I happened across a very plain WC Scott 8 bore the other day. The gun has crystal indicators, and practically no engraving other than the company name on it. The condition is worn with no finish remaining and the metal has turned a dull gray, however, there are no signs of abuse. The bores are decent with some moderate pitting forward of the both chambers and the action is a tiny bit loose. The dealer is including a full box of very early nitro loads with it, date on the box is 1907. Any idea what kind of price range this should be in? The dealer is asking $3100 for it.

Alex Johnson

Alex,

The few Scott 8ga's I have seen have all been hammerguns and prices $1-2000 higher than the gun you are looking at.....but....they were all in much better condition than the one you are looking at.

Putting it back on face and having the barrels (probably damascus if it is a back action gun) spiffed up and wood refinished would set you back close to the purchase price.

If you decide to buy it and want to load your own shells, drop me a note. I can get you a couple of hundred 8ga industrial hulls for the price of shipping if you are patient.

Do the locks look like this?



Or this?

Your going to have to like the gun for what it is...a bunch, because there's not much your going to be doing with it.
Its like my last 458, I shot a box up at tree-stumps and then sold it.

Mike, it is like the one you have with the pheaseants. I honestly don't think I'll be buying this one, like was said, what would I do with it? I can't hunt with it because some people think of it as a cannon (I've shot heavier loads than the original ones provide in my mag 10) and its illegal for hunting in my locale. I was just curious whether this was a gun in the right ballpark range, if it had been some incredible steal, which I didn't really believe I might have sprung for it.

Alex,

It is not legal for waterfowl but you could hunt some quail with it.....

AJ - the Scott name has Brand Value level three (BV3), a border engraved SLE (you didn't mention ejectors or not) is typically Original Quality grade five (OQ5), and the condition sounds like "Shootable but needs some repairs and refinishing", which is Current Condition level six (CC6). For retail of a 12 bore gun similar to this I'd predict BV3-OQ5-CC6 = $1350; less if it is an extractor gun. Is the fact of 8 bore worth a 2.3X premium? 20 bore is worth about 1.5X - 2X premium.

Hope that helps some.

Don,

I believe all of the backaction Crystal Indicator guns were made with extractors.


I believe the 8ga carries a premium but as you point out, not 2.3x.

Mike,
Ejector guns with backaction locks & crystal indicators are rarer but they do exist (with both steel & Damascus barrels). My own Scott built gun (c1895~) has backaction locks with the Perkes patent intercepting sears; crystal indicators; steel barrels; Perkes patent ejector mechanism.

Blanch guns are especially worthwhile looking at if you want to see various combinations of these features & lockwork.

Regards
Russell

Russel,

I don't claim to be an expert only an interested novice when it comes to W&C Scott guns but they must be REALLY rare. If someone mentions a Scott my ears perk up. Having looked at every backaction Crystal Indicator gun I could get my hands on or pictures of I have never seen one with original fluid steel barrels or ejectors.

Fitting ejectors with that early style cocking arrangement must have been a nightmare.

Regards,

Mike

PS I don't suppose you could email me a couple pictures of this arrangement on your gun?

Hi Mike and Russel, I assume that there was a transition period between roughly 1885-1895 where Scott guns came in an amazing variety of shapes, sizes,models, and options. The gun below is circa 1888 and as you can see has back action,bar-shaped locks,
crystal indicators,Lever-grip third bite,ejectors, and damascus barrels.I use it regularly for sporting clays and waterfowl.

Terry,

You continue to amaze. That does not appear to be Premier quality engraving but it has the triplex third bite and ejectors. Very nice.

Now if you had only held onto the 8ga hammergun so I could talk you out of it......

Remember, if your guns ever need a southern home, I'll make room for them. On 'temporary' loan of course.

I should rephrase that. The engraving quality is great, it was the amount of coverage and lack of game scenes that I meant to describe.

Mike,
You'll have to forgive me if the photos don't appear:


Shown above is the Scott built gun with crystal indicators, steel barrels & ejectors.


Here's a closer view. This is a rifle of course but shotguns with the same combination of features can be found.


Above is another Scott built rifle - this time with damascus barrels & it's a more common non-ejector. This is ann earlier gun & dates from about 1884/5

Regards
Russell

great thread, i have a wc scott 12ga. monte carlo B no crystal indicaters,damascus, extractor i think it was built in 1892?it has the square crossbolt.double underlug i would like to find out mfg. date and value mc

OK, Mc, you have given enough info to put the value around the same as your year estimate. You must give condition, measurements, and gauge if you want an estimate of price , and of course, the manufacturing date depends on a large extent to the serial number. You did not give the serial number as I see it. Can you publish some photos ? That would help.

Russel,

The pics worked just fine. Thanks!

If you compare your pictures to the one I posted (w/ pheasants) you can see that the locks are different though both are back action. More importantly the cocking mechanism is different. The earlier back action like I pictured had the cocking rods w/ hooks that come up through the action flat. I imagined that fitting a workable ejector mechanism to that action would be difficult and it is likely why your rifle has different locks.

I'll try to get some pictures of what I so poorly described posted over the weekend.

Thanks again.

BTW - What caliber is the rifle and whose name appears on the rib?

monte carlo B damascus 30 inch 12ga. 507xx i have no idea how to post pics. it has pitting on the action. i have a photo that shows it.condition is fair to good.thanks mc

Wow - I've never seen such early hammerless Scott DRs. Those are very cool.

Thanks for sharing.

OWD

Russell,

Here is the cocking system I was referring to.

For a thread that started with a simple question this one had some interesting information and I am curious to see if anyone has seen a Scott with the cocking system I posted just above with ejectors.

So back to the top.