What better to do on a bitter cold February day than spend it inside a nice warm auction house filled to standing room only for a gun auction. Yeah, I know you can think of plenty of better things but let me tell you it was not a bad way at all to spend my day yesterday. As a matter of fact, I drove to Geneva, NY on Friday for the auction preview. The drive was actually pleasant for a change - zero traffic jams even going through the Bronx in NYC!
I did the preview then headed to my motel in Penn Yan, NY about 21 miles from the auction house. I had gotten the best rate there using Hilton Honors Points; in Geneva they were asking almost double the points of the Hampton Inn in Penn Yan. I suppose that could be because, in my opinion, the heating system at the Hampton Inn at Penn Yan sucks - way too hot for an hour or two and then way too cold for the rest of the night. I should have learned when I went there the first time, this was my second stay at said motel and probably my last in the winter. Anyway, let me proceed to the auction.
Since I had checked in and gotten my bidder's number on Friday afternoon - then inspected the guns, on which I wanted to bid, during the preview - I had little reason to get to the auction house early on Saturday. I arrived around 0930 after a leisurely breakfast at my motel and a scenic drive through the countryside on the way back to Geneva. Even made a stop at a drugstore to refill a prescription for a blood pressure medication I had forgotten at home.
Well, when I arrived the place was mobbed with mostly grumpy old me from the looks of them; although, there was a decent smattering of younger & middle-aged men and a decent amount of younger to middle aged women (many more women than there would have been a decade or two ago). I meandered here, there & everywhere within the confines of the auction house and did more looking at guns. One or three more, maybe five or six, caught my eye and I planned to look them all over but had to do something more important interrupted me after looking at a couple or few. I answered the call of nature then went back to the main room of the auction house. Somehow it slipped my mind that I needed to look at two more pistols on which I wanted to bid and I wound up looking at some items in the back room and at what knives & ammo they were offering, I just never got to remembering to look at those two other pistols.
The bidding in the back room - where they auction off reloading equipment & supplies, some firearms accessories, archery equipment, and odd lots of fishing and shooting items - was already under way when I got the the auction house. No matter to me, I was interested in only one thing back there - a locking pistol attache style case. Wound up I missed my chance because bidding on it was coincidental to bidding on a gun on which I wanted to bid and a man has to know his priorities - which for me was bidding on the gun.
The bidding up front started maybe around 10 or 1030 with a snowmobile they had up as the first item, then a couple of bear traps (one vintage one going for around $800), some taxidermy mounts and an item or two more - then the guns. I had not planned to bid on anything until the 44th item on the list a Savage 111 FCNS Hunter rifle in 30-06. Thing is it had already taken it off of my list because the online bidding (which runs prior to the live bidding and ceases at 0800 on the day of the live auction) had already gone above my high bid. I starting bidding on item 61, a Huglu SXS shotgun, never had a chance as it went for way more than I was willing to pay.
I probably had about 30 guns in all that I had picked out on which I planned to bid. At least 5 or 6 of them started out with opening bids right at or above how high I was willing to go, so I declined on them. Some others I did not get the chance to bid on because thy started at close to what I would offer as my high bid and another bidder beat me to the bid I would have made. Others that I did bid on went anywhere from one bid higher to way too many dollars higher than I was willing to go. All typical for an auction.
I did have the high bids on two items - one I had intended to bid on (depending on condition) when I did my review of the catalog while still at home and another that caught my eye while I was at the auction house for the preview. The one I had been planning to bid on was a Remington 141 Gamemaster in 35 REM.
When I came across it, I picked it up to give it a visual inspection and feel its lines. Then I checked it to see how the action operated. It was as impressive looking as a pretty young lass on a fine sunny fall day and it moved as smoothly as Chinese silk would move against her skin. I fell in love on the spot. It was not like it was an I have to have it kind of a thing but I knew for sure I would be placing bids up to my predetermined high bid amount.
I wound up with the high bid at the exact high bid price that I had planned on not going over. The thing is, this time I did not figure in the 10% buyers premium or tax as I usually do for my high bid price - so I paid 10% more (plus tax) than I normally would have; I just I liked it that much. My estimation is it is worth every penny and probably $100 to $125 more than the total I paid. Of course, that will all depend on whether it is a shooter or not but it seems everything is in working order so I am optimistic.
The other gun was one I had not planned on placing any bids being it was a pistol. I did not think I'd be bidding on any handguns. That being because should I have the high bid on any, it would require a trip to my local county PD to get a purchase document, another trip back to the auction house to pick up the handgun(s) after that and another trip to the PD to have it put on my license. Since they are having another auction in March, I figured what the heck, I will go to that one to pick up any handguns on which I may have had the high bid at this auction. So I bid on a few of them but only had the high bid on this one.
It's a High Standard Double Nine, 9 shot, nickel plated revolver in 22 S, 22 L & 22 LR. As far as i could tell it is the pre-1971 version. It indeed looks to be "as new" as does the box it was in. It also looks so much like the cowboy cap-guns I used to play with as a kid it was an instant hit with me. The thing on this one is I took a big chance bidding on it since it was one of the two pistols I forgot to look over before the bidding commenced. These guns are all sold as is/where is and if you don't look them over before bidding you may be in for a nasty surprise when you have the high bid, pay for them and only then find some damage. Luckily for me, I bid without examining it and it seems to be okay. I looked it over when picking up the Remington 141 and I was not disappointed - it looks "as new". In fact, it looks to be unfired to have been fired very little if at all. Besides that, the box is in VG to EXC shape. I may just clean it and put it in a display because it is that nice of a gun! Then again, whom am I kidding; of course, I will shoot it; I am more the shootist than the collector although I am a bit of that too.
After all was paid for and over, I headed right home. Had a nice drive up there with no traffic and the drive home was likewise. Quite unusual for a trip that has any part of it going through any portion of NYC. All in all an excellent trip and I picked up some really nice guns.
All the best,
Glenn B
I did the preview then headed to my motel in Penn Yan, NY about 21 miles from the auction house. I had gotten the best rate there using Hilton Honors Points; in Geneva they were asking almost double the points of the Hampton Inn in Penn Yan. I suppose that could be because, in my opinion, the heating system at the Hampton Inn at Penn Yan sucks - way too hot for an hour or two and then way too cold for the rest of the night. I should have learned when I went there the first time, this was my second stay at said motel and probably my last in the winter. Anyway, let me proceed to the auction.
Since I had checked in and gotten my bidder's number on Friday afternoon - then inspected the guns, on which I wanted to bid, during the preview - I had little reason to get to the auction house early on Saturday. I arrived around 0930 after a leisurely breakfast at my motel and a scenic drive through the countryside on the way back to Geneva. Even made a stop at a drugstore to refill a prescription for a blood pressure medication I had forgotten at home.
Well, when I arrived the place was mobbed with mostly grumpy old me from the looks of them; although, there was a decent smattering of younger & middle-aged men and a decent amount of younger to middle aged women (many more women than there would have been a decade or two ago). I meandered here, there & everywhere within the confines of the auction house and did more looking at guns. One or three more, maybe five or six, caught my eye and I planned to look them all over but had to do something more important interrupted me after looking at a couple or few. I answered the call of nature then went back to the main room of the auction house. Somehow it slipped my mind that I needed to look at two more pistols on which I wanted to bid and I wound up looking at some items in the back room and at what knives & ammo they were offering, I just never got to remembering to look at those two other pistols.
The bidding in the back room - where they auction off reloading equipment & supplies, some firearms accessories, archery equipment, and odd lots of fishing and shooting items - was already under way when I got the the auction house. No matter to me, I was interested in only one thing back there - a locking pistol attache style case. Wound up I missed my chance because bidding on it was coincidental to bidding on a gun on which I wanted to bid and a man has to know his priorities - which for me was bidding on the gun.
The bidding up front started maybe around 10 or 1030 with a snowmobile they had up as the first item, then a couple of bear traps (one vintage one going for around $800), some taxidermy mounts and an item or two more - then the guns. I had not planned to bid on anything until the 44th item on the list a Savage 111 FCNS Hunter rifle in 30-06. Thing is it had already taken it off of my list because the online bidding (which runs prior to the live bidding and ceases at 0800 on the day of the live auction) had already gone above my high bid. I starting bidding on item 61, a Huglu SXS shotgun, never had a chance as it went for way more than I was willing to pay.
I probably had about 30 guns in all that I had picked out on which I planned to bid. At least 5 or 6 of them started out with opening bids right at or above how high I was willing to go, so I declined on them. Some others I did not get the chance to bid on because thy started at close to what I would offer as my high bid and another bidder beat me to the bid I would have made. Others that I did bid on went anywhere from one bid higher to way too many dollars higher than I was willing to go. All typical for an auction.
I did have the high bids on two items - one I had intended to bid on (depending on condition) when I did my review of the catalog while still at home and another that caught my eye while I was at the auction house for the preview. The one I had been planning to bid on was a Remington 141 Gamemaster in 35 REM.
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| The Remington 141 I picked up at the Hessney Auction. |
When I came across it, I picked it up to give it a visual inspection and feel its lines. Then I checked it to see how the action operated. It was as impressive looking as a pretty young lass on a fine sunny fall day and it moved as smoothly as Chinese silk would move against her skin. I fell in love on the spot. It was not like it was an I have to have it kind of a thing but I knew for sure I would be placing bids up to my predetermined high bid amount.
I wound up with the high bid at the exact high bid price that I had planned on not going over. The thing is, this time I did not figure in the 10% buyers premium or tax as I usually do for my high bid price - so I paid 10% more (plus tax) than I normally would have; I just I liked it that much. My estimation is it is worth every penny and probably $100 to $125 more than the total I paid. Of course, that will all depend on whether it is a shooter or not but it seems everything is in working order so I am optimistic.
The other gun was one I had not planned on placing any bids being it was a pistol. I did not think I'd be bidding on any handguns. That being because should I have the high bid on any, it would require a trip to my local county PD to get a purchase document, another trip back to the auction house to pick up the handgun(s) after that and another trip to the PD to have it put on my license. Since they are having another auction in March, I figured what the heck, I will go to that one to pick up any handguns on which I may have had the high bid at this auction. So I bid on a few of them but only had the high bid on this one.
 | |||||||
| This High Standard Double Nine was offered "as new". |
After all was paid for and over, I headed right home. Had a nice drive up there with no traffic and the drive home was likewise. Quite unusual for a trip that has any part of it going through any portion of NYC. All in all an excellent trip and I picked up some really nice guns.
All the best,
Glenn B
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