Members or Mods, can someone let me know why my thread was deleted ? I had started a discussion looking for recommendations to find someone who could give me an honest estimate of the value of my colt 1911 pistol from 1913.

Some forum members had responded with a few suggestions. I am just able to get back to this and was looking for the thread but it seems it was deleted.

I am not aware of any rule that I violated and dont want to have any issues with the forum.

Can someone let me know why it was deleted ?

I could really use the help finding someone honest for the estimate and I value the opinions of many forum members.

If, IF, it was deleted, you could inquire in the SF office further down main page. But w/o knowing more, there's no guarantee to answer once it's deleted.
Having not seen the thread, I can't say.

It was deleted because management views such threads as preludes to the offering up of the gun for sale. In this forum, all sales activity is limited to the Classifieds section, and inquiring about gun values is a de facto WTS ad.

I know this kind of thing is allowed in other forums and I don't want you to take any of this personally, but we do things a bit differently here.

As to the rules, aside from Classifieds, there are no posted rules. One learns by being a member here.

So is there any way to get recommendations for an honest gun shop for an estimate ?

This gun is over 100 years old and the values can range from 700 - 7000.

quote:

Originally posted by Ms0072:
So is there any way to get recommendations for an honest gun shop for an estimate ?

This gun is over 100 years old and the values can range from 700 - 7000.

A gun shop would likely give you a few hundred bucks. Someone here will likely email you with an offer, that you’ll accept, and this pistol will never make it to a WTS ad. This chaps hides, and while I would never deign to speak for the forum owner, I imagine he likes to try to keep things even for most of us. I imagine quite a few of us wouldn’t mind having a shot at “1913 dated 1911 for sale.”


But I reckon you knew that.

Ok so then based on that I might as well just post a for sale ad at the top of the price range and go from there.

I was hoping to be able to get some idea as to its value and use that to determine if I wanted to actually sell it.

Thanks for the replies, Ill post it in the wts section.

This would be the honest course of action, yes sir.

You might want to be careful about pricing the gun at the top price listed. First thing I would do is check with an LGS whom you believe to be honest and see if he will give you an honest appraisal.

you can get a fair estimate out of Ffjestad's "Gun Values". I know precisely squat about 1911 values but if you send me some details, I can give you a starting number from the book along with page reference if you want to take it farthur yourself. I'm not in the market, by the way.

If you want my amateur offering, email me, address is in my profile, give what ever details you've got, Government model I presume, blue or stainless, any marks like personal property of George Custer or whatever and I'll see if I can help get you started.

I'm out of business tomorrow (wed the 1st) by the way, but I'll be back Thursday.

Personally- If it's all that and then some it needs to be offered in the proper venue so all will be rewarded.

One of the big Auction Houses with the proper audience might be the best bet?

If you sell it to a dealer they'll want to make a profit. Selling it directly to a collector would maximize the return.

quote:

personal property of George Custer

If it's George Armstrong Custer we're talking about here: considering that Gen. Custer died on June 25th, 1876 and the 1911 did not enter formal service until March 29, 1911, a so-marked pistol would be either a very fraudulent 1911 or a very remarkable 1911.

Nah, I can believe it’s legit. Browning had stainless tool room prototypes in 1875, and was a known acquaintance of Custer.

Price it at the top of the range. Adjust the price down periodically until it sells.

Alternatively, price it at what you would be happy to get for it, and adjust it periodically until it sells.

quote:

Originally posted by Ms0072:
I could really use the help finding someone honest for the estimate and I value the opinions of many forum members.

Try checking over at milsurps.com

I found them real helpful when I was trying to value a M1903A3. They do have a 1911 sub-forum.

You had several helpful posts in the original deleted thead and should have acted on those immediately.

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
You had several helpful posts in the original deleted thead and should have acted on those immediately.

Yep, there were links given to other sites that would have given him the value of his gun.

Where in NJ are you? Go see Jim at Action Shooters in Haledon if you are in North Jersey. He will sell it for you on GB and take a small cut. He will be able to tell you exactly what it’s worth. He sells collectible guns online very frequently.

You can also see if anyone has sold a similar gun on Gunbroker. Look for completed sales. This works well for common guns, like Model 10s, or Remington 700s in .270. It may be harder to find a comparison sale for a rarer gun.

Edit: I should read the whole thread before snap posting. Jhe, brought up Gunbroker first. But I'm going leave the rest of the post as is, since I go beyond what Jhe said.

Might not Gunbroker be useful here? A nationwide on line auction is likely to get the best price for the gun.

I don't know how well it does for collectible guns, and maybe there a better, more specialized auction site. But I would think an auction would be the best way to maximize value.