A 2026 Guide by Sellingantiques
Early matchlocks required a smouldering cord to ignite the powder.
Look for the shift to flint systems in the seventeenth century.
Percussion caps followed. They offered shooters a reliable spark in damp weather.
Breech-loading designs eventually changed how soldiers handled antique guns on the battlefield.
Joseph Manton dominated the London sporting trade during the early nineteenth century.
Look for Samuel Colt. He developed his repeating cylinder mechanisms throughout the mid-nineteenth century.
Government arsenals such as Enfield produced mass military patterns, stamping their locks with the royal cypher.
The 2026 retail price guide for Antique Guns is drawn from a proprietary archive of over 1.1 million retail prices indexed by Sellingantiques since 2003. This guide relies exclusively on their own internal data; no external sources or auction records are used.
Analysing nearly 25 years of UK antique market history alongside current retail values, the data indicates that typical UK retail prices for Antique Guns range between £300 and £3,400. Entry-level prices generally fall under £300 and premium examples upwards of £3,400.
Lock plates hold the internal mechanics. They frequently carry the maker or arsenal stamp.
Proof marks stamped into the breech section indicate where the barrel was tested.
Pay attention to the bore. This can be smooth for shot or rifled with spiral grooves.
Gunsmiths formed early barrels by wrapping flat iron strips around a central mandrel and heating the seams.
Lock mechanisms require complex hand-filed internal springs to function predictably.
Examine the stock carving. Makers shaped the wood manually to balance the heavy metal components.
"Many lock mechanisms remain functional today thanks to the high quality of early spring steel."
"Woodwork develops a dark surface over the centuries from handled linseed oil and wax."
"Gunsmithing drove early precision engineering. The tight tolerances required for locks pushed mechanical innovation forward."
Based on almost 25 years of Sellingantiques UK antique market data, Antique Guns appeared 807 times (out of 1,100,000 antiques) which gives it a rarity score of 85/100.
This score measures scarcity within the Sellingantiques archive only and is not a survey of the entire antiques market, so these statistics may not be indicative of the general availability of Antique Guns elsewhere.
Smoothbore means the inside of the barrel has no rifling. The metal tube is simply a straight, polished cylinder from the breech to the muzzle.
Most military muskets used this system for centuries. It allowed soldiers to load spherical lead balls quickly in combat, even when the barrel became fouled with black powder residue.
You measure the internal diameter of the bore at the muzzle using a set of specialist calipers. Antique bore sizes do not always align with modern gauge standards.
Gunsmiths historically determined the gauge by the number of solid lead balls of that barrel's diameter it took to make a pound. A twelve bore means twelve round balls to the pound.
Many remain capable of firing. The lock springs and steel barrels were built to last.
However, old metal develops unseen flaws and black powder generates high pressure. Only a qualified gunsmith can determine if a specific piece is safe to load.
That is a patch box. You usually find them on rifles rather than standard military muskets.
Shooters kept greased patches of cloth inside. They wrapped these patches around the lead ball before ramming it down the barrel, which helped the ammunition grip the rifling grooves and form a tight seal.
Some patch boxes also held spare flints or small tools for field maintenance.
Please note: This Antique Guns guide and its associated pricing data are provided for general informational purposes only. It does not constitute formal financial, investment, or appraisal advice and should not be relied upon as the sole basis for any commercial activity, purchasing, or sales decisions. Sellingantiques.co.uk accepts no liability for any actions taken in reliance on this information. Always consult with a qualified professional or independent appraiser.
