New Blue Book of Gun Values Now Available
Last updated: April 30, 2020 · Originally published: June 10, 2019
Quick Answer
The Blue Book of Gun Values is the firearms industry standard for pricing new and used guns. A gun value is set mainly by three things: its make, model and exact variation; its condition, graded on the Blue Book Photo Percentage Grading System (from 100% new down through lower percentages of original finish); and rarity or collector demand. Pawn shops, dealers, collectors and insurers all use it to appraise firearms.
Valuing a gun: quick facts
How is a used gun value determined?
Primarily by make, model and variation plus condition. The Blue Book grades condition with its Photo Percentage Grading System — the percentage of original finish and mechanical wear — then adjusts for rarity, special features and collector demand.
What is the Blue Book of Gun Values?
A reference guide covering over 1,900 manufacturers and roughly 30,000 models with more than 180,000 values, available in print and as an online lookup.
Does condition really change a gun value?
Yes, dramatically. The same model in 98% condition can be worth far more than one at 60%, which is why standardized grading matters when buying or selling.
Who uses the Blue Book?
Gun shops, pawn shops, collectors, appraisers and most major insurance companies rely on it for consistent, defensible firearm values.
Lordy, lordy, look who’s 40–The Blue Book of Gun Values!
In years gone by, if you wanted to know what your gun was worth, you’d try to sell it and whatever you could get for it was the answer to your question. That is, until S.P. Fjestad created their answer to the Kelly Blue Book for car values: The Blue Book of Gun Values. Now in its 40th edition, this “Bible” for gun owners, sellers, and collectors is updated every year with new makes and models…but that’s not where the improvements end.
The 40th Edition contains over 2,500 pages of accurate information and up-to-date values for modern firearms and many major trademark antiques. With over 1.8 million books in circulation worldwide, the Blue Book of Gun Values provides the most comprehensive collection of firearms information and pricing, including the new makes/models for 2019, and features the following:
- Over 1,700 manufacturers and trademarks listed with brief histories
- Approximately 23,000 models individually listed and described
500,000+ up-to-date values - An 80-page color Photo Percentage Grading System (PPGS) which makes firearms grading even easier and more accurate.
- Expanded serialization charts which allows more years of manufacture to be determined on individual makes/models
Want one? You can get one…but unlike many other publications, you can’t just download it off the Internet. The Blue Book of Gun Values hearkens back to a simpler time, when we all cleverly hid information we needed inside books made out of paper (crazy, I know). Get hold of one of those nostalgic and yet remarkably modern guides for $49.95 by clicking here.
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The book is $49.95.
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