What is a Swiss M1893 Cavalry Carbine worth?

4

4b1t

CGN Regular
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Digging through the vault and thinning out, not sure what this one is worth.

I have never seen another one in Canada and only a few in the U.S.

Unique little carbine, matching numbers, very nice shape but hard to price.

Thoughts?

I'll put up pics if there is an interest.

Any info appreciated.
 
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jrcarbine said:
I have no clue what they are worth, but they only made 7,750 or so. If I were you I would hold onto it.
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Thanks for the input. Gave me a good chuckle though. I have been "holding on to it" for 30 years.....doesn't seem to help avoid male pattern baldness, high blood pressure and enlarged prostate though !! :):):). Keeping it longer only means my worthless relatives will eventually benefit!!! It deserves a good home.
 
I think a good starting price would be around $1000 there were a little over 7500 of these made in Bern with additional production of 5000 by Sig
 
1000-1500$ in my opinion. Last one I saw for sale on CGN went for I believe 1200$.

There is definitely interest, I know I have desired one for a while (love both Mannlichers, and Swiss rifles, this is a great mix), and I am sure there are other collectors as well who want one.
 
Eaglelord17 said:
1000-1500$ in my opinion. Last one I saw for sale on CGN went for I believe 1200$.

There is definitely interest, I know I have desired one for a while (love both Mannlichers, and Swiss rifles, this is a great mix), and I am sure there are other collectors as well who want one.
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Thanks for that. I must have missed the one on CGN. Do you recall any details such as condition or when it sold? That would help bracket mine.

Thank you, Sir.
 
4b1t said:
Thanks for that. I must have missed the one on CGN. Do you recall any details such as condition or when it sold? That would help bracket mine.

Thank you, Sir.
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It was sometime within the last year (I want to say around April-May 2015, but I can't specifically remember). It was all matching and was in at least VG condition. It didn't sit and sold fairly quickly (likely having to do with the fact that usually if you want one in Canada you have to import it). At that point in time, it was roughly the same price to import it, as it was selling at (roughly 750-1000$ American when the dollar was at par, plus 200$ import fee), only it was for sale in Canada so you didn't have to wait.
 
Eaglelord17 said:
It was sometime within the last year (I want to say around April-May 2015, but I can't specifically remember). It was all matching and was in at least VG condition. It didn't sit and sold fairly quickly (likely having to do with the fact that usually if you want one in Canada you have to import it). At that point in time, it was roughly the same price to import it, as it was selling at (roughly 750-1000$ American when the dollar was at par, plus 200$ import fee), only it was for sale in Canada so you didn't have to wait.
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Thank you, that is very useful info. I would rate mine as excellent condition, if I send you pics, would you be willing to comment on its condition as compared to the VG $1200 one? If not, I totally understand.

Thanks again for the assistance.
 
4b1t said:
Thank you, that is very useful info. I would rate mine as excellent condition, if I send you pics, would you be willing to comment on its condition as compared to the VG $1200 one? If not, I totally understand.

Thanks again for the assistance.
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Honestly I am not the best at rating condition, usually when I sell something I let the pictures do the talking. If it is excellent I would expect it more to the higher end of my quote (and if it doesn't sell at that price, you can always lower it). This was also a year ago before the dollar tanked, so it could either have put the price up (in comparison to importing one from the states), or it could have put the price down (people not having enough money to buy guns).

Personally if I was selling a all matching excellent condition rifle, then I would try for the 1500$. Hope this helps.
 
diopter said:
Is it in 7.5x53.5 or 9.3x53?
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It is the original 7.5 GP90. I believe some were converted to 9.3 for civilian use.

Here she is.

image_zpsb1wi0srt.jpeg
 
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Saw a few sell in the last few years, 1000-1200ish, frankly the ones at auction were way worse than yours. I think 1500 would be fair. Still think they are one the prettiest rifles ever, always wanted one to just stare at.
 
I always felt these rifle would have been good candidates for the GP-11 conversions, however the Swiss apparently hated them. Probally a good thing they didn't or else the demand would be higher from people as the ammo would be available on the shelf.
 
I would agree with about $1250-$1500. They are a rare rifle but also a bit specialized like all the Swiss stuff. I've owned two of them over the years, and found that even by Mannlicher standards the bolts on both of them were really stiff. I have a large collection or Ross rifles so am not at all opposed to straight pull designs, but these Swiss carbines can be a bit of a bear to open and shut. I would expect recoil and muzzle flash would have been a bit on the heavy side too ,like most early carbines.

Ed
 
Those rifles were never cheap. If you picked it up 30 years ago unless you got a "special deal" it must have been a pinch on your pocket book in comparison to other milsurps at that time. Some of those were in rough condition but mostly were Very Good all the way to Excellent. When they first came in, there were only a few of them. The ammo was impossible to find and from what I saw, they almost appeared to be a mixed quality sample lot. The first ones I saw were in the late sixties. I remember Lever Arms getting about a half dozen of which only one would have been considered in the top VG range. All were well taken care of with shiny bores and came with attached slings. Very similar to the recent K31s that are here now. I remember Lever putting them in the racks for $75 in 1968. That was more money than the average worker cleared in a week back then. Yes I know some people made more but they would have been in the top 20% of earners.

I would have loved to have had one as the Steyr quality is always obvious. I was still in school then and just couldn't come up with the money let alone justify going into debt (which I have always abhorred) over. I opted for a Steyr made Kropatschek Colonial rifle instead as it was priced at $15 with a box of 50 rounds thrown in. The Krop wore all sorts of rough use marks but no Drill Purpose marks which so many were relegated to. It also had a nice bore.

OP, I would say that your example is easily worth between $1200 to $1500 in the shape your pics suggest. That would be to a collector of fine Swiss issued firearms. The K31s we see on the market today are a steal IMHO. The big drawback is that most people are purchasing them to shoot them and I can fully understand why. They also view them as cheap surplus and do not render the proper care to them they deserve.

I also understand your reasons for letting go of a fine rifle you have had the luck/foresight to purchase. Life catches up with all of us sooner or later and we have to make choices. I am slowly starting to let go of the pieces I no longer enjoy as much as I once did. I also will pick up something that intrigued me at one time or another and still piques my interest.

Anyway, go well and thanks for passing on the torch to people that will appreciate the opportunity to own and enjoy the beautifully made rifle that almost but not quite copies its excellent Austrian counterpart.
 
Ammo is easy if you reload. Load to 80% of max 7.5x55 loads for whatever powder you have to get GP90 velocities. Action can most likely take much more, but not advisable in a carbine with that short a barrel. Recoil and muzzle blast is stout enough with the GP90.
 
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