and is therefore readily available for inclusion in the NICS check. There are no additional information disclosures for the potential purchaser or data collection requirements for Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs).
Being a name-based search, having additional data points such as the place of birth helps to increase the accuracy and efficiency of firearm eligibility determinations. Place of birth is either a mandatory or optional field for entry of records into all three of the databases that the NICS searches against: the Interstate Identification Index (III), the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), and the NICS Index.
This new requirement, to provide place of birth when initiating a NICS background check, will have minimal impact to the FFL. Currently, FFLs who contact the NICS Section directly, via one of the three Call Centers or NICS E-Check, are not required to provide the place of birth to initiate the NICS check. However, starting June 29, 2009, all FFLs who contact the NICS Section directly, via one of the three Call Centers or NICS E-Check, will be required to provide the place of birth when initiating a NICS check. If the place of birth is not provided, the check will not be processed.
FFLs who conduct business in a state in which there is a state-designated agency that conducts their firearm background checks currently may or may not be providing place of birth to initiate the check. If you are an FFL in a state that currently requires the place of birth be provided when initiating a firearm background check, you are required to continue to provide this piece of information.
If you are an FFL in a state where you contact a state-designated agency to conduct your firearm background checks and you are not required to submit the place of birth prior to initiating the check, you will be notified by your state-designated agency detailing when you will be required to provide the place of birth prior to initiating a firearm background check. Once you are notified by your state-designated agency that the place of birth is required to initiate a firearm background check, if you fail to provide the place of birth, the background check will not be processed.Read more
Harold Fish claimed he shot Grant Kuenzli in self-defense during their encounter in the Coconino National Forest, but a jury convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.
The case galvanized gun-rights supporters, who said Fish's conviction represented a threat to their right to protect themselves, and prompted the Arizona Legislature to change the law to shift the burden of proof in self-defense claim cases from the defendant to the prosecutor.
Fish's attorney, Lee Phillips, said he's stunned and excited by the court's ruling. “We're thrilled that after over three years of being in prison, hopefully, Hal will get his justice and he'll be coming home before too much longer.”
In May 2004, Fish was hiking when two dogs belonging to Kuenzli began running down a hill and threatening him. Fish told police he fired a warning shot at the animals. Kuenzli then became enraged and threatened Fish, who warned he would shoot. He then fired three rounds and killed Kuenzli.
In a 3-0 ruling, the appeals court said the trial judge's jury instructions inadequately described the law of self-defense. The trial judge also may have erred in barring evidence of the victim's prior acts of violence related to dogs, the appeals court ruled.
Testimony about Kuenzli's alleged history of similar threatening behavior could have corroborated Fish's account, appeals judges ruled. Prosecutors had argued that Kuenzli was not threatening Fish but was merely trying to restrain his dogs.
State law at the time of the killing placed the burden on the defendant to prove he acted in self-defense. The Legislature changed the law in the middle of Fish's trial to require prosecutors to prove a defendant did not act in self-defense.
The Arizona Supreme Court has said that the new self-defense law does not apply retroactively to Fish's case. Read more
Know what Desert Eagle firearms are worth with this up-to-date 6-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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Know what your DPMS firearms are worth with this up-to-date 6-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
* Completely updated pricing for DPMS firearms with new entries and photos * Value Trackers: Real-life auction results * Sleeper Alerts: Collectible guns that are outpacing the market * Links to manufacturers’ website
Are You in the Market for a Star-Bonifacio Echeverria Firearm?
Know what your Star-Bonifacio Echeverria firearms are worth with this up-to-date 7-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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Are You in the Market for an European American Armory Firearm?
Know what your European American Armory firearms are worth with this up-to-date 8-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
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Know what your Fabarm firearms are worth with this up-to-date 6-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
* Completely updated pricing for Fabarm firearms with new entries and photos * Value Trackers: Real-life auction results * Sleeper Alerts: Collectible guns that are outpacing the market * Links to manufacturers’ website
Know what your Ithaca firearms are worth with this up-to-date 17-page .PDF download from the Standard Catalog of Firearms.
* Completely updated pricing for Ithaca firearms with new entries and photos * Value Trackers: Real-life auction results * Sleeper Alerts: Collectible guns that are outpacing the market * Links to manufacturers’ website
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The Earl from NAA, a retro .22 minigun that’s a hoot to shoot.
My regular readers (both of them) know that I have a deep, abiding affection for the mini-revolvers of North American Arms (NAA). I really like the North American Arms Earl.
I don’t hold with the assumption that the only reason for a gun’s existence is self-defense. If that were true, we’d have no use for more than half the guns on today’s market. There’s plenty of room in the shooting sports for fun guns, those used for pure recreation. And if you, like I, appreciate the pure pleasure of just plain shooting, NAA has a real winner for you: The Earl.
Also available is a cavalry-style flap holster that’s similar to those made for the 1858 Remington.
The Earl is the most imaginative take on the mini-gun concept ever offered. The brainchild of the late Earl Hubbard, an NAA assembly technician, and his son Dustin, The Earl is a slender, stylish .22 that bears more than a passing resemblance to a shrunk-down 1858-pattern Remington percussion revolver.
Actually, it looks to me more like a half-scale, stretched-out Remington New Model Pocket .31 cartridge conversion, but that’s splitting hairs.
The beauty of The Earl lies not in its historical accuracy, but in the fact that it occurred to the imaginative Mr. Hubbard in the first place how striking the basic NAA .22 revolver would look if you put a faux loading lever, four-inch octagonal barrel and square-butt grips on it.
The Earl incorporates many of the features found on revolvers of the mid- to late-Victorian period: spur trigger, pinched barleycorn front sight and milled groove rear sight. Unlike all those Otis Smiths, Hopkins and Allens and Remington Smoots, however, The Earl is constructed of low-lustre 17-4 pH stainless steel, a material that’s preferred by the aerospace industry for its toughness and durability.
Mini-gun fanciers may remember something similar offered back in the 1980’s, the Freedom Arms Boot Gun. Designed by Dick Casull, the Boot Gun was a nifty .22 four-shooter with a three-inch round pipestem barrel.
Unlike the discontinued Boot Gun, however, The Earl has an unfluted five-shot cylinder; safety notches between the chambers; a somewhat heavier, longer octagonal barrel; a heavier frame; and a loading lever that serves as a cylinder pin lock. (Yes, I know it’s not a loading lever in the cap-and-ball sense, but that’s what I’ll call it.) Now highly regarded as a collectible, the Freedom Arms Boot Gun was a total hoot to shoot. So’s The Earl.
My prototype sample of The Earl is a convertible model with separate cylinders for .22 LR and .22 WRM, aka .22 Magnum. (According to Sandy Chisholm, NAA’s affable and erudite CEO, a single-cylinder version chambered for .22 WMR will also be available.) Its manual of arms is a bit different from that of NAA’s other minis. To load, put the gun on half-cock, pull back on the loading lever lock, and pivot the lever downward.
The Earl convertible will digest a wide array of .22 ammo, from the tiny .22 acorn blank to the .22 WMR.
Roll the cylinder out of the frame and fill it up with your favorite ammo du jour. Roll the cylinder back into the frame, making sure that bolt protruding upward from the bottom shelf of the frame recess catches one of the bolt notches on the cylinder. Align the cylinder and insert the cylinder pin. Then flip the loading lever back into position, making sure it locks into place.
To put the gun “on safe” (i.e., with the hammer resting in a safety notch), pull the hammer back just far enough that the cylinder bolt retracts and the cylinder rotates freely. Look down through the firing pin recess in the topstrap and rotate the cylinder so that a safety notch – NOT the brass rim of a live cartridge – is visible through the firing pin recess in the topstrap. Then, holding the hammer firmly under your thumb, squeeze the trigger. Carefully lower the hammer all the way into the safety notch and release the trigger. This may sound complicated but it’s not, really. Do it a few times and you’ll be a pro.
To shoot, cock the hammer – like all .22 mini-guns, The Earl is single-action-only – and squeeze the trigger. To extract empty brass, put the gun on half-cock, retract the loading lever, remove the cylinder pin, roll out the cylinder, and use the pin to poke out the empties.
My sample The Earl – it sounds weird to write it like that, but that’s its name: “The Earl” – had a rather stiff trigger pull that caused me to pull left with every shot. Part of this heavy trigger is undoubtedly due to the scant leverage afforded by that tiny spur trigger, so I’ll have to adjust my firing technique or apply a little Kentucky windage. That, or have a gunsmith do a little stoning job. However, even with its trigger pull, The Earl was commendably accurate at 15 yards off a rest. With high speed .22 Short ammo, my first five-shot group was a tad left of center and measured just over an inch in diameter.
Credit for The Earl must go not only to Earl and Justin Hubbard but to Ken Friel, NAA’s production manager, and all of NAA’s workers way out there in Provo, Utah. Every NAA mini I’ve ever owned has been tight as a drum, giving off all those metallic clicking and snicking sounds that characterize a well-fitted pistol.
Call me a nut, but I use .22 Shorts for most of my mini-gun shooting. I have a long-standing preference for the Short, one I acquired over many boyhood years spent shooting a Remington Model 514 single-shot rifle. Back then, Shorts were cheaper than any other .22 ammo, and even today the sight of a flat little box of Shorts does my heart good. The Earl convertible model will handle an amazing array of .22 rimfire ammo, but Shorts and CB caps suit me just fine most of the time. Hey – we’re talking plinking here!
15-yard groups with The Earl ran about an inch with .22 Short ammo.
Personally, I have little use for the .22 WMR in a mini-gun, with the possible exception of the .22 WMR shotshell. Those little numbers throw a pest-killing pattern at 10 to 15 feet, and I once dropped a mouse with one at close to 30 feet.
NAA isn’t marketing The Earl as a hunting gun, of course, or even as a last-ditch defense gun. In the words of Sandy Chisholm, The Earl “might become your favorite plinker,” which to me is a definite possibility. Suggested retail for the convertible model is $324, and the Magnum-only version will set you back $289. For your money, you get not only The Earl but a case, lock and a really neat scaled-down leather flap holster similar to those designed for the original full-size 1858 Remington. (This gives me an idea, one that will almost certainly never comes to pass: offer The Earl in a blackpowder version similar to the NAA Companion.)
So: who will be interested in The Earl? I imagine Cowboy Action shooters will love it, as will anyone whose idea of a good afternoon includes sitting in the sun, shooting at cans. Sandy Chisholm advises that due to NAA’s overwhelming order backlog, The Earl is planned as a limited-production item. If you’re like me, however, it’s certainly worth chasing one down.
Know what your Cimarron firearms are worth with this up-to-date 8-page .PDF download from the 19th edition of Standard Catalog of Firearms.
* Completely updated pricing for Cimarron firearms with new entries and photos * Value Trackers: Real-life auction results * Sleeper Alerts: Collectible guns that are outpacing the market * Links to manufacturers’ website
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This new addendum — also to be cloaked in secrecy — would empower the U.S. Attorney General to deny a person the ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights to purchase a firearm.
While it is not surprising that some members of Congress are again using fear of terrorism to implement a gun-control agenda, the openly unconstitutional legislative language proponents are employing is troubling.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) is leading the effort in the Senate, while another well-known gun control advocate — Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) — is directing the House initiative. They have introduced identical bills — the “Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009.” This proposal would give the attorney general the power to unilaterally and in secret develop a watch list of persons believed to be unworthy of possessing a firearm or any explosive.
This new “dangerous terrorist” watch list would include names based not on hard evidence of criminal activity, but on nothing more than the subjective conclusion by the attorney general that a person is “appropriately suspected” (whatever that means) of engaging in some manner of assisting or preparing for acts of domestic or international terrorism. The American people would never be privy to what criteria might be employed by the attorney general to determine whether someone is an “appropriate suspect,” and they would have no way of knowing why they might be denied the ability to purchase a firearm.
If a person were to be refused “permission” to purchase a firearm or explosive, and if they subsequently filed a lawsuit in federal court to find out why, the government still could keep such information secret. In other words, the attorney general could deny a U.S. citizen the ability to own a firearm, and never have to give the reason. Read more
Looking to go armed, but are stuck in the weeds as to what to arm yourself with? Here are 20 excellent concealed carry gun options that will keep you on the defensive.
Are You in the Market for a Llama Firearm?
