I have a hypothetical question for the military surplus experts on how much a refinished stock impacts the value of a collectable military surplus rifle. I was looking at a fairly expensive and collectable sniper rifle and noticed that the stock had been "lightly" refinished. The colour and luster were very close to original but there were two points that gave away the refinishing; the contours in the finger grooves were "softened", not as sharp as they should have been and the overall condition was just too good for a 75 year old rifle. The sanding job was light, but detectable. What do the experts think? I can research the current market value of these rifles but the refinishing makes this rifle kind of a unique one off. So what does the forum think; collectable value reduced by 10, 15, 20% or just no longer collectable and walk way?
Hypothetical question on a refinished stock
- Thread starter David Scott
- Start date
Refinishing does take away from the value when one eventually sells it. Original is always more desirable. As gaff stated "depend on rarety. make, model, production numbers. factory refinished, bubba?"
I'll add to the end "and how bad is the refinishing attempt is..." Any pictures?
I'll add to the end "and how bad is the refinishing attempt is..." Any pictures?
Makes me shiver when I get someone at my table at a gun show wanting to sell a nice milsurp that has been "refinished". I realize that not every gun owner spends all their waking hours fussing about whether such and such a milsurp is "original" or not. People simply don't know and some don't care. To some, the old military surplus rifles are simply old war guns.
If the OP's rifle in question is a rare example, it will help a bit in keeping its value. Tough to say unless we know what we are talking about. I get people trying to sell a rifle and often hear the "I've never seen another one like it" line. Depending on what the item is, and how badly I think I want it, I might pay the price. There are some real sleepers floating around.
If the OP's rifle in question is a rare example, it will help a bit in keeping its value. Tough to say unless we know what we are talking about. I get people trying to sell a rifle and often hear the "I've never seen another one like it" line. Depending on what the item is, and how badly I think I want it, I might pay the price. There are some real sleepers floating around.
Unfortunately no photos, it is a ‘for sale’ situation so I don’t have the gun to photograph. It is a Swiss model 1955 sniper/marksman rifle. They are moderately rare, a total of about 4150 made. The refinish job was only given away when I ran my fingertips over the hand groove and notice the edges were not as sharp as they should have been. I guess I am going to have to make a decision on value, part of the problem is they don’t come around too often.
Are you sure that it's due to refinishing? It could just be a little wear from normal handling/shooting where the shooter(s) grasped the stock. I'm assuming that it's not a factory new firearm.
