Went to a gun auction today

[Shanghai McCoy]

There was a small toy/gun auction down in Larryville today so met up with fellow member Sniper66 and checked it out. There were some nice old Winchesters, 92's and a 94 carbine plus a 1905 self loader.There were assorted shotguns, a couple nice bolt rifles and some Ruger single actions as well. Also many boxes of shotgun shells and some other miscellaneous gear/equipment. I managed to get a Lyman Orange Crush press that was "new", (but not quite "mint" ), in box but the guns all went past my and Snper66's budget zone in price. All in all it was a good time and educational to see what prices one can maybe expect.
Oh, and if anyone here has a 4 leg logo John Deere cast iron tractor seat take VERY good care of it...

 

[Saddlebag Preacher]

I go to a few auctions out here when they have some guns I'm interested in. Lately, some go for as much or more than a new one. I have picked up a few deals though, 'specially BP repros because many don't want them. I picked up an unfired 2nd gen Gen Colt 1860 Army Stainless NIB (didn't even know they made them at the time) and 2 Colt Dragoon signature kits with the powder flasks, bullet molds and accessories pretty cheap. I like to shoot my guns and was going to cut the strap on the trigger and take it out. But I while I was checking out the history on a BP forum I had an offer for all 3 I just couldn't refuse, so I sold them. As much as I like to collect them, I made a good amount on that sale.

 

[slowr1der]

I have been to a bunch of gun auctions and seen thousands of guns sell and I can literally count on one hand the amount of good deals I've seen on guns. In this area anytime guns are at an auction the bidders go insane. I was expecting to see some lower prices at the last few I went to since prices online seem to be low and sales are significantly down. I was wrong, guns went just as high as usual. They were selling used Hi Points for $250-300, etc. The problem is these auctions are a lose lose situation for everyone except for the auction house. The buyers pay way too much. The sellers don't get anywhere near what the item sells for after they pay the auction fees. A friend tried to get an auction house to sell her husbands estate and she was getting quotes of as much as 50% commission. So it really is hard to value a gun based off of what they go for at these things. Most of the guns won't bring these prices anywhere else, and while they do bring them at these auctions, the seller doesn't get anywhere near what they sell for.

What keeps me going back to these auctions is the non gun items. I've found reloading equipment dirt cheap, magazines dirt cheap, ammo cheap (although I usually won't buy it unless I can verify 100% it's not reloads), scopes dirt cheap, etc. I've gotten some amazing deals on accessories that I needed at auctions.