GBExpat
Member
First, the de rigueur kitchen-floor quick pic for you folks that need an accompanying digifoto 
...
I was looking at a couple of century-old, heavily-worn .32-20 lever actions that an older fellow had up on Gunbroker (he is, apparently, thinning a large collection/accumulation), knowing that both would quickly run past what I am willing to pay for them.
I was thinking about how upside-down the world has gotten on the market value of such things recently, when I noticed that he also had a "mint" 1983 1894S on auction. Hmmm ...
I have an '83-mfd 1894S that I purchased in the late '80s at a gunshow. It is very well-built, accurate, lightweight and exceptionally handy for a courier du bois. One of my favorite civilian rifles.
Turned out that this 1894S was gifted to him long ago, NIB, and he had never even gotten around to shooting it. The box is long gone, but the rifle only has some minor handling marks.
I made note and stopped back at that auction when there was about 20 minutes left. No movement on that somewhat-low High Bid ... so I decided the minimum amount was that it was worth to me and made my single bid (as I usually do) adding $62 to the current High Bid.
That got the immediate attention of 2 fellows and they started chipping away at it.
Actually, I was mildly rooting for one of them to top my bid <chuckle> ... but they stopped $2 short.
By the SNs it is probably a late-year rifle while my original was probably early. The rifle is gorgeous and, comparing the moving-parts-wear-patterns, it certainly seems plausible that it may not have been fired (or the action operated very much) since the test round(s) were fired at the factory.
Now I am caught in a discussion with myself about keeping it as-is to sell in the future rather than using it.
Nice rifle. I noticed that the wood finish improved between early and late 1983 and they also changed the front sight choice, unless my original one had the front sight changed-out by the 1st owner.
Oh, and this mint 1983 1894S cost me about half of what it would cost me to buy a hundred-year-old .32-20 Marlin carbine. Upside-down.
...
I was looking at a couple of century-old, heavily-worn .32-20 lever actions that an older fellow had up on Gunbroker (he is, apparently, thinning a large collection/accumulation), knowing that both would quickly run past what I am willing to pay for them.
I was thinking about how upside-down the world has gotten on the market value of such things recently, when I noticed that he also had a "mint" 1983 1894S on auction. Hmmm ...
I have an '83-mfd 1894S that I purchased in the late '80s at a gunshow. It is very well-built, accurate, lightweight and exceptionally handy for a courier du bois. One of my favorite civilian rifles.
Turned out that this 1894S was gifted to him long ago, NIB, and he had never even gotten around to shooting it. The box is long gone, but the rifle only has some minor handling marks.
I made note and stopped back at that auction when there was about 20 minutes left. No movement on that somewhat-low High Bid ... so I decided the minimum amount was that it was worth to me and made my single bid (as I usually do) adding $62 to the current High Bid.
That got the immediate attention of 2 fellows and they started chipping away at it.
Actually, I was mildly rooting for one of them to top my bid <chuckle> ... but they stopped $2 short.
By the SNs it is probably a late-year rifle while my original was probably early. The rifle is gorgeous and, comparing the moving-parts-wear-patterns, it certainly seems plausible that it may not have been fired (or the action operated very much) since the test round(s) were fired at the factory.
Now I am caught in a discussion with myself about keeping it as-is to sell in the future rather than using it.
Nice rifle. I noticed that the wood finish improved between early and late 1983 and they also changed the front sight choice, unless my original one had the front sight changed-out by the 1st owner.
Oh, and this mint 1983 1894S cost me about half of what it would cost me to buy a hundred-year-old .32-20 Marlin carbine. Upside-down.
