Determining condition

[cschaef]

I have been looking at Sterlingworth's on the online auction sites. How is the amount of color case determined? Is it just the exterior of the receiver or do you include the watertable? It appears to me that almost everyone is overestimating the values? What kind of range should I look for in a 12ga. Your help is appreciated.

Clint

[fox-admin]

There is no standard for judging CC. It depends if you are the buyer or the seller A 80% gun you buy from a dealer becomes a 40% gun if you try to sell it back!! I think if you look and are willing to be selective a very nice original 12ga Sterlingworth with 50% exterior color and original finishes should be available for $700 to $900. from a dealer.

[Mike of the Mountain]

I agree with Craig's assessment.

[Gleedaniel13]

There is no standard for judging CC. It depends if you are the buyer or the seller A 80% gun you buy from a dealer becomes a 40% gun if you try to sell it back!! I think if you look and are willing to be selective a very nice original 12ga Sterlingworth with 50% exterior color and original finishes should be available for $700 to $900. from a dealer.

Will they go for 500$?

[Stan Hillis]

Not from a dealer.

SRH

[eightbore]

I know exactly what percentage of color my guns have. However, I won't embarrass myself by quoting those percentages until I advertise them for sale.

[Stan Hillis]

I copied and pasted this from a comment I made in a discussion about condition, on another BBS, that took place recently. Anybody here agree, or disagree? I would appreciate comments.

" I look at it a bit differently than most, and my percentages would probably be lower than many. Here's how I evaluate it. Let's say we have a gun that has no color worn through to silver areas, none. However, the 90 year old colors are faded badly, as compared to how they look under the barrels on the forend iron. I evaluate the percent they have faded, let's say 40%. So, we're already down to a 60% level on a gun with no silvered areas. Now, if the gun were to have worn through areas from carrying, etc., I then deduct the percentage that is like that from the 60%. So, if we have a gun with 60% of the original color brightness, and 15% of total case colored area that is worn through, I would call it 45% colors."

SRH

[eightbore]

Stan, all of ours are better than that.

[Jim Cloninger]

Stan, I like your method. Jim

[callaojoe]

I may be doing it all wrong, but one of the last things I look at, when I am trying to decide if I will be interested in buying it, is the amount of case color left. That said, if it has it, it's a big plus as it usually means the gun has been a safe queen.

I am more worried about the condition of the wood, if the barrels or stock have been chopped, if the screws all look badly buggered with, rust pitting, etc...

Wood being in bad shape, means some expensive work is ahead for the gun. If you already planned to re-stock it, It's not important, but if you are wanting to have an "original" gun, then it's a big problem. Case color is a nice to have, but not the most important thing I look at. I have a 1927 Ithaca NID, that mechanically, including the wood is almost perfect.... But, the case color is almost all gone. I have heard, being exposed to sunlight can fade it out... The lever is still far to right, the wood is all but perfect, it's a solid gun, but the case color is all but gone....

Best advice i can give, is look at lots of them, if you can get your hands on nice un-altered guns so you know what to look for, that's a big plus too.

I agree with what was posted earlier, that you can still find decent 12 ga guns in the $700 - 900 range. They won't be perfect, but decent guns.