Early in 2000 I went to upstate New York for an auction.  As I recall the estate of M.S. Risley's daughter (he of the "R" in the 2RLovell) was being sold, the gunshop was attached to the house, and altho MSR had died long ago and the guns sold off much in the way of odds and ends remained.   I looked rather casually at a big box of parts, a huge pile of  1903 Springfield but spotted a couple of High Wall bits in the mass.  I bid on it but was beaten out, as best I recall, at $110.  I approached the buyer, he was a Springfield man, we shook the box out onto a table and separated the single shot items.  I offered him $110, he was glad to get the 1903 stuff free.   I got 22 extractors, a flat mainspring, 5 hammers, 7 sears, 4 links, 4 triggers a couple of them SST, 8 firing pins, 8 trigger and sear springs, 3 breechblocks one for smokeless, 3 levers two of them DST, and five tangs.  Plus a bunch of pins and screws, etc.   We also bought Risley's bench rest for the Rifled Arms Historical Association,  it had been made by Harvey Donaldson and, get this, Donaldson had signed it .... as if he were Rembrandt.

Quote:


From what I've read, I figured Harvey probably thought he was even better!

Great parts find, I can only dream.............
Regards, Joe

Since I shoot and don't collect single shots My stories are all Civil War.

Was in a shop up in the Northern part of the State. He had a good selection of 03's which I was buying at that time.  I saw a nice old M1842 69 cal Horse pistol, The one with the Swivel ramrod. It had someones name carved into the grip, asking 400 bucks which was a lot at the time.  I told the shop owner who I half way knew not to sell it for a week or so. This was pre-internet. I stoped by the State Library and looked the name up.  The trouper was in a well known local Calvary unit. I got a complete copy of his service record, Certificate of service with the State seal embossed and bound regimental history for 25  bucks or so. Boxed it all up and mailed up to the gun shop. I had to supply an affidavid detailing how the reserch was done. It's very common for someone to find the soilder first then carve his name into a firearm.

He sold the pistol for over 1000 dollars and split the profit with me.   

Another time was at the big Civil War show at Richmond. Friend of mine was showing me around. He is an experinced Carbine collector. There was a nice Sharps Carbine selling with a copy of an old newspaper. The paper had an article about a train robbery, Seems a Confederate partisan unit stole a case of carbines, the serial numbers were noted and this Carbine was one of the ones stolen, a rare bird for sure.  Selling price 5000 bucks.  My friend who knows his Sharp's asked me what was wrong. I looked the Sharps over carefully, nothing wrong as far as I could see,  The newspaper was counterfit. The train robbery never happened.

I have seen tables full of Enfield muskets for sale in South Africa less than 100 dollars each.  There is no way to tell for sure if a Enfield Musket was sent by Blockade runner to the Confederacy or sold surplus in South Africa when no longer used by the British Army. Confederate use, thousands of dollars.

Let the buyer beware

Boats

Less magnitude, but similar to the "ruined collector value" story was the time I picked up a #5 Ideal powder measure that everyone the gun show had avoided because it had the "incorrect" rotor in it.  You know, the very rare micrometer type!  I cried all the way home with my $21 purchase.      Yes, it was an original #5 M, and it has become the mainstay of my loading set-up for .32-40 because it digests 4759 so well.  Too bad there's no collector value. 

Froggie

Sometimes it's like you're in the hands of Fate.  I went to a gun show once and was convinced that the long dry spell I'd suffered through would only continue.  So I went to the show with only a nominal amount of money.  Sure enough, there was a Stevens 44-1/2, pretty rare out west in any condition and quite attractively priced.  Too bad I didn't have even that much money.  I kicked myself for not taking my hobby more seriously for six weeks and went to another gun show in the same city.  Amazingly, the rifle was there; for no good reason whatsoever it hadn't been snapped up.  When I got it home, I found the number on the barrel, and its finish, didn't match that on the reblued receiver.

Over a year later, I was walking through another gun show, and there was a familiar-looking barrel.  Same heavy bluing job, same number as the receiver of the rifle at home.  Different guy selling it than the one who sold the rifle, too.  Same attractively low price, so I scarfed it up.  I was "meant" to have that rifle, for sure.  Got a third barrel later, and, as the bores of all were badly pitted, relined them to .25-20 SS, .25-20 WCF and .25-21 for a three-barrel set.

The downside of such determinism is the punishment I generally get when I do turn my nose up at the offerings of Providence.  I once failed to buy a bag of .25-20 SS brass, for the logical reason that I didn't have a .25-20 SS.  A month later, I had bought the first of several .25-20 SS's and it was quite a while before I found any shells whatsoever (and never saw that baggie full again, either).  Can't count the times I've walked past something on a table with the thought:  "That's a good price; too bad it isn't in my line."  Or, "A real barg there, but I promised myself not to start one more Project until I finished one of the ongoing ones."  "Or, "do I really want another one of those?  I've already got three."  And the next pass by the table, all that stuff is gone.

Maybe I ought to hire myself out as one of those "shopping consultants".

Heres a story, sad but true, 
I once bought a Fraser Highlander! 
Around fifteen yeats ago I read this glowing article about it in a gun magazine and a few years later I found a second hand action at a literal give away price at a gun fair and had it barreled in K Hornet. 
Before I had a stock made for it I shot it a few times to fire form the cases and the firing pin started draging on the base of the case as the action was opened. Had the breach block bushed and the firing pin made smaller. No difference and then it started to fire when the action was closed. 
Then I purchased the Frank De Hass book, A Potpourri of Single Shot Rifles and Actions and the article which he wrote about it. 
Such a pretty little rifle it would have made.

Another story, six or so years back at an Allentown PA show I spotted a plastic bucket full of small scope sights on a parts dealer's table with a sign "$5 each".   Japanese with plastic lenses, but a closer look showed the unmistable appearance of a Weaver.  Pulled it out, it was a 330, bearing the magic stamping M73B1, a 1903A3 WWII sniper scope in mint condition.  Today these are worth double what it was then but it was still the steal of the year.   I swapped it that very afternoon for a Krag carbine.

I have 3 good ones and one that will make you cry.  There was a sporting goods shop in Lewiston, Maine that I used to frequent.  One day I noticed a 94 Win. in the rack that was "slightly" different.  Looked it over, asked the price and forked over a $100 for it.  Standard price then for average octagon and round barrel rifles was around $450.  It was a 95% 1910 mfg. light weight rifle with rapid taper barrel, half magazine and express sights.  Same shop 6 months later I notice a Mannlicher in the racks.  Same price.  It was a 1908 MS with the Lyman 36 sight.  They thought it was a cut up carbine since the stock wasn't full length.  It was all original except for the added Lyman.

Bought a Remington 720 that wasn't a Navy Trophy rifle in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Asked the dealer what he wanted for it and he figured a sporterized Enfield was worth $150.  After all it had a Lyman Alaskan in Stith no tap mounts.

Now the sad one.  I was offered a 1911 Colt in 1969 for $50.  Bought it and immediately turned it over to the small arms marksmanship instructor at the Naval Air Station to get me a hardball gun made up.  I was shooting Bullseye Pistol at the time.  He did, sights, stippling, etc.  In my later years, I came to realize it is a 1912 production Colt with the Navy Slide markings.  No 1913 date on the slide.  Fortunately Turnbull can restore it (for a fee) but what an idiot I was then