All,
I am helping to value an estate (that will not go to public sale) and the deceased left a lot of shooting related items. All of the items of obvious value (guns, presses, holsters) are gone. The family is trying to figure “fair market value” for components, magazines, books. Most of the items are from 1970, but unopened or pristine.What % of new (if any) would you assign to:

All from approximately 1970, original packaging

Bullets - .38, .270, .308, .25, .22 name brand
Loaded ammo
Brass - same
Manuals/Handloader magazines

These items are not for sale to the public and will never be offered (don’t get excited about a future classified offering), but the family has to decide “fair market value”. Thanks in advance.

Price it at 60% of what it would take to replace at new retail prices.

Thank you. Would old reloading manuals (Nosler #1 paperback) and Handloader/Rifle magazines cataloged by year and in spiral hard notebooks also have value in the same way?

If they are not for sale then there is no market value. If they are just itemizing property of the deceased for the court zero value is acceptable.

quote:

Originally posted by gs1150rider:
Thank you. Would old reloading manuals (Nosler #1 paperback) and Handloader/Rifle magazines cataloged by year and in spiral hard notebooks also have value in the same way?

No, I wouldn’t pay 60% of today’s value for a reloading manual from 1970....many will be outdated. I’d price em at $5-$10 and let em ride...

I do know that “Handloader” magazine has prior issues back to the 60s listed at $10 each....I imagin not too many sell...

Is there loading data for the loaded ammo? Even with it, many people are leery about shooting ammo someone unknown loaded.
The best for that would probably be the market value for the components (brass & bullets).

quote:

Originally posted by gs1150rider:
All,
I am helping to value an estate (that will not go to public sale) and the deceased left a lot of shooting related items. All of the items of obvious value (guns, presses, holsters) are gone. The family is trying to figure “fair market value” for components, magazines, books. Most of the items are from 1970, but unopened or pristine.What % of new (if any) would you assign to:

All from approximately 1970, original packaging

Bullets - .38, .270, .308, .25, .22 name brand
Loaded ammo
Brass - same
Manuals/Handloader magazines

These items are not for sale to the public and will never be offered (don’t get excited about a future classified offering), but the family has to decide “fair market value”. Thanks in advance.

It seems to me that the fair market value of the bullets and brass would be at or close to today’s market value.

The loaded ammo is a wildcard. If the loader’s habits are known to the buyer and he or she was religious about loading, and maybe even kept records and or stored the loaded rounds in lots marked with the “recipe” used, they might be close to factory prices, or even higher for precision rounds that the loader was well known for.

If everyone who knew the loader was afraid of his loads and didn’t want to be within fifty feet when one was fired, they’re worth less than component value as a conservative soul might pull the bullets, dump the powder, and reload the primed cases. In that case, you’re looking at the value of the cases & bullets (& maybe primers) minus the value of the time pulling. If the primers aren’t set properly, that just makes the hassle bigger.

The manuals are also a little harder to value. There is a whole lot of info out there today online. Do those manuals have info that isn’t easily found today? Is there some other special thing about those manuals that adds value? If the decedent didn’t use them, what are the odds that someone else will today?

The only loaded ammo is new in box from the factory (from decades ago). Thanks again for the responses.

In the current panic environment, you should have no problem selling even vintage ammo as long as it is factory loaded and still in factory packaging. Same with most reloading components. The key is actually knowing what you have to be able to move it. Unknown, unmarked piles of misc. stuff that people have to guess about will sell for pennies on the dollar at best.

quote:

Originally posted by gs1150rider:
The only loaded ammo is new in box from the factory (from decades ago). Thanks again for the responses.

Oh, in that case it could probably be valued close to market too.

Really, if you’re not selling it and the family is just agreeing on fair market value to aid in fairly distributing the estate, there is a lot of latitude.

For instance, if “Joey” really only wants the loaded .38 and .308 but agrees to take or dispose of all the remaining “gun stuff” to simplify things, a significant discount might be appropriate. As long as the family is in agreement, they can pretty much do want they want as far as valuation. At the end on the day, family harmony is a lot more valuable than “stuff”.

A guy I knew passed away long while back. I was interested in his 44 Mag components, the estate gifted me with the components after I said I would tear down hundreds of unmarked reloads.

Win-win.