Ammo score at an Estate Sale!

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Bandit67

Bandit67

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Stopped at an Estate Sale yesterday that was ran by a company, so no, I didn't take advantage of a grieving Widow.
They had some hunting, fishing. And taxidermy stuff which caught my interest.
Went to the basement and saw an old glass front gun cabinet with a bottom drawer. The drawer seemed to be locked so I gave it a good yank and Voila. Old Ammo, Knives, and a couple of old cleaning kits.
I grabbed
3 boxes of .30-06
2 boxes of 30-30
2 boxes of .32 Win Special
1 box of .32 S&W long
Buck USA 121 W/sheath
Old Timer Schrade USA 152 Sharpfinger w/sheath
Took it to the checkout table and asked how much. The lady said "let me get my husband from the garage".
Husband comes in and says "Where'd you find that? I told him and he said "Huh, I couldn't get in that drawer"
He said you want it all? I said it depends how much. He said how about $50 for everything?
Yes please, and I almost forgot the old Sure-Shot squirrel call for $4.
What a great day.
20220128_065023.jpg 20220128_065033.jpg 20220128_065116.jpg
 
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You are going to see this regularly as the people hoarding ammunition pass. An acquaintance died at age 61 a few years ago, his wife sold off over 60,000 rounds, which wasn’t the whole kaboodle. There was no way he’d have had time to shoot the entire cache had he lived to 100.
 
Awesome score. I'm glad it was someone that appreciates it instead of just someone that sees dollar signs. I'd love to have that old 30-30 for my collection. And all of it for that matter! I love old gun stuff and Classic American knives.
 
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Bandit67 said:
Stopped at an Estate Sale yesterday that was ran by a company, so no, I didn't take advantage of a grieving Widow.
They had some hunting, fishing. And taxidermy stuff which caught my interest.
Went to the basement and saw an old glass front gun cabinet with a bottom drawer. The drawer seemed to be locked so I gave it a good yank and Voila. Old Ammo, Knives, and a couple of old cleaning kits.
I grabbed
3 boxes of .30-06
2 boxes of 30-30
2 boxes of .32 Win Special
1 box of .32 S&W long
Buck USA 121 W/sheath
Old Timer Schrade USA 152 Sharpfinger w/sheath
Took it to the checkout table and asked how much. The lady said "let me get my husband from the garage".
Husband comes in and says "Where'd you find that? I told him and he said "Huh, I couldn't get in that drawer"
He said you want it all? I said it depends how much. He said how about $50 for everything?
Yes please, and I almost forgot the old Sure-Shot squirrel call for $4.
What a great day.
View attachment 1055359 View attachment 1055360 View attachment 1055361
Click to expand...
Damnit now I’m bidding on vintage fixed blade knives on eBay. This is your fault.
 
Bandit67 said:
Stopped at an Estate Sale yesterday that was ran by a company, so no, I didn't take advantage of a grieving Widow.
They had some hunting, fishing. And taxidermy stuff which caught my interest.
Went to the basement and saw an old glass front gun cabinet with a bottom drawer. The drawer seemed to be locked so I gave it a good yank and Voila. Old Ammo, Knives, and a couple of old cleaning kits.
I grabbed
3 boxes of .30-06
2 boxes of 30-30
2 boxes of .32 Win Special
1 box of .32 S&W long
Buck USA 121 W/sheath
Old Timer Schrade USA 152 Sharpfinger w/sheath
Took it to the checkout table and asked how much. The lady said "let me get my husband from the garage".
Husband comes in and says "Where'd you find that? I told him and he said "Huh, I couldn't get in that drawer"
He said you want it all? I said it depends how much. He said how about $50 for everything?
Yes please, and I almost forgot the old Sure-Shot squirrel call for $4.
What a great day.
View attachment 1055359 View attachment 1055360 View attachment 1055361
Click to expand...

Did you find-out the man's name or anything about him? How old was he when he passed? Anything about his family? Kids?
 
Airborne Falcon said:
Did you find-out the man's name or anything about him? How old was he when he passed? Anything about his family? Kids?
Click to expand...
I didn't find out his name or if he he had kids but there are usually clues at an estate sale that tell me about the person.
This man loved to hunt and loved to fish. He also loved tools.
He was either a bachelor or his wife passed years ago judging from the lack of Women's items in the house.
Most of his equipment was old so I assume he was pretty old when he passed. He had more fishing stuff than hunting and a lot of ice fishing gear too.
Based on the ammo I found he probably owned a couple lever actions, a bolt action. and a small pistol. The guns were gone. When I asked about them they said his relatives took them.
From the taxidermy, He had at least 20 or 30 small bucks antlers mounted around the basement and 2 really nice head mounts. A huge 12 point and a really nice 10 point.
He also had mounts of turkeys, pheasants, squirrels, walleye, and largemouth bass.
He also owned a Ford based on the many parts in the garage.
I love estate sales.
 
Bandit67 said:
I didn't find out his name or if he he had kids but there are usually clues at an estate sale that tell me about the person.
This man loved to hunt and loved to fish. He also loved tools.
He was either a bachelor or his wife passed years ago judging from the lack of Women's items in the house.
Most of his equipment was old so I assume he was pretty old when he passed. He had more fishing stuff than hunting and a lot of ice fishing gear too.
Based on the ammo I found he probably owned a couple lever actions, a bolt action. and a small pistol. The guns were gone. When I asked about them they said his relatives took them.
From the taxidermy, He had at least 20 or 30 small bucks antlers mounted around the basement and 2 really nice head mounts. A huge 12 point and a really nice 10 point.
He also had mounts of turkeys, pheasants, squirrels, walleye, and largemouth bass.
He also owned a Ford based on the many parts in the garage.
I love estate sales.
Click to expand...

I do estate sales all the time ... you observed some interesting info about the man. Reads as if he might have been the kind of man we'd like to know and be friends with. He's probably smiling right now knowing that the stuff you got went to a good home.

I'll usually ask about a name, ask if any family is around, try to get a back story .... I've heard some interesting back stories over the years. We're all going to be there one day but I suspect the kids and grandkids will pick my stuff over good. Surprised they took the guns but not the ammo. Lol .... my kids look at ammo like a commodity ... like a precious metal. I've actually witnessed mind debating, over Thanksgiving Dinner, whether ammo was more comparable to silver or gold. It actually made me stop and think about it.

Nice score Bandit!
 
I never thought of an estate sale but it makes sense that a lifelong hunter might have some great stuff
 
Zone Five said:
You are going to see this regularly as the people hoarding ammunition pass. An acquaintance died at age 61 a few years ago, his wife sold off over 60,000 rounds, which wasn’t the whole kaboodle. There was no way he’d have had time to shoot the entire cache had he lived to 100.
Click to expand...
There's also the school of thought that ammo is as good as gold (or perhaps better) as a hyper-inflation hedge.

You can parcel out single boxes --or even single rounds -for a dozen eggs, but you can't parcel out a Krugerrand for a pound of beef.

Terry, 230RN
 
Terry you are oh so right. However you can't be trading ammo with people you don't absolutely know well, that could be your demise. Bandit you got a good score and being observant it sounds like that fellow could have been on THR. You can really tell a lot by what a man has hanging on his wall, or on his workbench or reloading bench. Yea guys remember to savor each day, we are 1 heartbeat from our stuff, being somebody else's stuff!!
 
230RN said:
There's also the school of thought that ammo is as good as gold (or perhaps better) as a hyper-inflation hedge.

You can parcel out single boxes --or even single rounds -for a dozen eggs, but you can't parcel out a Krugerrand for a pound of beef.

Terry, 230RN
Click to expand...

While not wrong, those in the precious metals camp would point to the use of silver as the trade metal of choice, rather than gold.
But ammo does have somewhat similar properties to cigarettes, which were used as currency in post war Europe for a time. Trading individually and in packs gives a natural division to it as currency.
However compared to metals ammo is fairly bulky and heavy as a currency.
 
230RN said:
There's also the school of thought that ammo is as good as gold (or perhaps better) as a hyper-inflation hedge.

You can parcel out single boxes --or even single rounds -for a dozen eggs, but you can't parcel out a Krugerrand for a pound of beef.

Terry, 230RN
Click to expand...

I would imagine that the people with the foresight to keep those egg laying chickens won’t need ammunition. Also don’t believe that once any seller has met his self defense needs, that ammunition would continue to be attractive as a medium of exchange.
 
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