Armas side by side

[Sigismund]

Hi there, a family member is selling of a few rifles and shotguns, and ive been offered to buy it for half its value.

this is where you kind people step in, what is this shotguns value.

heres some pictures:

any help is much apriciated.

 

[Claybuster]

It's a Spanish gun and the markings JB correspond with a now extinct maker by the name of Armas Bost. This gun look well used and from the buggered screws someone with an ill-fitting screw driver has been inside the gun at some pont.

It's tought to put a price on a gun without actually seeing it but Murray Garnder has an Armas Bost on his site for comparison purposes. The asking price is $395.

As for this gun I'd say $300

Here's the link to Gardner's site. I added the code to ensure it wasn't a hot link. Just cut and paste into your browser.

http://www.mdgardner.com/doc40.htm#SG4SALE

 

[Sharptail]

Bost is something of a mystery. Little is documented about this maker, and it is not listed in Wieland's book. You see them occasionally, Wholesale in Edmonton has a single barrel sidelock trap gun by Bost sitting on the shelf. They are asking in the neighborhood of $1,300 for it. It has been there for quite a while now.

Sigismund, I am curious about the gauge of your gun. The barrels show a bore diameter of 19.3 mm, which is 0.7598 inches. The nominal bore diameter of a 12 gauge is 0.729 inches, while a 10 gauge is 0.775 inches. Either the gun is a very large 12 gauge or a tight 10 - I'm betting that it is a 10 gauge. The beavertail fore end, semi pistol grip and bolstered frame are consistent with a Spanish 10 gauge. The muzzle diameter of 18.5 mm translates to 0.7283 inches, providing 0.0315 inches of choke, pretty near full choke on a 10 gauge.

If this is the case, you have a small problem - the gun was not designed for steel shot, and virtually all commercially available 10 gauge ammo is steel shot. Options include hand loading bismuth shells, or opening up the chokes and hoping for the best.

If the gun is indeed chambered for 10 gauge shells, then the resale value is hurt by the lack of available ammo. $250 seems to be the maximum that these guns will sell for around here. If it is a 12 gauge, then Claybuster is most likely correct.

Edited to add: I am blind. The water table shows the gun as being chambered for the 3.5" 10 gauge.

Sharptail

 

[Grouse Man]

I was just going to add, the flats are stamped 10-89, where 10 is gauge, and 89 is chamber MM length ie 3.5".

 

[Sigismund]

Thank you guys very much.

sorry for the poor description, it is indeed 10 ga. and i have been told that it wont shoot steel shot, (due to the reason mentioned above)

but luckily the gun comes with quite a few rounds of lead slugs and lead buck. Which is best found at gun shows. So ammo is indeed not easily found.

Thanks again for all the great input, much apriciated.