RIA prices realized

[Bodyman]

Did you guys see these? Prices realized on Garands sold at Rock Island Auction in the December auction a few weeks ago (hope the link works).

https://www.rockislandauction.com/ca...=M1%2520Garand

The prices shown include the buyers premium, and the seller has to pony up too so don't get stars in your eyes if you are thinking about selling some of your stuff this way, but they do get good prices for good pieces. Some of them did way better than I thought they would, and just like an auction, some didn't even come close. If you get the chance, the pre-view day is worth a trip (and I personally wouldn't buy without handling, especially when you get to the higher end stuff). Lots of class III stuff and you get to handle some pretty choice items! Though I didn't get the big stuff to come home with me but I did put some finger prints all over 'em, ...

[RDS]

Thank for for posting. Very interesting. Gotta make you think.

[Bubba1]

Nice... What did 123,666 look like in person ? I've only seen black and white photos until they released two side views for the auction. It was disheartening to see the annealed heel . I wonder how much was original or if it was original and they only annealed the heel .

[RCS]

Paul, The story on 123666. Matt Wright had received a large shipment of Wisconsin "barn wood" from Pete Michaels (St Charles, Il) some of these stocks were not that good for
resale. It was believed that Wright found a WRA WB double box stock among this barn wood and put together 123666 in California. Irle Otte bought 123666 from Wright for $2000.00
which was considered to be very expensive at the time, but still a very rare cartouche. The only photo that was displayed of the cartouche side of 123666 were in Duff's WW2 book
on page 175, does not show any evidence of a annealed color to the receiver, but other things were changed in his book, so you don't really know if that receiver was 123666 in the Duff
photo. The auction photo shows the anneal color on 123666. Otte sold 123666 to a dealer who sold it to Canfield. Someone really wanted that WRA WB double box stock to pay the
$13800.00 auction price and get an annealed receiver with that stock

[Bubba1]

Canfield's book doesn't show an annealed heel either. It's all on the angle and lighting in which you take the photos . Black and white photos seem to hide a lot of detail anyway but they are cheaper to publish so I can see why Billy, Bruce, and Scott used them over color.

[CCyooper]

Thank you for the information and history on the rifle.

[Bodyman]

I drove out just to see it. I wish I could have taken them apart but they don't allow that. Heck, they won't even let you take pictures of them, but I did get to leave a lot of finger prints on a few of them! For my own reference I printed out the pics and collector notes from the auction on a few of them and then added a few of my own notes to them.

I probably should have just driven down to Louisiana when Bruce still owned 123,666, I'm sure he would have let me handle it as much as I wanted. Here is what I got from the few moments I did handle it. The condition was disappointingly rough (to be expected from a service rifle, I really just hoped for more, ...) - the old black and white pics in the books make it look much better than it does in person. I was pleased to see that the pictures from the auction were very representative and actually quite accurate. I don't get all that concerned about annealed heels on Winchesters, but it is definitely a rifle that I would want to take several weeks to get to know better and to see what I could really learn, but just getting to handle it was cool. On the other stuff, understand that way back in the day when this rifle first showed up, it was the infancy of collecting these rifles. For some folks it was just not frowned upon as it is today to 'improve' them a little here and there especially on these well used rifles that did not have excellent condition and that were not as valued (Winchesters were often still considered inferior and a well used one was even less of a prize), but I never met Matt Wright or Irle Otte and have no idea how original this one might be or what happened in service, or what changes might have been made later. Like I said, I couldn't even take it out of the stock.

The stock set all looked to be the real deal, but I haven't got a good feel as to if it might be a complete swap or not. I know I have always thought this serial number was too late for the cartouche but there are too many ways for that to happen, especially in early production. Had the rifle been helped somewhere back in the day? Yes. I would never expect such a well used rifle that went thru WWII to show up with every single part unmolested and unchanged. Which of the various bits were together from the get-go, well, ... 120 seconds is just not enough time to say very much of anything for certain, especially when you cannot see all the various bits. Even saying all that, I called the gavel price pretty closely and though I didn't bring it home I figured this might be the last time I will have a chance to see it for the next many years (if ever), so I just wanted to see it in person while I could. It was neat and without a doubt it was a real treat. When it comes down to it, of the real double box WB stocks out there it is still among the very best if not nearly THE best example of that rarest of Winchester cartouches (and without doubt the most documented of them), and the rifle is probably the only one that has a chance of being any level of substantially original - that means it is pretty much one of, ... well, ...

one.

For research, it is a data point - you decide what weight to give it after you examine it. For collectibility, it is one of one with nothing else to compare - you decide what value to give it that makes you happy. To each his own. Like I said at the start, I wouldn't shell out the big money without handling something but buy what you enjoy.

The surprise of the day was actually the buffet after the pre-view - not just average, but quite good food, and live music! It was really nice and we will definitely do it again. It was like a gun show on steroids!

AMHO Best all.

[Moorem1s]

Great write-up Bodyman! Thanks!