I think they mark them up too high to start because there are a few people that will buy them at any price. I think in a lot of cases the market tells them to lower their price. Some times a fool will pay the price. If you are in area that does not sell many nor have much of a demand then they go lower. I had a 788 in 222 and it sure was honey, shooting wise. Looks wise, there were and are better offerings. I did not have a lot of money at the time and traded it in + cash for a new 700 BLD VS that I thought I had to have. I sure wish I kept that old 788. It shot every bit as good as the 700 and weighed a lot less. I would like to have another, but I am not going to pay $400 for one. Buying a used gun is a crap shoot. Why was it traded in if it was such a fine gun? In some cases it is traded in because they want a different cartridge, but some times they are traded in because they will not shoot or did shoot and do not any more. There are a lot of neglected guns out there. I think the 44 mag was kinda rare as was the 30-30. Most of them were sold in 222, 223, 243 and I think in the later years they sold quite a few in 308. I wanted one in 44 mag for a while and could not find one. I ended up getting a 1894 Marlin.
