You can always make a sensible offer, and the worst that can happen is they say NO.

Many people see guns sold at auction, at what seems like lower prices, and use that wrongly as a price guideline. What they forget is that an auction will typically charge 25-35% in commission on top of the sales price, they offer no guarantees (you must view prior to the auction so everything is basically bought as seen) and they have none of their own capital invested. Many guns (not all) tend end up at auction because they have been advertised and not sold, or there is perhaps something wrong with them.

I have posted this quote before on this forum, but I will post it again for bwanakim sake.

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot sell a little cheaper and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey. It's unwise to pay too much, but worse to pay too little. When you pay too much you lose a little money-that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business prohibits paying a little and getting a lot-it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better." John Ruskin

You may also want to consider that the reputable dealers you name above might not own all the inventory they have listed for sale, and that some deceased persons lawyer somewhere is deciding the price. The lawyer may have an interest in dragging out the sale as long as he is getting his fees paid by the family!

The market for average quality guns is soft, on the other hand the market for the rarest and highest quality guns is very strong because very few actually exist. An investment made in a good gun is much better than money in the bank.

There is a new high grade gun buyer born every day!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...-in-number.html