First off, Syracuse Lefever shotguns do not have barrel hinge pins. Lefever used an innovative ball and socket joint that permitted a small amount of adjustment to take up eventual wear.
The rebluing really hurts the value of your gun. Collectors dislike any such egregious deviation from original condition. The greatest concern is whether the barrels were blued using the common hot salts method. Soft soldered shotgun barrels should never be hot blued because the caustic salts may become trapped under the ribs and attack and loosen the solder joints. Most guns have some small voids in the solder joints that allow the Hot blue solution to enter, and flushing out the corrosive residue is difficult, and often ignored by gunsmiths ignorant of the problem.
I also note some damage to the wood where the relatively fragile stock fingers meet the frame. But it is hard to tell the extent and severity of the damage from your pics. I saw your friend's valuation of your 16 ga. L.C
Smith Ideal grade, and feel he is optimistic. To get a better handle on actual values, I'd advise spending some time watching ACTUAL SALES on a large internet site such as Gunbroker.com
You need to compare your guns to those in very similar condition and configuration, and understand that small gauge guns carry a premium over the more common 12 gauge guns. You also need to just ignore the large number of guns that are listed with unrealistic reserves, and are relisted over and over with no bidding activity. Those sellers are simply trolling the waters for a naive buyer with more money than brains. The only thing that matters is ACTUAL SALES. Opinions and wishful thinking are meaningless. Once you arrive at a selling price, don't forget that this forum has a For Sale section with a $12.00 fee for a successful sale.
| 