The Blue Book tends to rely on people from the field who have experience. I wrote the Whitney-Kennedy section of the Blue Book and update it each year. A friend of mine who has collected Ross rifles for over 50 years does the Ross section, another friend who collected Newton rifles for many decades does the Newton section. The pricing that any Blue Book comes up with is controversial. When it comes to vintage collectable guns (and I am not referring to a Savage 75th Anniversary Rifle), I think the Blue Book estimates are often low. Remember, when it comes to pricing, just because you won't pay a certain amount for a rifle, it doesn't mean someone else won't. Recently, a friend forwarded me an ad from gunsinternational for a Ross M-10 .280 sporter. This was Sir Charles ultimate refinement and most expensive rifle, but it also is the most commonly encountered Ross sporter. It was priced at $2000 and we both felt it was significantly overpriced and chuckled about it. It sold that same day
. By the way, from the pictures, it appeared about 95%. The Blue Book places the value at $1000 in that condition.
