The 2017 June Regional Gun Auction was only the second 4-Day sale ever hosted by Rock Island Auction Company – the other being held this past February – and if these results are any indicator, the company may be forced to continue its trend of gigantic gun auctions. With tens of thousands of sealed bids pouring in, roughly 25% of the lots had a tie winning bid before the live bidding began. It provided some hot competition, but collectors were more than up for the challenge and it resulted in a realized total over $7 million.

Each day had its own surprises, containing both bargains and lots that inspired prolonged bidding battles, much to the shock of those in attendance. Needless to say, each infused excitement into the days and kept the bidders on their toes.

Day 1

Thursday set the tone early when lot #1, an engraved Winchester Model 1866, beat its $6,500 low estimate to realize $11,500. The surprise of the day came later during lot 671, which contained a Remington Model 8 and a Model 81 rifle. The Model 8, chambered in .35 Rem had an extended magazine marked “Peace officer equipment Co, St. Joseph, MO” and the Model 81, in addition to having a similarly marked magazine had markings on the left side of the receiver that read “Police Gun – Property of Sheriff Dept No 39, Los Angeles County.” The cool factor was off the charts and was recognized by multiple collectors who drove the bids to an $11,500 realized price, far beyond its $1,600 high estimate.

The second day of auction again saw solid performance by a variety of lever guns, including the attractive and engraved Henry rifle in lot 2008 that achieved a $25,875 price. The surprises came in a myriad of genres. A fair condition Borchardt pistol with its shoulder stock sold for more than double its high estimate and reached $17,250, and leading a strong performance in the bladed weapons was lot 2527’s set of 25 Case folding knives that brought $10,350 and far surpassed the $2,750 high estimate. Russian guns, German guns, knives, hunting rifles, and guns of the Old West – it mattered little as collectors hungrily snapped up anything that came across the block.

Day 3

Saturday was the largest day of the auction and contained over 1,200 lots. Needless to say, our auctioneers were really moving to get through them all in a timely fashion, but it never came at the expense of good prices for our consignors. Lot 4857’s scoped Springfield M1903 bested a $1,500 estimate en route to a $7,475 payday and proving once again the strong interest in military sniper rifles, a Walther “ac/44” code K43 sniper rifle in lot 4492 shot down a $2,250 high estimate before bagging a $5,462 final figure. Other German military arms performed strongly throughout the day, as did their U.S. military counterparts, and the Colt Single Action Army revolvers.

Day 4

The final day had arrived and now it was time for some new genres to rear their head and show their popularity among collectors. Colt revolvers were front and center all day, and lot 6601 was a perfect example. Containing two Colt DA target revolvers with gold inlaid Rampant Colts, the pair walloped their $1,600 high estimate and realized $8,050. Kentucky full and half-stock rifles got in on the action early and showed their staying power in lot 6069, when a lot of four of the muzzle-loaders powdered a $3,000 high estimate and found a new home also for $8,050.

Examples like these go on and on. Military arms, Colts, Winchesters, knives, DA revolvers and more all sold extremely well, making for many happy collectors and consignors. Momentum from Rock Island Auction’s already successful 2017 looks to carry the world’s #1 firearm auction house into their September Premiere Auction, a sale anchored by no less than seven outstanding collections which bring to market a host of fresh, high condition, and historic firearms certain to demand the attention of collectors and investors. For more information on the September Premiere Auction, please click here or visit the RIA webpage at www.rockislandauction.com.

Prices realized may be seen by clicking here or downloaded as a PDF file.

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