Seized weapons auction???

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I attended one while I was living in Tallahassee (Fla) way back in 1975. It was a state-run affair & there was an unbelievable assortment of long guns that back in those days were not considered very valuable. I recall seeing a few nice 1903 Springfields, some Krags, pre-64 Model 94's, as well as some really high quality double barreled & pump action shotguns.
I regret not bidding seriously on one of those Krags or 1903 Springfield rifles. I believe I could have bought a very good shooter for less than $40.
 
Auctions: I love them, and I hate them.

I remember years ago, I bought at a farm auction an old Marlin 60 with a cut down stock for about 15 bucks, then restored it. That was a fun one.

Other times, I remember the auctioneer selling off individual Snap-on sockets, out of a 200 piece set, and I tell you what, after 3 full minutes of scratchy microphone system filling a tightly packed pole building, for a 10mm socket, I was just done!
 
I’ve been to one and it was enough for me to not bother going back to another one. Maybe it’s just my area, but some of the ending prices were nuts. A few examples are used Hi Points going for $175 and a used Ruger Mini-14 going for $750. This was about 10 years ago when the Mini-14s were under $700 at Walmart brand new. The only good deal to be had was the local PD had replaced their old shotguns and sold all of their old Smith & Wesson pumps and there were so many they went for pretty good prices after the first few were bid on.
 
I went to one local auction. It was a waste of time for me. They had a few nice guns but you had to bid on lots that had 10 or 12 guns. You would have to buy a dozen to get 2 or 3 that were worth having. There were 35 or 40 dealers bidding so I ran a few bids up and went home. Had better luck at estate sales, but you better know the value of the ones want. Most go for more than MSRP.
 
indy1919a4 said:
Heck, every gun I have ever purchased at an auction has not had an MSRP for decades.
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That’s kinda where I’m at with this one. There are a few off brand single action revolvers (made by heritage or the former company that made the same gun) that I will toss a $50 or $75 bid at. There is also a marlin 56 that I would love to snag, and. A shotgun or two could be interesting if they don’t go wild. I have decided to take an AR to sell and a couple revolvers so depending on how those move I may have money to play with, or I may be bringing home new toys anyway. Main thing I’m looking to do is get out of the house and not be in daddy mode for a couple hours. It’s been constant for 2 months and I need a break. Bottles all night and diapers on the hour have got me pooped.
 
Strange conflicting seized gun sales in Michigan.
I have purchased a rifle at a Grand Rapids on line gun sale that professes to sell police seized guns. That site is sslfirearms.com. They sell pistols,rifles, ammo,and all other weapon supplies for the police. Apparently it is appropriate to sell all types of seized articles.
Once a year the Mich. hwy. Ptrl. has a gun auction in Cadillac at their headquarters building. They also auction off rifles, shotguns cameras, cars, computers etc. All purporting to be siezed evidence.
The MSP people in Cadillac say they cannot offer pistols to the public. Somehow the story from Grand Rapids and the Cadillac story do not jibe! That probably can be explained by why the MSP cops have such nice pistol collections.
Live auctions like these in Cadillac usually result in prices that are a little higher than the going rate. Every one I attended looked like free beer day at the bar. No place to park within 1/2 mile and crowds that prevented me from hearing the auctioneer.
I'd like to know what the truth is about what can not be sold by law enforcement in my home state.
 
reddog81 said:
Sierra suctions out of Phoenix has police auctions on proxibid.com. Lots of plastic and beat up guns. Criminals use what ever is available and/or cheap.

Their most recent auction had prices $100 to $200 higher than I’d ever pay. Used glocks were approaching $500 and that’s before commissions, shipping and fees. In the current environment I wouldn’t expect any great deals. Any sizable live auctions I’ve ever been to had at least a few FFLs looking for inventory keeping anything from selling for to low.
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Up until a few years ago, these Sierra auctions were my go-to place for great deals. I bought NUMEROUS S&W Model 39-2s, Model 59s , Model 459, Model 559, Model 5906, Model 6906, etc for prices between $75 and $ 200. Took them home and cleaned them up and they were worth a lot more than I paid for.. I also bought a Beretta 92FS in "poor" condition for less than $200 that was covered in tape and case numbers written in grease pencil - when cleaned, looks almost brand new. Got a S&W Model 19-3 6" in nickel also listed as "poor" condition that cleaned up to "excellent". Bought it for $300 and sold for $600.

Unfortunately, these auctions have now been discovered, and I have not seen a really good deal for the last several years. The only thing that still seems to be a bargain is things like a Ruger 89 (selling for around $150-$200) and lots of Bersa .380s for around the same prices.
 
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indy1919a4 said:
This place had a fire sale on their confiscated guns . Watch out this will make you sick..





https://qz.com/africa/841081/photos-kenya-sets-fire-to-thousands-of-illegal-rifles-and-pistols/


What is sad they could have sold these to an importer and maybe made some money for their country..
Sure some are NFA but those could have been sold as kits. I did see an Enfield or 2 Oh Well... so it goes
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Its only 5,000 weapons. Knowing there are over 100 million AK 47's in the world, this is a drop in the bucket. I am sure they were replaced within days.
 
I sadly can report back about the auction. The sad part was that I got a late start and was hoping to at least get a single pass through the tables, but an hour before the auction all the vendors packed up and went to the auction leaving guard chihuahuas to man the booths. What little I saw that I would be interested in was unmanned And unmarked and as they say, if you have to ask then it’s too expensive. One gentleman was trying to get out of the gun trading game and had some incredible guns at good prices that I would have jumped on but I don’t have the money at the moment... 686-1 ppc built gun that was awesome for $750 was my first glimpse at his wares... but the rest of the “show” had boarded up and went to the auction an hour before the auction even started, so the other tables were pretty much overlooked.

AUCTION... 500 people in folding chairs in a rodeo barn that still had remnants of the last rodeo... guns sold high, people were respectful but a bit obnoxious and the guns weren’t great. I left fairly quick so I could run by Rural King and browse the ammo and gun racks.

Rural king.... Lo and behold I found an ATI lower and an Anderson lower. Both for $98 bucks total counting tax and background check fee. Home in time for dinner and got what I really wanted anyway.
 
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WestKentucky said:
I sadly can report back about the auction. The sad part was that I got a late start and was hoping to at least get a single pass through the tables, but an hour before the auction all the vendors packed up and went to the auction leaving guard chihuahuas to man the booths. What little I saw that I would be interested in was unmanned And unmarked and as they say, if you have to ask then it’s too expensive. One gentleman was trying to get out of the gun trading game and had some incredible guns at good prices that I would have jumped on but I don’t have the money at the moment... 686-1 ppc built gun that was awesome for $750 was my first glimpse at his wares... but the rest of the “show” had boarded up and went to the auction an hour before the auction even started, so the other tables were pretty much overlooked.

AUCTION... 500 people in folding chairs in a rodeo barn that still had remnants of the last rodeo... guns sold high, people were respectful but a bit obnoxious and the guns weren’t great. I left fairly quick so I could run by Rural King and browse the ammo and gun racks. Lo and behold I found an ATI lower and an Anderson lower. Both for $98 bucks total counting tax and background check fee. Home in time for dinner and got what I really wanted anyway.
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Did you see what the tippmann armory Gatling gun sell for.. Any chance you caught the serial number???
 
indy1919a4 said:
Did you see what the tippmann armory Gatling gun sell for.. Any chance you caught the serial number???
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I did SEE the Tippmann but it was going to be the last gun to sell. I saw a coworker there who was going to take a shot at it and he said he had $2k in his pocket for it but he was not expecting to get it. Didn’t see serial, but I think it’s listed on their website. I will look in a bit
 
SO used to do it last century. Until 1995 I had an 01 FFL, necessary to carry the guns off that day. Browsed maybe 100 guns during the inspection period, took a seat. Folks bid way past "new" cost, some on guns that were non-functional. I wound up with a .44mag Winchester SRC for $130, a savage pump for $45 and a Suzuki 750 for $100. Wasn't a waste of time and profitable. Too bad the libs took over and ended anything gun related on .gov property. Joe
 
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