Bill - you have over 5,000 posts. How would we find the story of your .410?

I think there quite a few people (myself included) who can't wait to see pictures of this fantastic find.:corn:

How many of us are going to start going to yard sales now?

Down our way, the only think we're likely to find is a beat up lobster pot!

I have often joked with my wife when passing yard sales that I was going to stop and ask...got any guns?

I may start doing just that.

I will say that whenever I go to yard sales or estate sales, I at least ask if they have any guns for sale. Hoping that maybe they just didn't put them out.

I went to a yard sale in Augusta Maine about 7 or 8 years ago where the family of a deceased gentleman had a lot of his useless old stuff they didn't want or need spread out over about a dozen 8 foot banquet tables. Kathy and I went from table to table not really seeing anything we thought particularly interesting - just the usual "old guy's stuff" - until we were heading back to the car and passed by the first table we had briefly looked at earlier and I put on the brakes so hard Kathy walked right into me. There on the table was a very early Colt 1911, probably made in the teens, in nice condition with only very minor loss of blueing. The tag said $50 but I had no interest in semi-auto pistols and had no idea of their value so I passed on it. But right there on the same table was a Colt .45 revolver. This one had my interest because it also had a $50 tag on it. Turns out the revolver had a good amount of rust (or maybe dust?) in the barrel so I passed on it too.
It was only a couple of weeks later that discovered the value of that 1911..... I could have slit my wrists... :eek:

A WWII test pilot friend of mine here took me into his gargage before he passed away and opened a locked steel box sitting on a damp cold concrete floor in a corner. Inside was a 1918 vintage 1911 in the original leather holster on a Sam Brown belt. Pistol was in near new condition and well oiled. After he died they had an auction and they sold that box for $50, not knowing what was in it. I was sick that I never asked Randy if I could buy that Colt from him; he likely would have just given it to me.

At an estate sale awhile back I bought literally a bag of clips for about 10 different pistols and rifles. I asked the lady running the sale where the guns were and she said they don't handle guns and had told the family they had to sell them by themselves. Bet whoever bought them wondered why non had clips.....

DLH

I believe most people are just plain afraid to put guns out in a garage or small estate sale. When I stop I always look for hunting/fishing related gear and if I get the feeling the deceased was a sportsman I ask whom ever is running the sale about guns and/or rods. Often there are and usually they don't know what to do with them. Haven't stumbled onto anything of value but I have seen more than a few rusty turds.

I imagine anyone with enough $ to own a small-bore or high-grade gun would have a substantial enough estate as to not have it in thr driveway. Regardless, thr hunt is half the fun and you never know when you'll get lucky.