Remington Model 81

[JLLofton22]

I am looking at buying a Model 81 in .32 Rem.  It has serial #20802.  The metal is in excellent condition.  I would rate
the metal at 95%.  The butt stock has some water damage to the finish, and the buttbplate does not retain much blueing.
There has also been a set of old style swivel studs attached to the stock and forearm.  They are the style that the
sling swivels rotate and lock into (not the Uncle Mike's style).  I would rate the wood about 80-85%.  
However, the gun also comes with 7 original boxes of ammo, all full.  4 are Peter's brand, 2 are Remington Kleenbore, and
1 is Remington Hi-Speed.

Please give me some information on this rifle, and what do you think is a Fair Price?
If you know someone who can give me better information, please let me know.  

[Hardrada55]

I would try to get it based on a price of $275 for the rifle and $15 a box for the ammo. Total offer - $380. Now that's quite a deal for you. And the seller may think (or think he knows) that it's worth more. But it gives you a bottom to work from. One consideration is, will the seller tell you whether the gun shoots and whether the semi-automatic action cycle properly? I've been stung before (on a very nice looking R-81 300 Sav.) and it was lucky that I got a good deal on the gun because I spend $$$ getting it fixed after my "good deal". I still find .32 Rem out in the sticks for cheap, even though they quit making it in '77. Drug stores, hardware stores, pawnshops, you never know where you'll find a box of that stuff! Good luck, Walt

[JLLofton22]

Hardrada55,

I talked to them today. The price on the whole she-bang is 595. (That's in dollars, I know) He said the best he could do is 575, what a deal!! (sarcasim) He claims that he has too much into it to let it go for much less. I offered him a Remington 700ADL in .260 (a non-cataloged item) along with 3 boxes of good bullets. He said it would take that and 250 dollars. I walked away. Anyway, I'm going to let him steam on this for a while. Maybe he will see what he has done. I told him the rifle wasn't worth more than 350 (sans ammo) AT BEST. Oh well, maybe it will just sit there and rust (a shame I know) Hopefully he will give up before that, I can't believe that a dealer like this (over 1000 guns in stock) could get that deep into this rifle. There is just no way. He couldn't have put more than 300 in it all...no way...

[Hardrada55]

You know, if he's looking at Old Western Scrounger or some of the other retail websites that sell .32 Remington ammo, he's probably figuring his .32 Remington ammo will sell for $30 a box too. With seven boxes, that's $210 for the ammo alone. That leaves the gun valued at $365. Now $365 is a little high for that gun IMHO but it's not totally out of line. Would he be willing to consider selling you the gun alone, sans ammo? I bet if you look around you can find some decent priced .32 Remington to shoot in it. I know you can find .30 Brass and neck it up to .32. Demand for Remington Autoloaders is generally pretty low. Depends on the area of the country you're in. The thing I usually have going for me is that I'm the only one who shows up gun show after gun show (or month after month if it's a gunshop) looking and asking about the Remington 8 (or 81 in your case). Eventually they get tired of seeing me sniffing around their model 8 and decide to convert the gun into cash. You decide what the gun is worth, then stick to it. Be nice, but persistant and knowledgable. Most of the time they eventually cut their price and sell me their gun.

[JLLofton22]

I considered the ammo thing, I told him that it really wasn't worth all that much, that it may not ven fire, which is very possibe. My plan is a lot like yours. I will visit them more often. They'll either get tired of seeing me or sell it. He also doesn't want to trade retail for retail. I don't tlike that either. It's not right for him to make a profit on both is it? I am willing to give him a gun he can sell in about a week, or less at this store. He will get his money A LOT faster than with this 81. He says it's attracting a lot of interest. I'm sure it is, these are unique guns. But, I don't think there are too many people willing to drop 600 dollars on something "weird". We'll see, I have a little time. Thanks for the info

James
By the way, I'm in Auburn, AL