Colt SAA: Restore?

[jackmoser65]

I am surprised that so many disagree with me!

That's because you don't get it. Regardless of what you think of romantic appeal, everything with regards to a firearm's value is based on condition above all else. I have no problem with people doing whatever they want with their own property but if they are about to do something irreversible to a firearm that will have a huge impact on its value, they should do so with full disclosure. The world is already littered with polished out and reblued Colt single actions so this is a well worn trail. I'm surprised that anyone would be so clueless about it.

Opinions aside, what you posted originally is flat out wrong.

"A no finish gun is worth about the same as a refinished gun."

Because this is 100% true.

"After all everyone should have the ability to turn a $2500+- Pistol into a $1000 one."

 

[briandg]

Slamfire, I have a point that I'd like to make. You own it now, but won't own it forever, and since it has historical value that will last forever, you have a responsibility to preserve that object for coming generations.

For example, don't paint over the beautiful mahogany mouldings in your century old house with pink spots. Don't take a century old Japanese blade and engrave your name on it with a moto tool. Don't paint a beard and mustache on the Mona Lisa. Don't cut down the century old shade tree in the back yard just because you don't want to rake the leaves. In short, don't do irreversible damage to something that has value beyond the ordinary object itself. People buy homes intending to live there for fifteen years, sometimes magnificent old homes, and don't like what they see. Then they trash it to make it fashionable.

In my home, some things were done that way. It has a beautiful, comfortable sitting room that must have once been used as a breakfast room. Some pinhead who owned the house in the past covered the beautiful oak floors with industrial linoleum tiles, in.salmon pink and sea green checkerboard. He put the stuff down with tar. That section of floor was irreversibly destroyed.

You own it for now, and have the right to do what you want, but deliberately ruining something for temporary reasons isn't right. Drilling it wasn't like putting a hood scoop in a vintage Cadillac but I would probably have bought a new pistol and left the other one alone.

 

[Driftwood Johnson]

I have an 1897 Frontier Six Shooter that was restored by Colt in the '60s, with a new frame, hammer, trigger, so there really is zero collectability

Again, one has to define 'collectability'. Collectability simply means how much is an old gun worth. Nothing more, nothing less. It does not matter if the potential customer is a legitimate collector, whatever that is, or an average guy off the street.

The value of a firearm, whether to a 'collector' or the general public is based on it's condition, it's rarity, and if it can be proven that it belonged to a person or an event with historical significance.

The rarer the gun, the more valuable it is. That's why Walker Colts command a huge price, there were only ever 1100 of them made, and a lot less exist today.

If a historical connection to a famous person in history can be established, that enhances the value too. I saw an antique S&W revolver that had belonged to Teddy Roosevelt go for a huge price, because a factory letter showed it had been shipped directly to TR from the factory.

And then condition also affects value. A gun that has not been refinished and is in pristine condition will always command more value than one in less than pristine condition. The lower the condition, the lower the value.



Finally, regarding a firearm that has been restored at the factory having no collector value, that is simply not true.

A firearm that can be proven to have been restored at the factory will always have more value than one done by an unknown craftsman. I attend a lot of auctions and I see that all the time.

Case in point. This S&W New Model Number Three was manufactured in 1882. The accompanying factory letter states when it was manufactured, what features it had, and where it shipped. The letter also states the gun was refinished at the factory in 1965. This gun is immaculate and looks like it just left the factory yesterday.

The New Model Number Three on the left in this photo shipped in 1896. The finish has a lot of wear, but mechanically the gun is perfect, as is the refinished one. The one that was refinished at the factory cost almost twice as much as the un-refinished one.

Here is an other example. A first model S&W Schofield revolver. It shipped in 1875 and was refinished at the factory in 1957. Over the years the refinish has worn a little bit, but it still commands a good value. Not as valuable as one with the original blue in the same condition, that would cost a huge amount. But proven to have been refinished at the factory it commands more value than one refinished anonymously.

And in parting, yes I do shoot them. Not a whole lot, but they do get shot. With Black Powder loads only, of course.

 

[otasan]

I'd leave it be.

 

[Cheapshooter]

Should I go for it? I'm not interested in it from a collectible $$$ standpoint. It's just a neat old cowboy gun that reminds me of "the way it used to be".

Why would you even think of destroying over a century of character that has been built up in "a neat old cowboy gun"?
Even worse, why is it in the possession of someone else? Especially someone who does not in the least understand, and respect that character!
Not only don't do it, but get it back, and find somewhere else to shoot!

 

[Jim Watson]

We haven't seen Art's gun yet.
I would not refinish or even fully restore Driftwood's Bisley, it looks better than my CAS lever action and shotgun, although my sixguns were bought new or lightly used.
Art's might be better, equal, or worse, we don't have anything to go by.

FLD had a couple of roached out SAAs that sat in his showcase for years with high prices on them. They were consignment guns and I suspect the consigner just looked way to the left in Blue Book and came up with numbers far higher than their market value.
They were of no value or interest to me at all. Too ugly to use, too expensive to restore, and not likely to come out well from a simple refinish.
He eventually turned them back to the consigner so he could look for a sucker elsewhere.

 

[claydoctor]

I think you have two choices, either keep it like it is and buy a newer SAA if you need something pretty or have it restored by Turnbull. The latter course at least gives you a shot at getting some money back as the gun will have some provenance. Having it done by a no-name gunsmith will just destroy any value in the gun.