Send us a photograph.

What helps us give you a real number

• Both sides of the firearm, in daylight if you can.
• Any markings on the barrel, receiver or slide — that is where the model lives.
• The box and papers if you still have them. They are worth real money.
• Anything you know about it. "Grandad bought it new in 1961" changes the answer.

Do not clean it first. It very rarely helps and it frequently costs.

What we can tell from a photograph, and what we cannot

A good photograph is usually enough to identify the maker, the model and the variant, and to place a gun in a broad value range — enough to know whether you are holding something ordinary or something worth a proper look.

What a photograph cannot show is the bore, whether the action works properly, or whether a finish is original or has been reapplied at some point in the last fifty years. Those are exactly the things that separate the top of a range from the bottom, which is why a photo estimate is an estimate and not an offer.

What we buy, one at a time

Rifles, shotguns and handguns. Modern, older, collectible or entirely ordinary. Working guns are welcome — most guns are working guns, and there is nothing wrong with that. Keep the box and any paperwork if you still have them, because on the right firearm they are worth real money.

Things that are worth more than people expect

• Old shotguns nobody shoots any more. Particularly side-by-sides. Many are worth modest money, some are worth a great deal, and telling them apart is not obvious from across a room.
• Military rifles with matching numbers. Whether the serials on the receiver, bolt, barrel and stock still match one another can change the value several times over.
• .22 rifles. Routinely dismissed as "just a .22". Some models are genuinely sought after and prices have climbed steadily.
• Anything with the original box. On a collectible firearm the packaging can be a substantial fraction of the total.

And the reverse, honestly: a common modern polymer pistol in ordinary condition is worth what it is worth, and we will tell you so.

What people are usually holding

Usually one of three things. Somebody has a gun they never shoot and would rather have the money. Somebody inherited one gun rather than a collection. Or somebody is trading up and wants the old one gone rather than sitting in a safe. All three are ordinary and none of them need explaining.

Why one gun is worth doing properly

One gun is the transaction people put the least effort into, and it is the one where the range is widest. An ordinary modern gun is worth roughly what you would expect. An older shotgun, or a military rifle with matching numbers, may not be — and the only way to know is to have somebody look.

Ten minutes and a photograph is the whole cost of knowing.What actually sets the price is worth reading either way.

What we will tell you

What it is, what condition it is genuinely in, and what comparable examples have actually sold for. If it is worth more than we would pay, we will say so — a gun that belongs at auction should go to auction, and we will tell you that rather than buy it cheap.

Getting it to us

Tell us where you are and we will sort out the easiest way — we cover the whole state. Whenever a firearm changes hands, transport it unloaded and cased and bring photo identification: every purchase goes through the license and into the book, exactly as it should.