Storage auction, I won! Or did I...

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bighammer

bighammer

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I went to a local storage auction last week. Two other bidders there. The unit was 5x15 feet, stacked up pretty high. Everything was in sealed boxes, no way of knowing what was in them...

I should have passed, but nobody else bid, so I opened with $10.... And Got it.

Went back and started cleaning it out, box after box of JUNK. I mean total garbage. There was even boxes of canned food in there that were all rusty.

I ended up with a couple items of interest. One is a five shooter, maybe .38 (?) it is called American Bull Dog.

My wife is going through a bunch of jewelry, mostly costume stuff, but some gold and silver. Nothing of high value.

So for $10 I got to go to the dump and pay $57 to get rid of somebody else's crap.

It was kind of a treasure hunt, but no treasure at the end. Will I do it again? Maybe, but I will try to be a little more selective!
 

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Anybody know anything about these? I can't find any serial number.

The gun seems jammed, I can't rotate the barrel. It will prolly just be a wall art piece
 

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The jewelry might be worth something.

I'd take the canned stuff to a scrapyard...that's steel!

Whats that thing behind the vacuum?

And if that's an old Hoover...keep it! It will pick up anything and last you 50 years! I'm still using the one my grandmother bought at Woolworths in about 1975.

I might soak the revolver in oil to see if it will free the cylinder. Maybe take it to a gun shop, pick the dude's brain? Something that elaborately-tooled...never know, it could be a specialty model of some sort worth a few bucks.
 
American Bulldogs were made by Iver Johnson. If it was made prior to 1968, it might not have a serial number. Look closely on the trigger guard and under the left grip for a serial number. If it does not have one and if there are no grind marks where one was removed, it did not have one. In decent working condition, about 150 bucks.
 
If its real pearl handles and engraved, I'd at
least have in looked at by a knowledgeable gun smith.
 
If you got a cool old gun and some jewelry, congratulations. Ten bucks is a good deal.
 
For 10 bucks plus dump fee I think you did good, pistol alone might be of value. Post back if you find anything out on it.. I will give you 10 bucks for it BTW :glasses7:
 
ducter said:
For 10 bucks plus dump fee I think you did good, pistol alone might be of value. Post back if you find anything out on it.. I will give you 10 bucks for it BTW :glasses7:
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Ill go $11 for the revolver. :D
 
TV makes it look fun but that is a tough business. In fact I will go a step further and say TV ruined what once was a tough business. :-D

The gun is kinda cool though.
 
20$ and I"ll pick it up since you can't ship a firearm! LOL.

here is some interesting info... you may have already found this though.
 
69B-Cuda said:
20$ and I"ll pick it up since you can't ship a firearm! LOL.

here is some interesting info... you may have already found this though.
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Not unless you have a Dealer ship it to another Dealer. It can't be shipped person to person as far as I know, but Dealer to Dealer is another story. That's how its done on the online gun sites.


Edit :

Of course that requires the usual background check, registration and what not. I'm not sure how one would go about that for a gun with no Serial #.
 
A friend and I were talking about what people pay to store. You would think what the storage fees are there would be some good stuff in there

They will pay for years on junk then stop paying and the auction begins.

Yes you will get some good stuff but might end up with a pile of trash.

The pistol looks cool would soak as suggested in penetrating oil.
 
I wonder about shows like Storage Wars, Storage Wars Texas, and Auction Hunters, like how much of it is staged for the cameras. Do the buyers really go at each other like that? I've never been to storage auctions, but I have been to estate auctions, city surplus equipment auctions, seized vehicle auctions, and auction houses, and I've never seen the bidders trash talk each other like they do on those shows. The biggest problem I've run into are the auction companies themselves who put fake bidders in the crowds to run up the bids.

And while they do show the buyers striking out losing money on units from time to time, I have to wonder if that's not the norm most of the time. My opinion only, but I bet they end up buying trash and junk far more often than what's depicted on the shows. After all, if they showed the buyers picking through worthless junk most of the time, it probably wouldn't help the ratings. And that brings me to my next question; how much of that stuff is staged for the cameras and for ratings? I know people do store valuable items that end up abandoned, but does it really happen as often as we see on those shows?

I think $10 to $20 bucks is about all I'd give for any unit, and I certainly wouldn't go nuts like they do on those so-called reality shows, because I bet most of the time, you'll end up hauling off someone else's garbage. In your case, $10 sounds about right and I'd have the gun checked out.
 
74Dusted said:
Not unless you have a Dealer ship it to another Dealer. It can't be shipped person to person as far as I know, but Dealer to Dealer is another story. That's how its done on the online gun sites.


Edit :

Of course that requires the usual background check, registration and what not. I'm not sure how one would go about that for a gun with no Serial #.
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One could, theoretically,simply wrap it in foam, put it in an unmarked box, and give it to the FedEx guy...
 
WildCat said:
A friend and I were talking about what people pay to store. You would think what the storage fees are there would be some good stuff in there

They will pay for years on junk then stop paying and the auction begins.

Yes you will get some good stuff but might end up with a pile of trash.

The pistol looks cool would soak as suggested in penetrating oil.
Click to expand...

A local place had someone pay to store stuff, then stop paying...the unit was filled with haz-mat stuff. :( Used coolant, asbestos insulation, a couple old freezers, oil paint, etc.
 
Lol, nope! It's sitting in my drawer still. It's really not in very good shape; I googled it one time and found out a little about it. I don't think it has any notoriety or anything like that, as far as being collectible.
 
Kinda resurrected.

Since it is, I thought I would throw this in. It is perfectly legal for a private citizen to ship a firearm. We are not bound by the same laws as an FFL. The way the law is in Georgia, guns can be shipped to anyone from anyone within the state and can be shipped out of state as long as the state it is going to has reciprocity.
 
I don't understand all those big words... Reprocity? Anyway, sounds like it can go fedex if it's packed well and wrapped in foam..
 
Reciprocity. Root word: Reciprocate. You do the same for me I do to you. Get it? lol
 
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