Outdoor Canada’s gun guy appraises reader firearms—and tells it like it is

COLLECTOR’S CORNER

A few years ago, I put together this little collection of iron-sighted lever-action rifles (see photo), believing they were perfect for my style of deer hunting. At the time, I mostly still-hunted, moving slowly through deer country. Shots tended to be close and fast, making levers a great choice. These days, though, I mostly hunt from ground blinds, so scoped bolt-actions are now better suited to my needs.

This has me thinking about what my little group is worth should I decide to sell it. Here is what I consider to be a fair value for each rifle, from left to right: mid-1950s Savage 99 in .300 Savage, $800; late-1960s Winchester 88 in .284 Win., $1,600 (if it were chambered in .308 or .243, it would be worth roughly half as much; in .358 Win. it would likely be worth approximately $1,800); 1990s Browning BLR in .358 Win., $1,000; 1974 Winchester 94 in .30-30 Win., $600; 1949 Marlin 336SC with a waffle top receiver in .32 Win. Spl., $800.