Rod And Gun Auction Blues

A few months back, I attended an auction held by Hessney Auction Company in Geneva, NY. It was one heck of a drive getting there and I had a difficult time finding accommodations. I settled on an almost flea bag motel in which I swore I would never again stay. As for the auction, it was great. They auctioned off an old Triumph motorcycle, militaria, hunting and fishing items and hundreds of guns. I went primarily for the guns and while I came home with a few guns, on which I had the high bids, I also came home with an apparent antique dagger and a mounted deer head. The deer head now hangs in my son's room, as for the dagger, I think it is up there too. The guns, I still have them all, but am in the process of selling one, the Browning Citori Lightning I have written about here before. It is one heck of a nice shotgun, in excellent plus condition, evidently unfired except maybe for test firing. Once I sell it, I will have more than enough cash to attend another auction.

I really want to attend another of their auctions and that is kind of where the blues comes into play. The same auction house, staffed by some really great folks, is having another auction on the August 18th. Once at the link, scroll down just a short way to see the partial listing of guns that will be up for bids. They are also auctioning off a really nice looking 1961 Corvette; go to the photos link to take a look. I would be tempted to bid on that one along with some guns.

Here is where the blues hit hard. I was supposed to have worked this coming Saturday (part time post-retirement job) but asked if I could be switched to the 18th because I plan to attend the 5th Annual Northeast Bloggershoot this coming weekend. Since my boss was nice enough to change my scheduled Saturday from this weekend to the 18th, there is no ethical way I can take off to attend the auction. It looks like they will have some nice guns up for auction, along with that Corvette too, and I am feeling blue, blue, blue!

I made out very well last time with the Browning Citori Lightning shotgun I bought, also with a High Standard .22 pistol that I got for a really good price. I did fair with a NEF Pardner 12 gauge, also fair to good on a Stevens 66-B bolt action rifle in .22LR, and poorly on an Iver Johnson Hercules grade SxS 16 gauge shotgun. (It is basically only good as a wall hanger or a parts gun and I am guessing only for about 1/2 of its parts at best. I thought I was bidding on another of the same type of gun; shame on me for not being attentive enough.) The deer head came at a good price too and the piece of junk dagger was bought on a lark for cheap. In all, I had a great time and got some decent to excellent prices on the guns and the deer mount - which was well worth it considering that my son really likes it.

I would do it again regardless of the long drive there and back, and of the need to spend at least one night in a motel, and a good sum of money on guns. There is no doubt in my mind that I would do better this time around because I basically busted my cherry the last time around and am no longer a live gun auction rookie. I made a couple of mistakes, made even more good decisions and buys than I made mistakes, and am ready to go at it again - this time without the mistakes. Too bad I cannot make it this time round, I figure it would wind up being profitable in the long run one way or another. I wonder if they accept phone bids on the guns. As I recall, I am pretty sure that they did so last time. I'll have to check on that but even if they do, it is no guarantee I would bid by phone. I kind of doubt I would have the opportunity to see pictures of the items, in which I would be interested, from all angles and do not know if I want my bids to depend on an assessment, of an item, made by someone else. Oh well, maybe the time after this one.

All the best,
Glenn B

Our Guns For The 5th Annual Northeast Bloggershoot

Being I am now getting my full pension payments, as of August 1st, I decided to splurge and I ordered some ammo from Cheaperthandirt just a few days ago. It arrived today, just three days after ordering it. It is merely a little bit, 100 rounds of .45 ACP and 40 rounds of 8mm Mauser , to supplement what I already had in the ammo locker. The reason I say I splurged is that, about 2 weeks ago, in anticipation of my first full pension check, I also bought 500 rounds of 5.56x45 and 500 rounds of 7.62x39, that order from the Sportsmandguide. I'll really have to watch my future spending because after all, while it is my full pension check that I am getting now, and while a good one, it it certainly does not amount to my full paycheck of my pre-retirement days. The added bit of ammo, that I received today, made the bite out of my available cash a bit larger than I should have allowed. I guess, I will need to be more frugal in the future and only spend money on ammo that I have saved up after all the bills have been paid and after some money has been put away into savings. For now though, I had a reason to buy the ammo and it was not just to spend some of my first full pension check on ammo. It was to have enough of certain calibers of ammo for the Northeast Bloggershoot this weekend.

I have pretty much whittled down the possibles list to about 4 pistols and about 6 long arms to bring along now that I have enough ammo for them all and now that I have checked with the authorities in MA about transport through the state. Transporting my pistols under the LEOSA act should not be a problem, nor should transporting my AK47 (Romanian WASR) in locked gun cases in the locked trunk of my car. Out shotguns were never an issue as far as a possible problem was concerned nor were my Yugo Mauser or my Nagants. So, here is what I figure to bring along (list still subject to change as I do not want to drag along too many):

Pistols:
Glock 26
Beretta 92FS
Beretta 70S (or Ruger MKII)
Remington R1-1911

Rifles:
Romanian AK (7.62x39) (almost definite)
Yugo Mauser M24/47 (8mm Mauser)
Marlin 336 (.35 Remington)
Marlin 25MN (.22 WMR) (almost definite)
Mosin Nagant 91/30 (7.62x39)

Shotguns:
Remington 870 (maybe and maybe not)
Mossberg 500 (probably)

There is a good chance that the list will get a bit smaller mostly because of limited trunk space and because I have a limited number of gun cases and only one full sized one for rifles. The shotguns can go into a shorter case, so too can the AK. That means only bringing 2 out of 4 of the other long guns listed, the: Marlin 336, the Marlin 25MN, the Mauser and the Nagant. Since I also am pretty certain that the Marlin 25MN will be brought along, as an easy on my shoulder gun, I still have to pick 1 out of the other 3 remaining rifles. I'll see what Brendan thinks about it and probably go with whatever he chooses from his. I am guessing the Mauser or 336. I am also going to ask what he thinks about the shotguns. If he does not want to shoot it, I may not bring the 870 since my right shoulder is on the mend after a long bout of creaking, cracking and pain. I am sure the rifles will be more than enough to chance me having the pain return and I do not need to tempt fate even more by shooting the 870 (except maybe with reduced recoil rounds, but I may not have too many of them).

Of course, Brendan may have different plans on what to bring along as far as the long arms go. I have to track him down and discuss it, maybe over a cold one (no gun handling, just gun discussion, if we are imbibing). Decisions, decisions, decisions but at least now we will have enough ammo for all of them because of the recent ammo orders. By the way, if all of that made sense to you, I guess I am not quite as confused as I have been feeling over deciding on our choices for the Bloggershoot.

All the best,
Glenn B