Of course, I am referring to the AMT Hardballer with the long slide as I wrote about in my post immediately prior to this one. I bid in a Hessney.com auction today, it was one of their combined Military & Sportsman Auctions and it had a nice variety of weaponry (firearms and blades), sporting rifles, lots and lots of ammo, firearms accessories, militaria, taxidermy items, decoys, generators and two cars. One of the cars was a 1954 Buick Century with a only13K original miles (or so it was claimed & I have no reason to doubt it), it sold for 16K.
As for the guns I started to bid fairly early on 'once they got to some of the handguns after a barrage of rifles & shotguns. I had bid on the hardballer already but had to stop, it just got above what I wanted to pay. It ultimately sold for $1050.00. Another one I bid on was a Colt 1911 commemorative of The Battle of Belleau Wood in WWI France. A battle in which the U.S. Marines kicked German butt and in all likelihood those marines were the only reason that the Kaiser was not soon after sitting in Paris enjoying some Cognac and a nice buttery croissant. I stopped bidding at around $600.00 or so. The Colt 1911 looked nice and all but I wanted something much more than any 1911 - even a fancy one with gold inlay and that came in a display case. What I wanted was another Colt, more about it in a bit.
Well, the bids on the Belleau Wood Colt 1911 got up above my spending limit, then over $700 then stalled at $800 after a few more bids in $25 increments. My son gets into these auctions, sometimes I place bids for him, and we were texting each other back and forth and he wrote:
"That world war 1 commemorative colt is at a pretty low price"
His next message a moment later said:
"There is one on gunbroker with 1500 dollars worth of bids right now."
The right now was at 0931 this morning Central Time and as I said its bid was at $800.00. Yes, I knew they could go for nice bucks, much more than only $800.00 but this one while supposedly unfired was only in about 98%+ finish condition as per Joe Hessney the auction house owner. (I almost almost always send them an email before I bid, asking for the condition of the guns in which I have an interest.) So, I told my son forget it because I wanted that other Colt, the one I just said I'd tell you more about; I will tell you more but not yet. After only two minutes though, I sent a message to my son asking if the bid had just gone up and he replied "Yea". Then I sent him another message saying:
"Some asshole bid on it!"
I also included a photo of my laptop screen - this photo:
As you can see, it showed the new high bid of $825.00. What it also showed was the key word - do you see it. It's a bit off center to your left and closer to the top than the bottom. That word is in green. Yep, that's it - the word "WINNING". That word only shows up on the high bidder's screen. My son & I sent each other a few more message, me mostly hoping I did not maintain my place as the high bidder (because I wanted that other Colt - the one I promise to tell you about). Then at 0938, he sent me another text saying:
"Holy crap u got it!"
My reply was:
"Shit shit shit, I got it".
Oh well, bidding had ended on it, I was soon to become $825.00, plus a 13% buyers premium, shipping charges and an FFL fee (on my end) poorer. This is what I got:
I may keep it, I may sell it, who knows but it will soon be mine to do with as I see fit. I am sure to enjoy owning it at least until I don't. The auction continued.
Not long afterward, at 0953 I found out that I'd also be out another $650.00 plus that 13% buyer's premium, shipping and and FFL fee (on my end). I had the high bid on the other Colt. That other Colt is a model I have owned before but as opposed to this latest one, a big difference was that the first one I owned was the first variety of that particular model and manufactured in the first year, as I recall, of its existence. The one I bid on today (actually yesterday by now since it is after midnight) was the second variation and this one was made many years later in 1955. It is a Colt Detective Special. This one:
The second and remarkable difference between the two is that the first one had the front sight partially filed down by some knucklehead who had it before I got it, then I was the knucklehead because I never noticed before bidding on it. Luckily a third knucklehead bought it from me at a very small loss to me so it turned out okay and YES I told the buyer about the front sight and she did not give a hoot.
Back to the one I got today, or at least had the high bid on yesterday as I obviously have not received it yet. I have been wanting to get a Detective Special ever since my first year in my duty station in the Border Patrol, that was back in 1980. Me being THE Great Procrastinator, I did not get one until 2018; talk about procrastinating - that was 38 years after me first wanting one. Joe Hessney told me that this current one is all original and is in 98% condition; pretty good for a revolver made in 1955 that being 68 years ago. There are two very special things, for me, about this one over my first one and they are that: It was made in 1955 - the year of my birth and that it is the second variation and I am the second born of my other two siblings. It almost seemed as it was meant for me; so, I was okay to pay almost top dollar for it being it was also in such good condition. I figure top dollar to be $50 to $100 more than I will have to pay in total. That is based on others I have see sell on GunBroker.com; well, maybe even another hundred atop that amount. It made me a happy camper but also made me feel that much poorer.
After having the high bid on those, I steeled myself to stop bidding on more guns. I had set a limit of $1,200 and was already above it thanks to the urging of my gun and auction loving male heir. The only problem with that was that I had started bidding days ago and had one more bid already made. That was on a Chinsese SKS with a black synthetic folding stock, this one:
I'd rather have one with the original stock but Joe told me this one was 90%+ with an excellent bore and I bid $200.00. What I could not understand was that in the day or three since I had placed that bid on it - no one else bid on it. China SKS rifles with aftermarket stocks like this on regularly sell for $300 on GunBroker if not more. Nobody else bid on it yesterday either and that befuddles me. Regardless of my confusion about why there were no other bids, I was out, or soon will be out, of another $200.00 plus the 13% buyer's premium, shipping charges and the FFL fee (on my end ($200.00). Oh well, life and bidding went on.
I had a number of another high bids to include eight 30 round AK mags, a 5 round AK mag, an early Russian AK bayonet with scabbard, and SOG folding knife, several gun related books and some books on the old west, two WWII military field telephones (my son had me bid on them for him), three 22 LR mags for AR style 22 rifles, two 10 round AR mags, a Galco Escort Waistpack which ironically had an AMT Hardballer listed as the first pistol, of several, that it fits; a Galco inside the waistband 1911 holster and finally a Hornady set of reloading dies in 30-06 - new in the unopened box.
To say the least, it has turned out to be an expensive day for me well over my self imposed but not stuck to limit of $1,200.00 of winning bids. It's an addiction a hobby that I enjoy. That's okay, I will sell some stuff sooner or later to help make up for what I spent today. A few lucky folks at the next gun show wherein I have a table or two will get some excellent prices on a gun or two, some ammo and accessories and magazines because I often sell at cost and too often at just below cost so I can recoup some cash for my latest acquisitions. I am not anti-profit but I am not greedy either. If I can sell stuff at a gun show that helps me maintain close to an equilibrium as to funds expended and funds coming in, I am happy even if on the short side so long as by not very much. Of course making a few bucks would also be welcome yet I do gun shows more for the fun of it and as I said to recoup most of the cash I spent in my most recent auction or purchase.
All the best,
Glenn B
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