Well, I will try and address some of the points raised. The rifle is unfired because of what Michael has suggested. The fact that it was not what I ordered in several significant (to me) ways spoiled it for me. I put it aside hoping that feeling would fade, but it has not. The rifle is the most expensive I own, and my psychological investment in the project was higher still. It took me 10 years to find a suitable rifle/action to start with. The only non-original 1878's available in the 90's were the investment cast ones from Argus Barker.
As to value, I thought the charges high at the time, just my opinion. The workmanship is good, but the gunsmith was not a Guild member and I did not expect to pay that kind of price based on our prior dealings. As I have noted, the charges were also presented in total when the rifle was complete.
The Gunbroker listing is my doing, as I said, I have never sold much before. I didn't realize the no returns thing was such an issue. I was trying to protect the "new, unfired" status of the rifle, because I thought that was worth something. I was also somewhat wary of the whole internet sale thing. There are trolls out there, someone tried to give me a phony cashiers check for a violin a few months ago. This sale is not a scam, there are no hidden flaws I am aware of and the rifle was available for close inspection when it was at Cabela's. The photos are the ones taken by Cabela's for their site, I thought they were probably better than I could do.
The style of the rifle is also my doing, I deliberately left the military action as it was. It was 121 years old when I bought it and I did not want it recontoured. This was not a money thing, I was just trying to make a nice rifle, not fool people into thinking it was an original sporting model. I was also quite careful about the stock blank and layout because of the large caliber. I was very pleased with both Don Cantwell and George Petersen's contributions to this project, so I am not some impossible to please customer.
Unfortunately, what I am not reading here is that I am doing it wrong with regard to how and where to sell the thing. It seems like the prevailing opinion is that hot rod analogy Joe & Gerald put forward is correct. Money spent on "improving" rifles is an expense not a capital investment. I guess I should just keep lowering the price and take my lumps.
