What do I have?

[Bruce Day]

I agree with David. I collect C's and have a handful of 12's and small bores, including a couple 16ga's. A nice CHE 16 ga just sold for $11,500 at a well known and watched public auction. This gun, if in good condition, would be in the range of the recent sale and what David mentioned.

The gun, as you know, has not been treated well. I believe a small bore C is always worth carefully looking at with an eye toward bringing back to presentability. This gun is going to take a lot of careful and skilled work, and how far it goes is always up to the owner. Pits in metal can be TIG welded and smoothed so that they are indistinguishable. Wood can be repaired or in extreme cases replaced. The bolts are not right but damage to the screw holes can probably be repaired by a machinist, new screws made, timed and installed.

I understand the sentimentality of your grandfather's gun. On my grandfather's gun, I had to steam out lots of dents, gouges and barbwire grooves, rechecker the forend, reblue the barrels and replace action springs. It's still the old gun I usually grab and go with. Many of us have ancestral guns that we treasure.

[Bill Murphy]

Bruce, thank you for bringing Dee back off of the 35K to 40K cloud. Dee, even though I admitted that there are guns that are out there at high prices, Bruce stated correctly that normal C grade 16s in average original condition normally sell for the 8K to 12K that I originally stated. Guns returned from abused condition sell for less. I'm sure the "C Grade" poster has good intentions, but he is not telling the whole story. I know these guys and they are not trying to steal your gun, or even buy it, but you have to separate the wheat from the chaff in value. We're going to get you where you want to go. Don't give up on my comment about "Texas Folk Art". That may be the best solution for you and future owners of this gun. Personally, I am a folk art aficionado and would be much more interested in returning your gun to working condition without touching its evidence of use and abuse. A shiny new finish on this gun would be like a goose turd on a collard leaf.