Bow,
Please do not take the following commentary personally... It is merely an observation...
I was thinking the value of it SHOULD be in the neighborhood of $700-$750?
(emphasis mine...)
I would think that you are correct... Unfortunately, some weird things have gone on in the gun market in the last few years...
This spring I saw a 1-V in .22/250 on the used rack at a local gun shop... AFAIK, it's still there... Price was $569.95.
My personal rule-of-thumb is that gun related equipment have an approximate intrinsic value of 75-80% of dealer cost of a new one. (Assuming 98% or better condition) Now the dealer cost of a #1 is about $835 or so depending on distributor... Calculated out that makes the going rate at about $675 or so...
Consider that you have a discontinued model and chambering... Which should command somewhat of a premium.. And you're pretty well spot on!
The best way to calculate a rifle's worth is to see what they are selling for on
Gunbroker and
Auction Arms. If you are registered, you can go back 3 mos. I am sure you will see that some folks are very optimistic about what their guns are worth, and list them over and over... sometimes for several months...
A friend of mine had several #1's listed on Gunbroker he ultimately had to reduce the price to $650 and most of them finally sold... (they were sold thru a broker... [jgsite] ) One was a pre-warning red pad 1-B in .243 Win with absolutely stunning wood... He listed it @ $925 for a long time. It ultimately sold for $650... (Which was less than my friend paid for it...) The broker was getting anxious to sell them when my friend passed away... (My view at least...)
Unless a rifle has a rare collector quality, or killer wood, that's about what they seem to be going for. Of course, limited runs and uncataloged specials always command a premium... When the economy suffers, it isn't just the housing marked that suffers...
Luxury commodities especially suffer, and lets's face it guns are luxurys...
When the prince of fools was elected, a lot of folks went crazy buying and stockpiling guns, ammo, and reloading components... Which ultimately drove the price up... Now it's coming back down... Those of us who bought during that time, will have to sit on them for a while to get our money back... If we ever do... With the economy the way it is... It's likely to take some time...
As I said, don't take this personally... This is merely the facts as I can logically see them... Others may view it differently...
GH
