The live firearm auction bug bit me good and since 2012 I have not been able to free myself of whatever sweet venom it injected into my psyche; could have been Hoppes No. 9 for all I know but whatever it was it has been singing the song of the sirens to me over and over again. So here I am again, sitting in my hotel room in Geneva, NY in anticipation of tomorrow's Rod & Gun Auction at the Hessney Auction Co..
It looked nice in the pics online but those photos are not of the highest quality and can be unintentionally deceptive. That is one of reasons, if not the main reason, that I normally do not bid online but usually bid in person for the Hessney auctions. This one though looked so good and I have wanted a nice one for so long, that I took a chance and bid on it online.
Fancy that, I had the high bid. They held it gor me until I could get a purchase doc from my county police and then travel up to them to pick it up. It would be foolish and overly expensive for me to make the trip just to get the gun so I waited until the next auction I could attend, which is the one tomorrow, and here I am.
I absolutely love coming to the Hessney Auction Co.'s firearms auctions regardless of the fact that it is usually a 5.5 to 6 hour drive each way. I drove up through drizzle, then pouring rain and some fog to get here for the auction preview late this afternoon and also to pick up my latest firearms acquisition.
Last month, they held an auction that I could not attend in person because I was in AR visiting my son Brendan. Back then, I took a look through their catalog online and saw something I regretted not buying back in the early 1980s especially since High Standard went belly up in 1984. Anyway, tt was a High Standard Derringer, model DM-101 in 22 Magnum. The one in the auction catalog last month was listed as " as new in case".
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| It's so small, maybe I should call it a Baby Boomer. |
Fancy that, I had the high bid. They held it gor me until I could get a purchase doc from my county police and then travel up to them to pick it up. It would be foolish and overly expensive for me to make the trip just to get the gun so I waited until the next auction I could attend, which is the one tomorrow, and here I am.
I have to say, I did quite well on this one. The Blue Book shows it at $325 in 100% condition with an additional 15% added for one in 22 Mag and an additional $25 for the original hinged box. Mine has it all plus a parts list/instruction sheet dated February 1963 and the original blank waranty card. The Standard Catalog of Firearms Values shows it at $450 in 100% condition and also gave me the info to realize this is a Type 1, or among those manufactured from 1962 through about 1967. The SCFV seems to me to usually have more realistic values than the BBGV.
Now if it actually shoots I will be ecstatic; then again maybe I will just clean it and put it into the gun vault for now.
All the best,
Glenn B
