Came across a reasonably nice .223 Bsa cadet with a horrible Nikko scope mounted and the rear of the action drilled for cleaning from the back. Its on commission at the shop at $700 . Its been restocked at some stage, but it does shoulder ok for me and is still very light.
I reckon $500 is a fair enough offer, as it has no collector value left and the scope is a throwaway.
Anyone have an opinion? I was thinking about leaving it for a week or two before making an offer.
I agree 500 is probably a fair price, I’m looking at one in 30-30 for 500, that’s just rings though no scope
Isn’t an original one only $300-$500?
Would a custom chambered one be worth more?
Good point, Sunken costs?
Anyone is able to ask whatever they want in a free market.
To me a nice cadet with rings in 223 is worth around $500.
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Let’s be honest. A nicely done bubba is still a bubba. Me personally, a modified military rifle is never worth more than an equivalent original. Parity …maybe if really nice. Otherwise less. Can buy a brand new Howa for near $500.
So what do you reckon would be a fair offer?
Excluding original trench art type modifying of course.
I would price some original .310 cadets of similar quality and go from there.
Although they have gone up a little lately. They were super cheap for a while. $200-$300
And a re-barrel runs around $300 minimum. Plus extractor etc. $500 for a practical caliber cadet doesn’t seem so bad.
I have seen a few really nice restocked conversions out there. Target sights etc.
I guess it’s a case of what do you think it’s worth. More importantly, what do you want it for?. A thing of beauty that you must have? Pay what you have to. A tool for hunting? Get a Howa.
I had an idea of getting a set of conversion Martinis .22, .222, .303 , 410 and 12 g . I know the 12g wouldn’t necessarily be a conversion, but a Greener converted to 12G could be.
Most of us a guilty of buying odd guns for various reasons. Like most of us, I enjoy the engineering of old guns and happily put up with their idiosyncrasies. Could buy laser beam target rifles for similar money but I like old guns.
I think there’s two conversations here. One, old guns, don’t bubba. Yep. Agree. The second conversation is buying a hunting rifle and if someone’s preference is a single shot, then personally I’d go for one built on top of falling block action over a break open, for example. Also, there are some cool old actions that I wouldn’t mind as a hunting gun, if they were that - actions, that someone built a modern gun around. K31 in a tactical chassis in 6.5CM or 300WM. That would be an awesome gun.
Like I said, two separate conversations.
No, I’m not changing my K31. Yes I would, if I had 2 
N.b.
Cadet in 223 is just fucking stupid lol
I’d go cadet in 223, before a Howa 
Why? Too much pressure for the action?
I just think that it’s a modern cartridge that lands itself to a magazine fed firearms. It’s trying to make it something it’s not.
Rechambered cadet in a rimmed cartridge - yes. In something flat nosed so to speak - yes. Something crazy and heavy hitting - yes. But a 223 
maybe I’m (and @Supaduke) just too tacticool.
Well I was looking for one in .222 rimmed, but being .223 isn’t going to put me off.
What about the .303 Enfield Martinis? Not rimless, but a cartridge designed for magazines. Are they stupid?