Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
Agreed. Probably a bit more cynical than I needed to be. Yes, one can still find that rare treasure whose owner has no real idea what they hold, but with Al Gore's invention of the Interwebs, that's getting nothing but harder and harder. That, and there has always been a moral side to such dealings...
Fact is, today, the average duffer at the gun show or on some on-line auction site will have a pretty good idea of what he has and of its value. It's just so easy for a seller to research one piece before he puts it on the table. If he has not, in this day and age, he will likely over - not under - value it anyway. At least until he brings it home a few times.
Anyway, guns do remain a solid investment, and are way more fun than bonds. The big gains for the average collector, however, are just unrealistic anymore. Like I said, the items themselves are just too well vetted, and the big playas make the rules and set the prices. At a certain level - a profitable level - it very much becomes their game. They don't like to lose. As long as you are content to stay in AAA, or maybe AA (if not B) league, you can have a lot of fun without potentially losing your ass when one of the sharks bites it off.
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Boy oh boy this is gona be strike number deuce in this Thread for youse....
At the begining of December I picked this up:
https://www.proxibid.com/aspr/Springfield-Armory-Model-1903-Rifle-30-06-Cal/33377220/LotDetail.asp?lid=33377220&rfpb=0#Top
. Bought it sight unseen, called the auctioneer to put his eyeballs on it before bidding. Consignor brought in a trove of WW1 veteran of the 28Th Division memorabilia and equipment along with this rifle, a GEW 98 and some bayonets. Got satisfactory answers, thought it could possibly be a straight 1923 NM. Took a chance.
Well it finally came today, and guess what it is a 1923 NM that is not only straight but in very minty condition. Mostly a few blemishes on the stock. Star gauged barrel, Star Gauge number under hand guard on barrel, NM type rear sight, polished bolt and receiver followers, light with no creep trigger pull. Plus all other standard marking are correct as well.
I just gotta say WOW!!!!! I have looked for years trying to find a straight interwar years 1903 Springfield. I had bought two others that didn't meet my standard so they found new homes. This one is it, came out of the wood work probably from the family of the Vet who it just didn't matter to anymore (The vet almost certainly bought this rifle through the DCM). Almost all that you see out there are arsenal reconditioned and reworks done from the 1920's through the 1940's. Let alone being a NM, most NM's that you see have shot out barrels from being used in Matches. This one's barrel is still strong. So being literally a attic find it is quite rare.
As far as the bidding went, I led all the pre bidders going into the auction. That means that no "Big Player" had noticed it. So my competition came from a floor bidder who had eyeballed the 03 which is a good sign. But thought it was just a clean run of the mill post war 03 and bid to that value. Well guess what 3X to 5X money on this one. This one you will have to pry out of my cold dead hands.