Did anyone else happen to follow the Poulin & Associates auction on Sunday?  They liquidated a large portion of mega-collector Lewis Yearout’s estate.  There were a lot of very rare guns that sold really reasonably.  Not a lot of high condition Winchesters were offered.  It looks like most of the high condition guns from his estate are offered in the upcoming James Julia auction.  Looking at the results, I couldn’t help but wonder if the market is softening or if it’s just the typical seasonal drop that seems to happen around hunting season.

I’m happy to say that I was able to pick up an extremely rare 1895 for my collection.  It’s a 303 British flatside with a pistol grip and shotgun butt, along with Lyman front and receiver sights and factory sling eyes.  There were only a handful of 303 British flatsides made, right at the transition to the second model ’95’s.  Never thought I’d find one.  It’s not a high condition gun, but one that I’m very happy to add to my ’95 collection.  I’ll try to add pictures when it arrives.  It’s also featured on page 417 of “The Winchester Book”.  It wasn’t the best bargain of the day, but I am certainly happy with the price for such a rare gun.