Blue Book Gun Values

[okchief]

How many of you recommend Blue Book as a good source for prices. Usually, I'm able to get a good guess at values by searching armslist and completed gunbroker auctions, but sometimes there are some oddballs that are hard to find. Anyone use the blue book and actually trust it? I used to be in the coin business and we had something called Grey sheets which is supposed to be dealer prices, but 80% of coins traded for much less than the Grey sheet bid. Usually, we'd only pay at bid or more for something really special.

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[surjimmy]

You can use it as a guide, I lost faith in it last year. They had S&W 25-5, 100% (that is unfired in the box) price was $550. The problem living in Oklahoma, we are about the cheapest place in the country to buy guns. Completed auctions on GB will tell you real world value.

 

[D V US]

On most modern weapons the Blue Book isn't worth the paper it's printed on, IMO. Anytime I try to make a deal at a gun show (a rare occasion anymore) and the old duffer pulls out a blue book I start laughing because I know I'm about to get a lowball offer. Gunbroker and other online sites offer up to the minute real world values. I had one guy offer me about half of what I was expecting after he dug through his blue book and then I showed him the real world market values on my gun and his, and his reply was that the internet was too untrustworthy, he went by what was printed in black and white. I politely declined his offer and asked him how the show was going for him, he said "not worth a damn, haven't sold anything all weekend." I replied "That'll happen when you use last century's technology" and walked away.

 

[aarondhgraham]

It's situational.

When you point out a Blue Book price to a dealer who is low-balling your gun,,,
The Blue Book price is considered Gospel to him.

When he's trying to sell the same gun to you for a higher price,,,
The Blue Book is outdated.

I consider them to be a starting point,,,
Some standard that I don't consider to be outright arbitrary.

On another hand though,,,
Insurance companies seem to put a lot of faith in their prices.

Aarond

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[AKguy1985]

On alot of the C&R guns the blue book is way, way outdated. I haven't seen it but i've been told the book has swedish m38 mausers listed at $80, when in reality they are more like $300+ and a swiss 1911 rifle is $1,200 but i can buy them all day for $300-ish.

 

[358norma]

I love the "Blue Book"! I tell everyone that pulls it out at a gunshow, I will make one trade with what you find in the book, if you will make 2 more trades with my picks. Never had anyone take me up on the offer. As others have said it is a starting point. Real world is open a gunbroker account, search closed auctions that have bids, and have sold. What a gun is worth is what someone is willing to pay. You can ask whatever you want for it, what someone is willing to pay greenback money for it, is what it is worth. There are big swings by region too, some things that won't do well here in OK, may bring good money in other parts of the country and vise versa.