doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Guild guns, no-namers and who-dun-its

Could be, and can hear his rap now!
"Just look at those innards, they stand on their own, no matter if the craftsman has been lost in the maze of time."
"Why, its just as good as errrrrrrrrrr a Henry Atkin - yep it is"!
Well then, gimme two of 'em, says our slick buyer!

As someone who makes his living as a painter, the only paintings I don't sign are the ones I'm not happy with. I will generally destroy a painting I'm not happy with, although my standards are higher now than when I started out. If I am truly proud of my creation, you can be sure I will sign it. It's human nature. If someone goes to the effort of making a truly high quality gun, I see no reason why it would be unattributed, unless it was a guild policy not to do so, or the maker wasn't as enamored of it as we might be.

Similarly, I would doubt the paintings Rembrandt left unsigned were ones he thought that highly of either. Given that, a napkin with his signature on it would sell for outrageous $ now, simply because of his name.

While in the shop of the esteemed mR. Xed chsles a couple of months ago, I came across a plain but well made and wondeful handling little no-name Belgian boxlock ejector.
Thinking that at last, I had found a good gun that fit that I could possibly afford, I learned to my horror, that I was not the only one to know it was a good gun.
I couldn't have paid more than half of the best offer he'd had on it and there it remained. There's a lesson in that Lowell, from a man who has had more than a few Best Guns pass over his workbench.

"And there it remained."
Not sold, but kept by Mr. "T", adder?
So anyhow!
I somehow get a little suspicious when the keen eyes find all these no-name wonders. Why its almost like the rest of us are babes in the back of the turnip truck.
The real cut to the chase is, that these guns are priced where most can take a chance, if they're into such things.
No harm, nor foul if they're out a grand or less.
Its the real deal, if they're out 10K for the almost as good as gun.

Maybe he'll post some pictures I'd love to see it.

Lowell, he kept it and said it was his "Loaner gun".
He said that he was offered $4000 for it.
Obviously, he wasn't trying to unload it.

Everyone needs a good loaner, but I don't know if that means much.
When my Dan'l Fraser ran out of cartridges(one in the rifle, and four in my pocket is all I had that day), a gent who I was shooting crows with, offered-up his back-up SKS.
I passed on that idea!

Per LG's original hypothesis, no, absolutely not. But the name, or lack there of, does impact market price. When working on the influence of brand name value in the Brit/Continental gun trades, I identified five factors that seem to strongly influence brand value: social acceptance/patronage, total production, % of high original quality production, firm longivity, and firm creativity. Since all makers, with the possible exception of Boss, made/sold a range of guns of differing original quality under their brand, it is necessary to identify the original quality grade of the gun, along with the current condition, to determine the market value.

"Did Mortimer Snerd make good guns?" is a typical question indicative of over reliance on the brand name. So, if there is no brand name how do you value the gun? Unknowns/no-namers fit to Brand Value level five (BV5). That means that original quality and current condition being equal, they are worth 1/8 of a BV1 (A pristine Purdey best SLE is about $40,000 and a pristine best SLE with no name is worth about $5,000). That said, one still has to develop the skill and knowledge to identify OQ grades and CC levels. So, IMO, there are gems out there for the knowledgable and/or the lucky.

How knowledgable and lucky can you be if you buy that pristine beats the hell outta me gem that is only worth 1/8 of one of the world's greatest guns.
You'd think the knowledgable/lucky should beat those odds!

LG - I don't believe that current used market price alone is an accurate reflection of Original Quality grade. Brand name has an 8 fold influence on price and Original Quality grade and Current Condition each has a 20 fold influence. Therefore, the price envelope from pristine best SLE by a BV1 maker to a wall hanger colonial/farmer grade BLNE with no name on it is 3200X. I don't "disagree" with market prices - it just is what it is. So, high quality can be had at relativly modest price - if you look for it independently of the name on the gun.