Since I was up at the Hessney Auction company this weekend to pick up the High Standard DM-101 Derringer that I bid on in their previous auction - how could I not at least throw some bids at them in the auction they held yesterday. Despite me bidding on at least 25 different firearms and several other items like accessories and ammo, I wound up with only two new (to my collection) guns following me home.
The first one on which I had the high bid was a CZ Durango. It's a SXS 12 gauge shotgun of the made in Turkey variety, made by Huglu, and was offered as unfired in the box with chokes. I have to agree, it looks unfired and probably is so except maybe for test firing at the factory. I gave it a good looking over in the auction preview on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning. It appeared to be in pristine condition each time I looked at it and that is a good thing meaning no knuckleheads dropped it, dinged it or scratched it while handling it at the previews. Even the box is in very good to excellent shape. I was willing to bid up to $525 on it since not buying it as an investment but as a shooter. I bid quite a bit under that at $475.00 and it followed me home. Happily, none of the auction house staff dropped or dinged it either and it still is looking good. The Standard Catalog of Firearms Values shows it as valued at $850 NIB (listed under Huglu not CZ).
I have looked at firearms, from various manufacturers, made in Turkey before and was almost always dissatisfied with the fit and or finish of them and thus either paid them little mind or if I bid on them at auction my bids were pretty low. I've gotta say, this one is an exception - CZ must have given the factory in Turkey a set of pretty high quality standards for this model. It is nice. I have tried to glean some info about it from the Internet but the info is scarce. According to one source, it was produced imported only between 2005-2006. They offer a similar model now and for all I know it essentially could be the same gun with minor changes or maybe just name change. Shot an email out to CZ customer service to try to get more info about it.
The other one just also happened to be a shotgun - a Winchester Model 37 single shot 12 gauge. The model number 37 matched that of another gun I had bid on earlier - a Remington Model 37 Rangemaster, a 22 target rifle. That Remington was a real beauty - excellent condition (almost like new) and weighed in at a very heavy (for a 22 caliber rifle) 12 plus pounds (more with the very long scope that was on it). I was going to bid on it but the bidding started off fast and furious and in almost no time hit a high bid of $1350.00 or $1596.38 if paid for by cash or check (higher for credit card). Believe me when I say that high bid was almost double what I was willing to offer as my high bid on it.
Back to the Winchester. Regardless of having the same model number as that high priced Remington, the Winchester came nowhere near as to the high bid it received. I got it for a whopping $80.00 plus 1.1% buyer's premium and sales tax. In other words, it was $94.60 out the door. That is just under its listed value in poor condition. I think this one is in fairly decent condition even though it has the plum colored patina (light rust) over all of its visible metal surfaces. I don't think there was any evident pitting but as is always the case there could be some hidden under the wood or I might just have missed something. The bore looks good to very good. Mechanically it seems to function just fine although I have not test fired it. All in all a decent deal especially since I had one of these before and sold it for over $300. That one did not have a complete shroud of plum colored patina, as I recall, but did have several areas of light surface pitting. I'll see how this one cleans up and then will decide to keep it awhile or sell it to make up for the other money I spent yesterday. Whatever I decide, I'll probably have a bit of shooty goodness fun with it before making my decision.
I also picked up some ammo, three OEM magazines for a Ruger Mini-30 (going to sell them), and a couple of knives.
Now it's shout out time: While standing outside the auction house, a guy walked up to me and said hi and asked if I had seen anything interesting. He had a big smile on his face and certainly was looking at me like he knew me but I was sure I did not know him although he said he knew me. While that always can mean someone is being nice it can also mean that you have just met some dude about to go psycho on you. He did not look intimidating and it turned out the smile was a genuinely friendly one. I guess he saw the puzzled expression that I think must have been on my face and he said "I read your blog". Fancy that, someone living in Canandaigua, NY (I think that was it) reads this thing; that was nice to find out. We introduced ourselves - his name is Ron - and talked a bit and parted. I saw Ron later, as he was leaving the auction house with two guns. One an Ithaca, he fancies Ithaca guns, and I cannot recall the other. Nice gentleman, hope to see him again upon that way.
All the best,
Glenn B
The first one on which I had the high bid was a CZ Durango. It's a SXS 12 gauge shotgun of the made in Turkey variety, made by Huglu, and was offered as unfired in the box with chokes. I have to agree, it looks unfired and probably is so except maybe for test firing at the factory. I gave it a good looking over in the auction preview on Friday evening and again on Saturday morning. It appeared to be in pristine condition each time I looked at it and that is a good thing meaning no knuckleheads dropped it, dinged it or scratched it while handling it at the previews. Even the box is in very good to excellent shape. I was willing to bid up to $525 on it since not buying it as an investment but as a shooter. I bid quite a bit under that at $475.00 and it followed me home. Happily, none of the auction house staff dropped or dinged it either and it still is looking good. The Standard Catalog of Firearms Values shows it as valued at $850 NIB (listed under Huglu not CZ).
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| The case hardening was a nice extra touch on the finish of this gun. |
I have looked at firearms, from various manufacturers, made in Turkey before and was almost always dissatisfied with the fit and or finish of them and thus either paid them little mind or if I bid on them at auction my bids were pretty low. I've gotta say, this one is an exception - CZ must have given the factory in Turkey a set of pretty high quality standards for this model. It is nice. I have tried to glean some info about it from the Internet but the info is scarce. According to one source, it was produced imported only between 2005-2006. They offer a similar model now and for all I know it essentially could be the same gun with minor changes or maybe just name change. Shot an email out to CZ customer service to try to get more info about it.
The other one just also happened to be a shotgun - a Winchester Model 37 single shot 12 gauge. The model number 37 matched that of another gun I had bid on earlier - a Remington Model 37 Rangemaster, a 22 target rifle. That Remington was a real beauty - excellent condition (almost like new) and weighed in at a very heavy (for a 22 caliber rifle) 12 plus pounds (more with the very long scope that was on it). I was going to bid on it but the bidding started off fast and furious and in almost no time hit a high bid of $1350.00 or $1596.38 if paid for by cash or check (higher for credit card). Believe me when I say that high bid was almost double what I was willing to offer as my high bid on it.
Back to the Winchester. Regardless of having the same model number as that high priced Remington, the Winchester came nowhere near as to the high bid it received. I got it for a whopping $80.00 plus 1.1% buyer's premium and sales tax. In other words, it was $94.60 out the door. That is just under its listed value in poor condition. I think this one is in fairly decent condition even though it has the plum colored patina (light rust) over all of its visible metal surfaces. I don't think there was any evident pitting but as is always the case there could be some hidden under the wood or I might just have missed something. The bore looks good to very good. Mechanically it seems to function just fine although I have not test fired it. All in all a decent deal especially since I had one of these before and sold it for over $300. That one did not have a complete shroud of plum colored patina, as I recall, but did have several areas of light surface pitting. I'll see how this one cleans up and then will decide to keep it awhile or sell it to make up for the other money I spent yesterday. Whatever I decide, I'll probably have a bit of shooty goodness fun with it before making my decision.
I also picked up some ammo, three OEM magazines for a Ruger Mini-30 (going to sell them), and a couple of knives.
Now it's shout out time: While standing outside the auction house, a guy walked up to me and said hi and asked if I had seen anything interesting. He had a big smile on his face and certainly was looking at me like he knew me but I was sure I did not know him although he said he knew me. While that always can mean someone is being nice it can also mean that you have just met some dude about to go psycho on you. He did not look intimidating and it turned out the smile was a genuinely friendly one. I guess he saw the puzzled expression that I think must have been on my face and he said "I read your blog". Fancy that, someone living in Canandaigua, NY (I think that was it) reads this thing; that was nice to find out. We introduced ourselves - his name is Ron - and talked a bit and parted. I saw Ron later, as he was leaving the auction house with two guns. One an Ithaca, he fancies Ithaca guns, and I cannot recall the other. Nice gentleman, hope to see him again upon that way.
All the best,
Glenn B
1 comment:
agree whole completely with you and hornady. hope to see you at the next auction. ron
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