Rock Island Auction
 

Elaine and I attended portions of two days at the recent Rock Island auction. It was interesting to observe the bidding and final hammered prices of some of the guns offered. As I always do, I made my own predictions for the sale price on some of the guns, and I did pretty well prognosticating this time (but you don't want me to predict how much anything I really want will go for -- I'm always wrong!).

I did not examine the Parker A1S or 20 gauge AAHE other than to leave drool marks on the glass case they were in, but the A1S went for $75K (plus all the extras) and the AAHE 20 far exceeded its estimate, bringing $180,000.

As with all auctions, it's really good to be able to see the guns yourself, or have a person you know and trust to do so for you. I saw several guns that did not really live up to their descriptions -- not that the descriptions were incorrect, but rather they did not "tell the whole story."

I did see some very nice guns, and for the most part they brought what was estimated. As always, there were some higher, and others below their estimated value. It was telling to see the phone bids on certain items. When a good number of the phone bidders poise with their bid cards over an item, it does give some indication of the desirable nature of the piece. There's always the two person bidding for some items, but when the room bidders and phone bidders line up to bid, you know you'll have to pay a premium.

I continue to see English guns go for good prices. Alexander Hamilton's pistols went for a million, and I wondered if the cancel culture will find out he owned guns and they'll boycott the musical (sorry, I couldn't resist).

One of the Parkers that caught my eye was a lifter action 10 gauge. It was in really great condition. I bid on it, but had to bow out after my wife reminded me I'd already spent too much already. Whoever got that has a fine example of Parker craftsmanship.

The market seemed pretty decent for good guns this past weekend.

I bid on several lots, all went over their estimate, The AHE 16ga hammered at 22,500 I bowed out at 18,000, the wildest one was a Winchester trapper gun estimate 4-9,000 hammered at almost 70,000, go figure

There was a BH 10 there either of you happen to know what it hammered at ?

Gary, the 16 you mentioned was a nice one, and I remember the Winchester you mentioned -- knowing almost nothing about Winchesters, I just assumed some two people had a collector's itch for it. There were several other guns that rocketed up beyond their estimated value, but I seldom know why. The estimates for some of the small gauge Foxes seemed way off to me (too low), and I was proven right in most cases.

There was a two gun lot of Dickson trigger plate, round action guns that were estimated a $12-18K. Elaine said I could buy them if they were within that range. She knows...RI did not. I don't own them.:crying:

Craig, It went for $7,000 or $7,500 (I wrote it down but don't have my record handy). It was nice, but it did have something amiss internally and cocked every time it was opened. Still, a nice gun that went well over the estimate.

Garry thanks for the report. I had an interesting pre-auction discussion with a gentleman about that AAHE 20. Glad to see it go for such a strong price.

I asked for a detailed condition report on BH 10ga. The gun had a barrel bulge that killed it for me. I still would like a 10ga BH Damascus to fill out my collection.
If you're interested in a RI gun ask many questions, measurements and additional pictures. They are excellent at getting you the information requested.

I asked as well they told me the gun was on face but loose and they didn’t mention the bulge .

I did not see the bulge, but I only gave the gun a cursory look. It was tight with the fore end on...and was beautifully crafted, as are high grades from this era.

here is the message I received " Bores are spotted and worn, with a dent in the top of the right barrel and a shallow bulge in the side of the left barrel. Audible play in the barrels with the forearm off. Right: .040 Left: .045 Thanks! ~Melissa Stohl Customer Service Rep"