Merwin Hulbert 44-40

[saleen781]

Father in-law is coming down this weekend, he has a Merwin Hulbert 44-40 short barrell, all blued, never-been-fired and in perfect condition. Have been looking online for values, they vary by condition of course, but nothing showing values for his guns condition. He had someone tell him it's worth $35-50K since it is blued (spec order only back then) and never fired, no scratches, dings or imperfections. Do any of you know about these firearms?

[Yale]

Is it the open-top Pocket Army model? It shouldn't have a band over the cylinder if it is. Pics would help, but there was a matched pair on antiqueguns.biz for $47,500, so I'm not sure a single gun could get much more than half that. That being said, antique gun guys are goofy about spending money on guns. Are you positive that it's not a reproduction? Unfired AND unblemished would mean never loaded, never dry-fired, etc. It's just unlikely that it's never been unfired, and un-jacked-around-with.

[saleen781]

He said it was not a repro, but he's also not an expert. I have seen it/held it and it is in perfect condition. His father (in his 80's now) traded some shotguns/rifles for it many years ago and gave it to my fahter in law last year. I will look at it closer when he gets here later today and report back what I find. We will be going to the gun show this weekend, hopefully someone there can give us some insight. I did see that pair you speak of and his is way nicer than those. But that is a cool set.

[Yale]

Don't shoot it, or even load it, whatever you do.

[saleen781]

we won't. just want ot find out how much it's really worth.