Prices

[sbuff]

Was looking on docs site and GB and I'm still amazed at the price of whites. I go back and forth on selling my never fired S91 -11 as it is a safe queen

The odd part to me ,if you tell a co worker or friend you own a White muzzleloader you get what is that . I guess point being so few know of Whites but yet the price keeps going up for the few that know their status. Everyone or most want the latest and greatest . Anyway if I choose to sell it I'll put on here first for a DWB.
GOOD luck to all this 2020 hunting season

 

[edmehlig]

I get the same response when I go to my range. Nobody's ever heard of them, but they are amazed at how accurate they are and when I was using Pryodex P how I could shoot and shoot without swabbing my bore. Today most people want to shoot jacketed bullets that offer a flatter trajectory than conical bullets. If you hunt where your shots are long, I completely understand that requirement. But for a lot of us at least for those that hunt on the East Coast, most shots are under or around 100 yards. For that, the White's fit the bill nicely. If I sight my White's at 75 yds, generally I'm about 1.5-2" high at 50 yds and about the same but lower at 100yds. I have taken a deer at about 140 yds, but I know what my rifle is capable of and aimed accordingly. If I remember correctly, I believe Underclock shot is .451 M98 that was sighted in at 100 yards and he had to aim 24" or 2 ft in order to hit the center.

What I'm afraid of us old-timers are a dying breed. I think the future generation is going to be leaning towards smokeless ML's. This way they will get the flatter trajectory for long-range shooting and they don't have to worry about cleaning their Smokeless ML as we do today with our black powder ML's. I know some people who on occasion will clean their Center-Fire rifles with no ill-effects.

So why are White ML's prices still high? Good Question. I guess us old-timers are hoping we can pass them along to our children/grandchildren and hope and pray they take care of them like we do and realize how great they are and with proper maintenance will last them their lifetime. Another thought regarding White's is they are probably the cheapest ML to shoot, especially if you shoot a powder-like Pryodex P, #11 caps, and lead conicals as compared to shooting BH209, 209 Primers, Sabots and Jacketed bullets.

Anyway, that my 2 cents.

 

[Underclocked]

The rifles are very accurate and the whole process of making/trying different loads was great fun. I miss it. The "take two pellets and a powerbelt" crowd will never know or understand.

 

[michiganmuzzy]

I think some from the "2pellets and a powerbelt" gang will eventually come around. It's where I started. Eventually you start thinking "i can do better". For me I kept hearing a co-worker talking about how accurate his customized airgun was. I love customizing all my stuff, but I had never thought about my guns that way before. As is was good enough til then. So I jumped into this rabbit hole with both feet. Thats when you start finding out about Whites and Gonics and Omegas and Renegades and other really interesting and rare stuff that gen pop dont really know or care about. Just takes a little nudge in the right direction at the right time. MLs will never be a really mainstream interest but I dont think they will ever disappear completely. Too much nostalgia and interest in the past for that. imho.

 

[fishhawk2700]

I have bought and sold a lot of whites over the last 10 years and prices have gone up but maybe not as much as you think. For a nice clean White, I would say prices are up around 30% averaged out across all models in that 10 years. Where you see the craziness it is for specific rifles on auction sites. When you get two guys bidding on a rifle it can get crazy what they are willing to spend. This is where the inflated prices kick in. Sellers see a specific rifle sell at a stupid price due to aggressive bidding and automatically think their rifle is worth that much. That's how rifles get posted at stupid "buy it now" prices. Very few sellers realize that to get high dollar on an auction site you need to have the balls to start with a low starting bid and no "reserve" and hope you get those two determined buyers bidding. The Whites sitting on GunBroker right now have been sitting there for a while. Their prices are bases on past sales of rifles along with some other minor factors and I won't comment any more on anybody elses sales. I hunt for Whites every day and there are still some clean rifles out there that pop up at bargain prices, but they are getting few and far between. For most guys looking to buy a good clean White, they are going to have to pay the price, or get very lucky.

 

[jlynch75]

Whites have priced themselves out of the market. They just cost to much, I love my Whites but won't pay the current prices.

 

[fishhawk2700]

Whites have priced themselves out of the market. They just cost to much, I love my Whites but won't pay the current prices.

You have to remember that Whites were not cheap when they were new. Without looking for the invoice, I think my first S91 .504 composite was 549.00 in 1993. A lot of us were just lucky to buy them in a secondary market and save a lot of money. You can mostly blame the prices on the interweb.

 

[jlynch75]

I was lucky paid $250 each for my Whitelightings and $200 for my Whitetail.