I'm an 86 Lever and Ruger 5 shot guy. To convert and restore those pays well and the value typically increases. Hence the questions about Bolt guns...
Work on bolt guns rarely increases their value unless you start with something that’s already rare, and even then, most rare bolt guns quickly get a lot less valuable if you mess with them. It's not hard to find a bolt-action 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 that matches your build sheet for less than $2,500.
I am considering some things here. Resale value and desirability factor being equally important. The rifles are going to be built on FN Commercial Mausers and stocked in Exhibition Grade wood. With Match grade cut rifled barrels. Have open sights, full rust bluing and nitre blued appointments. Quick detach bases and rings with a quality optic. Would love to hear opinions....
Much good advice thus far, especially about
http://www.hallowellco.com/magazine.htm I’d also add
https://stevebarnettfineguns.com/. Most people still see bolt guns as hunting tools, so even classics have to compete with the latest stainless/synthetic Remchester. A bolt gun’s intended use determines its desirability, and its resale value is based on the chance that someone else sees the same problem that you did and wants to solve it the same way. Generally, the more stuff you add to a bolt gun, the less of your original investment will come back in resale.
It’s easy to see the intended use for the rifles on the Hallowell and Barnett sites: some are museum pieces meant to remain unfired after proofing, others have gone hunting and taken game. My guess is that all of them are priced at 60% of build cost if not less. Also, most of these guns have been on these sites for several months, so the owners are probably open to negotiation on price. About the only ones that increase in value are the ones made by guys who died, because they're not making guns anymore.
Also, how you execute details matters far more than the build sheet itself. Most rifles on the Barnett and Hallowell sites have the build sheet you described. But notice how Barnett and Hallowell tell us which rifles use off-the-shelf rings and bases, swivels, and other parts, and which rifles use parts made and fitted by hand. Then check out the price differences between rifles with each type of appointments. Then check out Gunsinternational and Gunbroker, where hundreds of rifles also match that build sheet. Many of them lack checkering, the finish on the wood and metal is uneven, the wood-to-metal fit is sloppy, their off-the-shelf parts have been screwed on without fitting, etc. So, yeah, details.
Finally, there's the matter of taste. Both Barnett and Hallowell have superb photographs of their wares, starting with undistorted full-length shots of both sides of the rifle. Buyers get an overall sense of the rifle and what the maker had in mind. These shots show the overall proportions of each rifle, how the lines of the stock flow with the lines of the metal, and whether the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Other shots show details of metal and wood work, especially checkering and engraving. All of that stuff has to add up and match what the buyer had in mind, so the more you do, the more the pool of potential buyers shrinks.
In classic-style bolt guns, all of these things drive resale value far more than the build sheet.
Okie John
