16ga.com ~ View topic

Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Northern NY

I was out bid today on the Auction Arms site for this gun while away for family Easter dinner. If I was able, was this worth going higher ? I put a limit at $351 on it, also a dealer said parts are not available for the 5100/311 anymore also. I've always wanted an 16 sxs that I could afford, and want to stay under $500. The owner had $450 buy it now, but the winner got it for $356 Crying or Very sad

I'm more of a user than a collector, but I also want something descent looking and reliable.

http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?ItemNum=10294024

Joined: 05 Nov 2005 Posts: 219 Location: Sussex Wisconsin

Im the guy that asked the question about the top lever....Was going to bid but when it went over 300, I let it ride....If it was a gun that I really had to have I probably would have gone as high as 375 but that would have been pushing it. It went 4 top dollar as it is...Keep looking

That was a nice one for sure. I like the 5100/530a the best. They always have the walnut with checkerng.

Just about any part you need for Stevens is available at http://www.gunpartscorp.com/

Joined: 22 Aug 2010 Posts: 13 Location: Northern NY

I've been waiting this long...a little while more won't kill me. Wink

Good luck finding your next 16ga.

I think that people are getting out of hand with Stevens prices these days. They are not rare guns by any means. I found a twelve with case colors intact/mirror bores/perfect wood in an antique shop for 250. They are awesome guns for their ability to take a licking, but they are neither refined by any means, nor are they scarce. There are even a ton of 16s and 20s out there. Some folks are a little too proud of what they have on Gunbroker. Also, if you ever find one taken apart, it will frustrate pure hell out of you trying to get it back together. The hammer springs are the devil.

Quote: " They aren't rare guns"

I did a little search of the big gun sites just for fun.

GB
2 1/4 pages of Stevens..that would include about 3/4 page of Savage/Stevens model Bs

4 pages of Smiths

3 pages of Parkers

2 1/2 pages of Ithacas

GA
5 pages of Stevens.. included is about 1/4 page under Fox.

3 pages of Smiths

4 pages of Parkers

2 pages of Ithacas

GI
1 3/4 pages of Stevens....includes about 3/4 pg. under Fox

5 pages of Smiths

7 pages of Parkers

4 pages of Ithacas

So we have a total of:
Stevens 9 pgs....Smith 12 pgs....Parker 14 pgs....Ithaca 8 1/2 pgs.

Which says very strongly there sure is a lot more of Smiths, and Parkers for sale than Stevens. Then I asked myself....why?
Probably a lot of Stevens weren't taken care of the way a more expensive gun would be and they bit the dust.

I bought a very nice 5000/16 several years ago for $250.00

$400.00-$500.00 is a much to high for the piece.

I have a 5100 in 16 GA that i bought 8 or nine years ago for $400. I would part with it for $375 plus shipping. The bluing is worn from being carried. The wood is good. The but pad is good. This is a hunting gun, not a show gun. If you are interested...drop me a PM.
R J Talley

Patriot did you include the Lefevers and other Stevens variants such as the cheaper Foxes?(Same action, different name) These guns are everywhere. Comparing a Stevens(quality-wise) to a bloody Parker is like comparing a Rolex to a Timex. Both the Parker and Stevens are high quality, but one you have to literally break and hold open, and one drops smooth and locks shut with a nice vacuum seal sound. A new Parker Gun during the Depression cost then what a Stevens costs now. They were super-premium even then which is why they are all for sale now in these times of want and woe eg. everyone needs money. Not to mention, no one fakes a Stevens.

Stevens are good value for money, but the prices are a bit too high now. Now a Stevens 520? That's still worth the 300+ in great shape. Ithacas are even higher than Stevens' now. Nearly everyone overrates the value of that which they own, monetarily speaking. Now inherit value is something else altogether. All guns have inherent value, yet I would drop a grand on a Parker, but not 400 or better on a Stevens. You could put a new Stevens in a climate controlled case unfired and untouched, and it would not be worth the price of a Parker. Sorry for being long-winded. Its a curse.

Sorry, wrote inherit, meant inherent.

Simple supply and demand. What other double gun can you buy for 3, $400? Refined they ain't, but if you're shooting your grandpa's Stevens, your grandkids will still be shooting it Wink

!

In my post, I said I took into account the Savage/Fox Bs. Other than that, I went by the names listed. I still found it amusing.

Three years ago, used guns were going for more than today. Quite often Stevens doubles would go for more than $400. Two years ago, I sold two Savage/Fox BSEs, a 12 ga $450 and a 16 ga. for $600.

As far as the use you can get out of a Stevens VS. dollars spent; how you going to beat it? Wink

And I admit, I like shooting and hunting with my "nice" guns; hence; we pay more. Laughing

But there is something special when your grandson gets his first phez with his great grandfather's 1930s Westernfield SXS 16 (Stevens). Very Happy

And the best shot I ever made was with that gun.

I readily admit they are good guns, but I still don't think they are worth the prices folks are slapping on em today. That's why I won't buy em. I am a vintage gun nut but the Stevens' have no sentimental value to me. I am only 27 so I can't know what its like to hunt with a grand-child(especially not for pheasant as we have none in GA), but I nevertheless appreciate the sentiment as I first hunted deer with my papas Eibar 12 SxS. I think 350 for a perfect one is about right. Anything over that and I might as well go for something more refined.

I love my model 12s and my 31 which are older than most of the stevens' out there, but I paid less for them than many of the 5100's, 530s, and 311's are going for these days. I think part of the reason is a bit of SxS madness, which I understand, but I sold my 5100 because it kicked like a mule without a recoil pad, and was not nearly as pointable as my pumps. If someone is willing to pay for em, then more power to the market, but it ain't gonna be this Bulldawg.

I think you surmise correctly concerning the attrition rate on these guns, but there's a reason you leave a 5100 in the corner of a barn for coyotes, and oil up the parker and put it in the fitted case. note:I don't own a parker, handled a few and shot a couple, so this is not snobbery on my part because I own one, just a bit of contrast and compare. And the 600 dollar price tags are still there and 450 seems to be the standard for a serviceable weapon. I gave up on paying for sentimental value when gas hit 3.50 Razz

Carbmonster, a sxs that kicks like a mule and is not as piontable as your pumps sounds like a sxs that does not fit you properly. My 5100 also needs to be held open. Is there anything I can do to change this?

Carbon, You must be looking on the inflated prices of gunsinternational. There are plenty of decent ones on GB for $300-400