RICK: Hey.
How's it going?
Those are some fancy boots.
[laughs]
Thank you very much.
And that's a fancy piece of wood.
We have a pistol grown into a tree.
TOM: We have a pistol grown into a tree.
OK.
[laughs]
TOM: I found this piece at an Old West collectibles auction.
I think it's worth more than money to someone that wants it
because you can sit around and talk about it
and wonder what it's about.
I'm going to ask $18,000 or $20,000 for it.
RICK: I'm guessing 1858 Remington.
If you're in the Civil War, this was a great thing to have.
These things weren't issued to you.
You had to go get one.
You were issued a muzzleloading rifle, OK?
I mean, you got one shot, and it's done.
I mean, you were carrying around two of these.
You got 12 shots.
You could shoot all day with this thing.
A lot of guys had them in the Civil War
because if you carried one of these with you,
there's a lot better chance you'd live.
Is it loaded?
TOM: Supposedly, there is a bullet in the chamber.
I honestly don't know.
RICK: Let me-- hold on one second here.
Let me find a piece of barbed wire.
That one's empty.
Can I take it out of this?
You know, I've never taken it out.
I-- [laughs]
RICK: Oh, that's neat how it grew right into the barrel.
TOM: Mm-hmm.
And, yeah, that's loaded.
The one in the chamber, you're never
going to be able to figure out.
Every once in a while, people bring
in buried or sunken treasure.
But a gun that a tree actually grew into,
I don't even know where to begin.
I've definitely never seen anything like this.
So this is a hell of a quandary.
[laughs]
What in the world is it worth?
TOM: I want $18,000.
I don't think it's worth that much.
But I have a friend who I really want to show this to.
I want to get his opinion on what it's worth.
Hang out a few minutes. I'm going to get him down here.
I want him to look at this, OK?
Yeah, perfect.
RICK: This thing is just way too cool
to let it walk out the door without finding
something more about it.
Even if I just take it home and put it on my bookshelf,
I'll make an offer.
Here we go.
CRAIG: OK, I'm ready.
Aw.
[laughter]
CRAIG: Wow.
RICK: It's actually loaded.
Man, just-- this is crazy.
How did this get here?
Nobody's going to ever know, right?
No. No one's going to know.
Well, there's a piece of wiring
sticking out the end over here.
Wait a minute.
Wants to come out. That's weird.
I just would love to-- it sounds like it's in the barrel.
RICK: So maybe the guy was cleaning
his gun when this all happened.
There's just a million things with this.
We have no idea what's going on.
Not that it really matters, but do
you know what this gun is?
Well, I believe it's a Remington.
CRAIG: It is.
This is a Remington New Model Army.
They made them roughly from 1862 to 1875.
This is a gun that competed with Colt.
And, in fact, if it wasn't for the Colt fire that destroyed
the factory, this gun probably wouldn't
have been produced in as great a quantity as it was.
Colt was out of business for a little while,
and Remington stepped up to the plate.
And this became the most popular pistol for the Union
during the Civil War.
Really, really interesting.
If there was a mint condition Remington New Model Army here
or this, what would you rather have?
RICK: I mean, this one's cooler. This one's got a story.
Oh, I'd take this any day. Oh, yeah.
I mean, that's the whole thing.
I can't figure out a price on this thing.
And I'm going to tell you something.
This is the one time when you're going
to ask me what it's worth that I'm going to tell you
I don't know.
There's nothing else like it.
It's one of a kind, OK?
So you're not buying a Remington here.
You're buying the chance to talk about this gun.
It's just-- I don't know.
RICK: It's the world greatest period.
I'll tell you what I'd pay for it.
I mean, that's all I can say.
I'll tell you what I would pay for it.
I'd pay $3,000 or $4,000 no problem.
No problem.
OK.
I guess it's a starting point.
[laughs] Thanks, man.
Rick, thanks.
OK, I knew you would love to see.
Oh, I love it. Thanks for calling me down.
And, man, you showed me something
I've never seen before, so-- - Thank you.
--that's awesome. Thank you.
This gun transcends the whole gun thing.
It's gun based, if you will.
But this is more of a conversational artifact.
Remington made a hundred and some odd thousand New Model
Armies.
This is the coolest one on the planet.
OK.
So this is one of those few things
that I would buy off a customer that I would
not put it in my showcase.
I'd bring it home, I mean, because I
really want this for myself.
I think this is the greatest thing in the world
to pull out at a cocktail party with your friends
and talk about it.
I'd give you $4,000 for it.
[laughs]
TOM: No.
I'm going to pour myself an adult beverage,
and sit around, and tell stories about it,
and listen to other people tell stories.
It's one of the neatest oddities I've ever seen.
If you change your mind, I don't know why it's so--
I know it's-- would you take $5,000?
No.
$5,000 cash for a gun that's basically ruined?
[laughter]
No.
OK.
I mean, what would you take?
$15,000.
[sighs] It's really cool to talk about for $5,000,
not for $15,000.
Thanks for bringing it in, man.
Really, this is-- - Thank you.
You really got a treasure there.
Thank you.
If you change your mind, bring it straight back to me, OK?
TOM: Thank you.
RICK: I hate having a cool piece like this walk out the door,
but sometimes, the cool factor and the asking price
just don't match up.
For now, I can just hope he changes his mind
and runs back to the shop.