Early Junior valuation?

[davhill]

Greetings from a newbie in Cumbria.

The chairman of the club I attend (Kendal rifle and pistol club) has asked me to sell a pistol on his behalf. He's restored it (stripdown and clean up,
new spring and seals) and I'm looking at a price to go with it on Guntrader

It's a tin grip straight handle Junior with the original smoothbore .177 barrel. It's all there and I'd call the blueing 95% good. I've a set of pics but I'm not yet allowed to post attchments. I can always add them to an email.

I've seen similar guns on Guntrader and the prices go from £99 up to beyond £250 (for boxed ones). It's notable
that there isn't another tin grip example at the moment.

So, does anyone have a guide price? Please feel free to ask any questions.

Thank you,

David

[Abasmajor]

Greetings from a newbie in Cumbria.

The chairman of the club I attend (Kendal rifle and pistol club) has asked me to sell a pistol on his behalf. He's restored it (stripdown and clean up,
new spring and seals) and I'm looking at a price to go with it on Guntrader

It's a tin grip straight handle Junior with the original smoothbore .177 barrel. It's all there and I'd call the blueing 95% good. I've a set of pics but I'm not yet allowed to post attchments. I can always add them to an email.

I've seen similar guns on Guntrader and the prices go from £99 up to beyond £250 (for boxed ones). It's notable
that there isn't another tin grip example at the moment.

So, does anyone have a guide price? Please feel free to ask any questions.

Thank you,

David

Hello David,

Pre-war, 'Tin Grip' Juniors are not all that rare with the very early wood grip examples being by far the least common. Some slightly later models briefly sported a rear sight adjustable for lateral errors which was fairly quickly replaced with the standard, fixed rear sight.

As you rightly say, nice boxed examples are more sought after by collectors especially if accompanied by period accessories or literature and consequently command higher prices. I would realistically estimate a fully functional Tin Grip Junior in the cosmetic order you describe at £80 -£100 for a private sale.

Hope this helps.

Brian

[davhill]

Hello David,

Pre-war, 'Tin Grip' Juniors are not all that rare with the very early wood grip examples being by far the least common. Some slightly later models briefly sported a rear sight adjustable for elevation which was fairly quickly replaced with the standard, fixed rear sight.

As you rightly say, nice boxed examples are more sought after by collectors especially if accompanied by period accessories or literature and consequently command higher prices. I would realistically estimate a fully functional Tin Grip Junior in the cosmetic order you describe at £80 -£100 for a private sale.

Hope this helps.

Brian

Thank you Brian,

With no pitting whatsoever, it's certainly better cosmetically than the wooden/Bakelite grip examples currently on Guntrader
but an asking price is usually negotiable.

Thanks again, David

[Garvin]

David I would caution against using Guntrader as any kind of guide to actual value, as some guns on there don't shift from one month to the next and appear to have been priced by gunshop owners who have very little clue about airguns. I'd second Brian's valuation.

[davhill]

David I would caution against using Guntrader as any kind of guide to actual value, as some guns on there don't shift from one month to the next and appear to have been priced by gunshop owners who have very little clue about airguns. I'd second Brian's valuation.

Thank you Garvin,

This is a learning curve for me and these suggestions are extremely valuable. However, i have experience in selling
all sorts of items so I can present them well.

Interestingly, someone has advertised a Junior on Guntrader. He's added hand made wooden grips to it and it isn't clear
whether these are replacements for original wood grips or if the gun originally had tin grips.

In my view the bottom line is simple enough. People will generally pay an amount reflecting what an item is worth
to them, be it collectable, for resale or to use. Lady luck dictates whether more than one buyer is interested.

All the best, David

[Abasmajor]

Thank you Garvin,

This is a learning curve for me and these suggestions are extremely valuable. However, i have experience in selling
all sorts of items so I can present them well.

Interestingly, someone has advertised a Junior on Guntrader. He's added hand made wooden grips to it and it isn't clear
whether these are replacements for original wood grips or if the gun originally had tin grips.

In my view the bottom line is simple enough. People will generally pay an amount reflecting what an item is worth
to them, be it collectable, for resale or to use. Lady luck dictates whether more than one buyer is interested.

All the best, David

Hi David,

Here are a couple of pictures of the the very early Junior with the rarely seen factory fitted wood grips. Although the tin grips were obviously cheaper to make, they did not nothing to enhance the appearance and or overall impression of the quality for which the company was renowned. As stated in the earlier post, some of these early Juniors also came equipped with a laterally adjustable rear sight which was quickly replaced with the standard fixed rear sight. If you are happy to provide the Ser No of your Junior, it may be possible to more accurately determine its date of manufacture.





Regards
Brian

[davhill]

Hi David,

Here are a couple of pictures of the the very early Junior with the rarely seen factory fitted wood grips. Although the tin grips were obviously cheaper to make, they did not nothing to enhance the appearance and or overall impression of the quality for which the company was renowned. As stated in the earlier post, some of these early Juniors also came equipped with a vertically adjustable rear sight which was quickly replaced with the standard fixed rear sight. If you are happy to provide the Ser No of your Junior, it may be possible to more accurately determine its date of manufacture.





Regards
Brian

Thanks Brian,

The side number is J12649,
the muzzle end of the cylinder
is stamped with 649.

Cheers, David

[Abasmajor]

Thanks Brian,

The side number is J12649,
the muzzle end of the cylinder
is stamped with 649.

Cheers, David

Hello David,

Pre-war Webley Junior production started in 1929 and ended 1n 1938 with approximately 34,000 examples leaving the factory. It is easier to narrow down manufacturing dates on other pre-war Webley air pistols by relating small production modification dates to Ser Nos, but this isn't the case with the Junior due to the small number of changes made during their manufacture. Consequently, we can only estimate that J12649 would have probably been made in either 1932 or 1933 which was approximately one third into the total production numbers.

Regards
Brian

[davhill]

Hello David,

Pre-war Webley Junior production started in 1929 and ended 1n 1938 with approximately 34,000 examples leaving the factory. It is easier to narrow down manufacturing dates on other pre-war Webley air pistols by relating small production modification dates to Ser Nos, but this isn't the case with the Junior due to the small number of changes made during their manufacture. Consequently, we can only estimate that J12649 would have probably been made in either 1932 or 1933 which was approximately one third into the total production numbers.

Regards
Brian

Hi Brian,

Using the info on the Webley website, I'd narrowed the build date down to sometime from 1929 to 1939 but this is much better.
I find it remarkable that 'my' example is around 86 years old yet has no rust pits and most of its blueing.
It's a shame I can't do attachments but I plan to put the gun on Guntrader fairly soon.

Again, thank you, David