Hello Folks,

Is there anything special or interesting about an Alex Henry 12b BLE, 30” steel barrels? For one with great bores, good bit of color left, and good wood w/ a ding and chip or two, what’s a ballpark value in this soft British gun market? Will try to add pictures shortly.

Thanks.

It is a good name Bill, but like all others value depends upon the individual gun in hand. I know that's no help, but I'm sure you know that is the way it works...Geo

Yes Sir, I know how that works. I’ll sort out the stupid Photobucket thing and get pictures up, or a Google Drive directory.

I'll post a value from the picture or a more extensive description. Henry is a Brand Value two (BV2) maker's name; that much we know for sure. We will need Original Qulity grade and Current Condition level via photos and/or description.

DDA

Could use a rebluing of the barrels, but no rust or dents are present. 28”, cyl/full, 2 1/2”. Clean bores. Well-timed ejectors. A few marks on the stock, and a chip behind the right fence. Fairly strong checkering, might benefit from pointing it up a bit.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1F18ytmgl9-uQbrPHs_jZny3YQMhJnZJo

Congratulations, if you need someone to rust blue the barrels and furniture and re-finish and re-checker the stock I know someone.

I know the same guy, Mike. He’s checkering some stuff for me now. He does great work, and is a really pleasant fellow.

Not sure on the value piece, but here is a nice cased Alex Henry BLNE available in the UK on Guntrader for ~900 USD.

https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/shotguns/henry-alexander/side-by-side/12-gauge/170927093136002

Thanks. Same gun, in a little better condition and with a case.

Hello,
Guntrader Henry is non ejector, for comparison.
Regards,
mr w martin

Henry = BV2, third level BLE = OQ7, and CC looks like hard use but no abuse = CC4.

BV2-OQ7-CC4 = $1,850.

DDA

Thank you, Rocketman. I don’t know how decipher the data above, other than assuming CC = color case. If you could spare the time, can you define the information you provided? Thanks again.

Sure. Brand Value is a measure of the influence of the fact of a given maker's name on the gun. Original Quality is a measure of the excellence (or lack thereof) of design, materials, and workmanship. Current Condition is a measure of how much use the gun has seen and care taken.

There are five levels of BV and nine levels each of OQ and CC. Values are display on pigeon hole sheets for the five levels of BV. Each sheet covers the nine levels of OQ by nine levels of CC; 81 unique pigeon holes of value. There are 405 unique pigeon holes for the five BV sheets combined.

Value is used instead of price as price is the number accepted by a willing seller from a willing and able buyer.

Post back with remaining questions. Several of us on this site post such value information based on photos and/or good descriptions. These values are not a know all-end all, rather a jump start to understanding the likely price range of given guns.

DDA

Does the brand value still hold the same weight on a trade built box lock such as this?

I understand the BV rating if this was a shop built AH rifle, however is there any consideration for a gun carrying an upper level makers name that was not actually made by that maker?

Is there any way to quantify this phenomenon which was quite common in the British gun trade? Or does it even matter?

The wrist on this gun is interesting, and probably has name for the style. It has a ridge along each side. If you cut the wrist and looked at the end, it would have the shape of a diamond. It feels good in the hand. Is there a name for that style of wrist?

Straight (English) grips come in various shapes such as round, oval or diamond such as you have. Its still an English grip...Geo

I haven't held a gun with a diamond grip but have often wondered if a palm swell on a straight stock would help maintain my grip when moving from one trigger to the next.

Holland Royals and Hussy's have the diamond grip.

Flint, I find that it doesn't matter. The market is made up of folks with a wide range of knowledge. Those who know tend to buy more on OQ and CC (buy the gun, not the name) whereas those who know less tend to buy the name. There are not (yet) a lot of folks who understand the workings of the Brit gun trade. The consequence of the above is that BV remains a significant factor in market value (whether we like it or not). Few understand the concepts of in-workers vs out-workers, shop built vs bought-in, bought in as parts, in-the-white, unfinished, or finished and ready for retail. And everything in between!!

DDA

Thank you, that is interesting to know.