Recent Find Ramrod issues for 1842.

Your acquisition was well worth $1200. Some of the brand new Italian reproductions can fetch almost the same amount if it's the rifled version with the fancy rear sight. Be happy you have the ramrod for it. The '42 Harpers Ferry model (1851) that's been in our family since way back when has always been missing the ramrod. It's a smooth bore and has the low front sight blade. The trigger and lock assembly is still very crisp and strong. The cone is clogged up and rust welded to the barrel, thus not shootable. The one you have there looks like you could test fire it and if deemed safe, join the N-SSA. Lots of the members are now shooting original 42's these days in .69 competitions. The loads require a lot of black powder and casting your projectiles requires 100% lead (like everything else muzzeloader) and lots of it.
 
I think you are over thinking it. You did the job she needed done and she offered this as payment, done deal.

The other problem is that there are multiple values to any item like this. There is a big difference between the maximum price that a collector looking for this specific item would be willing to pay versus what a dealer looking to turn a profit would be willing to pay. The lady, on her own, is far more likely to get the latter price rather than the former.

I think $1200 is a very fair price considering the circumstances.
 
Rob's comment about "over thinking" the question about fairness of the swap of your work for the musket hit the mark, I think.
Close enough, I say. You made a swap without either of you knowing value of this musket. If you later decided that this was worth only half the value of your work, would you expect this lady to give you more payment? Of course not! This musket had no value for her, and I best she is pleased to still have the $1,200 she expected to pay you!
By the way, this is in a condition often seen in old time collections....although the wood looks unsanded and crisp, the metal in some areas had been rusted brown and pitted (look at the bolster, breech area, hammer, etc), and all the metal was at sometime in the past cleaned bright with some sort of chemical agent.
Back decades ago, many collectors and even museums believed the way to treat metal was to clean it bright - it looked better and it was seen as a way to stop future rusting.
This is a factor that does limit value, but this musket is worth more than $1,200, but not so much that your swap looks unfair.
 
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Thank you all for your advice and help.

Now comes the hard part. I told the lady I would probably end up owing her some money as to the amount of work I did for her was only $1,200. I had a feeling that the Springfield 1842 was worth more then that.

I informed of her of this, and asked if I could take a week or two and ask around for the value, and get back to her with the difference. She agreed, and said no rush (we live in a extremely rural area, where everyone knows everyone’s private business as well as reputation).

So what do you all think, what is it worth. If you would fee more comfortable doing it through a PM, that is fine. I would just like honesty, so I can sleep at night, not worrying that I took advantage of someone.

Thank you in advance and appreciate your help.

Reapectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik
Actually $1200 isn’t out of line for such. Especially if fully functional with a decent bore.
Like all "collectibles" antique firearms seem to have been similarly affected by the financial collapse of '08 and have yet to fully recover.
 
I did ask if there was any family connection. She said no all of her grandparents and her late husband’s grandparents and great grandparents were immigrants from Europe in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

He was just a big firearm enthusiast.

My buddy (who has a plumbing/heating business) will ask me to help him out on big jobs.

He gave a ring, said he was too busy to do this one. I took it, and when I showed up to check it out and give an estimate, she was upfront about paying, or allowing me to see if there was a firearm I was interested in.

Like I said I have been in the market for an 1842 Rifled Musket for a while, what are the odds. I’m still in disbelief.
The gods of collecting smiled upon you it would seem.
 
Thank you all for your advice and help.

Now comes the hard part. I told the lady I would probably end up owing her some money as to the amount of work I did for her was only $1,200. I had a feeling that the Springfield 1842 was worth more then that.

I informed of her of this, and asked if I could take a week or two and ask around for the value, and get back to her with the difference. She agreed, and said no rush (we live in a extremely rural area, where everyone knows everyone’s private business as well as reputation).

So what do you all think, what is it worth. If you would fee more comfortable doing it through a PM, that is fine. I would just like honesty, so I can sleep at night, not worrying that I took advantage of someone.

Thank you in advance and appreciate your help.

Reapectfully,
Kyle Kalasnik
Your honesty is uplifting. Good on you.
 
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