About Elk CREEK Company
I’m Jim Rawles, the Proprietor of Elk Creek Company. You may recognize my name. I’m a novelist, survivalist blogger, and the co-author of the widely read Pre-1899 Cartridge Guns FAQ. I have more than 42 years of experience with antique guns. At Elk Creek Company we offer carefully hand-selected pre-1899 antique guns. Whether you are looking for investment-grade antiques, or just practical shooters, we have what you need, with no pesky Federal paperwork or FBI background check!
We specialize in genuine antique guns made from 1873 to 1898 that are chambered for currently-produced factory cartridges. Many of our guns are “fresh off the ranch”, since we regularly travel to estate sales, farm auctions, and gun shows–primarily in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. We do not deal much in muzzleloaders–mainly we sell Federally antique cartridge guns. Ammunition is available for nearly all of the guns that we sell. We ship nationwide.
All of our listed prices are in terms of Pre-1965 U.S. silver legal tender coinage. (Meaning: 1964 or earlier mint date dimes, quarters, or half dollars.) We also accept debased Federal Reserve Notes (FRNs) at a multiplier, in the form of cash, personal checks, bank checks, bank money orders, or U.S. Postal service Money Orders (USPS PMOs.)
If you have any pre-1899 cartridge guns available, then give us a call. In particular, we are looking for .38 Long Colt, .41 Long Colt, .44 S&W Russian, .44-40, and .45 Colt revolvers. We are also eager buyers of Webley Mark I or Mark II revolvers – either chambered in .455 Eley or converted to .45 ACP. And we are looking for pre-1899 production Model 1897 shotguns (either solid frame or takedown) and most Winchester carbines and takedown rifles.
We also sell a few replica guns that are chambered in obsolete cartridges that are no longer found in stores. The relevant Federal law that puts these recently-produced guns in the Federal “Antique” category reads: “…any replica of an antique firearm if it is not designed or redesigned for using rimfire or conventional centerfire fixed ammunition, or uses rimfire or conventional centerfire ammunition which is no longer manufactured in the United States, and which is not readily available in ordinary channels of commercial trade.” – 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(3), (a)(16). So, again with these, no FFL is required!
We actively buy, sell, and trade. We will travel to buy large estate collections of pre-1899 cartridge guns. When handing estate collections, we are cash buyers of the marketable pre-1899 cartridge guns and then we help make arrangements through three trusted auction houses to handle the sales of your remaining muzzleloading antiques and any modern (1899 and later) guns.
No FFL is required for all guns made in or before 1898, regardless of chambering or modifications!
We ship or mail antique guns right to your door.
Consult your state and local laws before ordering. That is your responsibility!
Purchasers must provide proof of age: you must be 18 for rifles & shotguns, and 21 for revolvers & handguns. Mail or e-mail us a copy of your current driver’s license or passport.
Consignments: We charge a flat consignment fee of 20% of gross sales for 1-to-5 antique guns, and 18% of gross sales for 6 or more antique guns.
Why Pre-1899 Guns are a Good Investment
Pre-1899 guns are a good investment simply because their numbers are frozen. Unlike modern guns, which are still being cranked out as commodities, the available number of pre-1899s is fixed. And with every passing year, they become a smaller and smaller portion of the total supply of guns. (They already comprise less than 1/4 of 1% of all guns in circulation.) The law of supply and demand is inescapable. A declining supply with a concurrent increase in the number of gun owners means that prices can only go upward.
Furthermore, there is in the very real prospect that Congress will impose “Universal Background Checks” on the sales of all post-1898 guns. The phrase “Universal Background Checks” sounds warm and fuzzy to liberals, but what it really means is an end to firearms buying privacy, for modern guns. It will become a Federal felony to sell a post-1898 gun to your next door neighbor without making that transaction through an FFL, complete with a FBI background check. Once this legislation goes into effect the ONLY guns that will still be legal to buy and sell privately will be pre-1899 antiques. So I can safely predict that the prices of pre-1899 guns will double, and then triple, in just a few years. Savvy investors will buy pre-1899 cartridge guns now, while they are still affordable, and obtainable.
These states already have Universal Background Checks on modern guns:
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
And more states are expected to follow suit. But most these laws have exemptions for pre-1899 antiques! Think about how it will affect the market for antique guns in the 2020s, and beyond. Picture this trend continuing, in “Blue””and “Purple” states. Each state that successively closes the door on private party sales of post-1898 guns will ratchet up the prices for the tiny pool of available pre-1899 guns. People will be willing to pay more, for privacy. Even when they mistakenly refer to “Pre-1898” guns, people know they want: They want gun purchasing privacy.
Again, the law of supply and demand is inescapable.
Our available guns and Accessories
Mosey in to our store to see one of the best selections of Federally-exempt pre-1899 Rifles, Revolvers, and Shotguns in the nation.
For pre-1899 Antiques, no FFL or FBI background check is required!