I am trying to help a friend determine the value of 2 guns. Both are Model 21 12 ga 30" Dt "farmer guns". Both are all original,and in good shape. One of the guns I believe to be 1st year production. He also has 2 sets of semi inletted Fajen wood that he bought years ago with the intention of creating a matched pair. Project never happened. He rarely shoots any more. All is going to get sold. Can anyone provide approx value of these items ? He is not trying to get rich, but doesnt want to give away.Any help would be appreciated.

Look at the prices where Model 21s are selling at on Gunbroker, Auction Arms, Gunsamerica, you'll find some that are alike and go from there.

Without pictures its pretty hard to accurately value.

Thanks treblig . I have not had any luck finding comparable guns anywhere on the usual sites. Lots of 21s listed and relisted and relisted. I was guessing the guns are in the 3k - 4k range.No clue how you would find a value of the Fajen wood. Will try to get some pics of all to post.

Farmer's Grade Model 21s are developing a cult following, but the prices are pretty much staying stagnent. Semi inletted wood is looked down upon by stockmakers who now largely own and use pantographs. $3000 each for the guns and the wood would probably not be useful for any talented stockmaker. Are the serial numbers low enough to be interesting? Hopefully the barrels are 30" or 32". A 32" gun would be a bit of an incentive for the buyer.

Serial numbers are 172 and 1866. Barrels are both 30"

Without running the current numbers, my guess is that you will probably find like guns on the net going for about $3250. Figure net prices are typically on the high side of the sale price by 10%, and you arrive at something around the $3000 mark like 8bore suggested.

21s are "supposed" to be upper crust, ST/BT/PG guns. If a particular example strays too far from that norm, it's hard to get people's attention. Think shooters vs. show pieces. If the seller has some sense about him, he will quickly come to that conclusion.

As to the wood, it only has value if you really want new wood. Otherwise you're just paying him to take an orphan project off his hands. To my mind there's not a lot of difference between semi-inletted wood and a raw blank. He can throw in the wood or sell it separately.

They look like nice guns.

Yesterday, Model 21 "Farmer's Grade" serial number 2 sold for $9000 in a local auction. Word has it that it was found in Sweden a while back. I has nice original metal finish, a few dents in the original wood, and the original buttplate. It is a 30" 12 gauge bored modified and full.

Fair value is 3-3.5 K from what I see selling. Guns listed on the Internet do not sell if you are seeing them listed and relisted for months or even years. Common misconception about fair value is that asking/listing price is the average selling price . With the extra wood I would be looking for about 8k for the pair. If you are selling them a dealer will tell you the extra trigger decreases value and when he has the same guns for sale he will tell you they are rare with two triggers and ask extra .

The extra wood is a lot of work for the average buyer. He may pay someone else to do the work but that may set him back 3k per gun to finish the restocking

I keep looking at the pictures and wondering why someone would want to re-stock these to begin with? The original stocks appear to still be in their factory configurations and in decent solid condition. It seems to me this would be a monumental waste of money.
Am I missing something here?
Jim

Think you'll do better to advertise and sell the guns and the wood separately -- buyers looking for guns, others looking for wood, nothing extraneous to deal with for either.

Jay

I bet if you sell the wood on EBay that you will get more for it than selling with the guns. Using that wood unless the buyer can do all the work himself will cost the buyer almost two thirds the guns current value.

I watched a pair of Sterlingworths sell at auction for less than one of the restocking jobs that were done to them. And the work was very well done. Restock a gun and you will find out it rarely increases its value.

I'm still waiting for an answer to my above question:

Why would anyone want to re-stock these in the 1st place?

Jim

I'm still waiting for an answer to my above question:

Why would anyone want to re-stock these in the 1st place?


Jim

I'm pretty sure the original post answers this.

Jim
The man that owns them was going to have 2 matching guns with longer lengths of pull and higher dimensions. I think his original thoughts were to use the guns to shoot box birds. As to why he wanted to do this ,I have no clue other than to say he owns them and it is certainly his right to do as he pleases. Project never happened . He has no intention of restocking these guns.

Thanks USHOOT2
I suspect this project must have been dreamed up many years ago when materials and labor were much more affordable. I couldn't see how anyone could or would sink this kind of money into "Plain Jane" Winchester Model 21s today unless they could re-stock them themselves.
Jim

Yeah, I wondered about that also Jim. If I had say $3000 in loose change to spend on a 12 DT Extractor boxlock "Farmer's Gun" (whatever in the Blue Bonnet Blazes that means)- I'd buy a Ithaca NID field or grade 1 for between &750 to say $1250- 30" M&F- and spend the rest on shells and shoot the living blazes out of barn pigeons, crows and starlings with it until it felt like an extension of my hands and eyes- Same rugged boxlock and way less than the M21 pricing- as for the wood, I'd get in touch with the custom gun makers and see if they have clients with M21 12 gauges for restocking- The stocks look A-OK to me!! Oh, I have loads of farmer friends (and by co-incidence, many private farms to hunt that are closed to others- doing welding and fabrication work gratis for farmers does have its dividends)- to them,a "Farmer's Gun" is either an Iver Johnson Champion 12 30" full, or maybe if they felt "in the chips" when they laid their greenbacks on the counter, either a Winchester Model 1897 pumpgun "The Old Cornholer" or even better, the never equaled Winchester Model 12- "The Perfect Repeater"-- the only "two-holers" my farmer friends know are the older outhouses out back--

Why Shoot a mile and Hell Yes- but them both for sale on E-Bay, some lucky schmuck might even bid $500 for them and end of grinnin' like the proverbial *&^%-eatin' raccoon--or terrapin even yet!!

KY Jon, my shooting and gunshow partner bought both of those Sterlingworths. In about a week, we'll find out how good a deal he made. I have a nice "Farmer Grade" 21 in very high condition and I like it a lot. I attended the auction where the #2 gun was sold and I was through before I got started. $9000 is off the scale, even for #2. Bill Murphy, up here in MD.

Eightbore, That pair would not have to be too great for the money he paid. If the 12 stock had been on the 20 I might have been more interested myself. I did not like the 20 as much as the 12. The 20 should be the better value when you look at what other 20 seem to command these days. Few for less than $1300.00 even with sorry factory wood.

One problem with that auction site is that they are very poor in mentioning minor or major problems on guns listed. I bought a O/U a few years ago with a major crack in the grip the had been repaired. No mention of the defect in the listing, nor when I called and asked about the gun or any photo that would have given you a chance to see it. I was lucky in having a perfect stock on hand for the gun so I made out well in the end.

Their photos, while decent, do not show enough views and are not in that high resolution. I now just drive up to look at a gun in person instead of calling. Not real nice to find a crack in a stock that was not pictured or mentioned when asked about. They are very willing to let you look and check out any gun that they have listed.

That said I have found more interesting values on that site than almost any other in the last several years. Like a 8 ga. a few years back or two Sterlingworth ejectors that combined I bought for less than a grand in the last year. Or a near mint LC Smith for less than $700.00 two years ago. It was so nice that I assumed it had been refinished but it was 99% factory condition to my surprise. While the Sterlingworths were not high condition guns the metal is excellent and they should make interesting upgraded guns if I live ten more years. If not they will be back on the market and someone else can have them.

Now everyone will spend a few hours trying to figure out which site we are talking about. I would not use them for a rare gun but they do move guns well. Later this year or early next I am going to have them sell several dozen gun for me. Some one has to clean up this pile of gun I seem to accumulate with out trying.

Thanks to all for the input.

Not as much as the guy who paid 9k for one !! He must be bonkers, best, Mike

Mike, over here we love our Model 21s!!! Even the "Farmers grade" Model 21s.

KY Jon, strange you should mention the eight gauges. I bought both of them, paid too much for one and paid a nice price for the other. By the way, the $9000 Model 21 was found in Sweden. It was a nice gun, all original. Things are not good up here in MD. Be glad you escaped in time.

USHOOTS2, it has taken me a bit to hopefully answer your original question. The Fajen semi inletted blanks are graded as Fancy -Extra Fancy (65-85% figure in buttstock.) Forend blanks were chosen to match each specific buttstock. That was part of my job as Custom Shop Supervisor at Fajen,Inc. Today each set would sell ,as is, around $350 even being Calf. Blk. Walnut. The guns have been moving slowly out on the West Coast. However, as a professional Stockmaker, I have been asked to stock more 21's since January than any other firearm.

Off the scale?....and I was hoping for more! I have another elephant hunt to pay for.