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Rare , butt ugly though, just to Me.
W.A.C.A. life member, Marlin Collectors Assn. charter and life member, C,S.S.A. member and general gun nut.
Yes, Moorish engraving is not the best to look.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
November 7, 2015
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steve004 said
So, it sold low. Hammer price was $11,000. Estimate had been $12 to $18K. Darn rare carbine!
Did it sell? I can’t tell, maybe it had a reserve that wasn’t met.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Did it sell? I can’t tell, maybe it had a reserve that wasn’t met.
Mike
I thought I heard the auctioneer shout sold at the final bid. I could be wrong. Now that I’ve seen a few of the comments here, I can see how despite this piece’s great rarity, there are some aspects that are not as desirable. Twenty-five dollars of engraving is a lot of engraving for back then, but it is not the most attractive engraving. I always enjoy the comments here as they often provide a new way of looking at something.
November 7, 2015
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The problem I often have is assigning a dollar value to rarity, Steve. I think you’re right about desirability. I have no desire to own this carbine but if I was the seller I would have been disappointed. Auctions are an enigma to me. I’m seriously considering thinning the herd a bit and I think auctions are the way to go today. Then a sale like this comes along. Should be an interesting weekend.
Mike
TXGunNut said
The problem I often have is assigning a dollar value to rarity, Steve. I think you’re right about desirability. I have no desire to own this carbine but if I was the seller I would have been disappointed. Auctions are an enigma to me. I’m seriously considering thinning the herd a bit and I think auctions are the way to go today. Then a sale like this comes along. Should be an interesting weekend.
Mike
Mike – I have the same sentiments about assigning a dollar value to rarity. This is especially true when we are talking about non-mainstream brands. In those cases, rarity often translates into less potential buyers. For example, my Standard Arms Camp .50 slide action rifle. I looked for over 20 years before I found one. They are very rare. The problem I am finding out is that the guys who want one are even more rare. Also, interest can be deceiving. I’ve shown that Camp .50 to others and the response is usually something like, “that’s so cool!” That doesn’t mean they want to reach into their wallets for it.
I also have the same sentiments about thinning the herd. Auctions can be a real crap shoot. I’ll bet you’re right – the seller of that ’73 carbine we’re discussing probably was disappointed. As much as we extolled the rarity of this one-of-a-kind ’73 carbine on this forum, it doesn’t seem to have driven the bidding up. The perils of thinning the herd have been on my mind for a couple years. I sure wish that Austinsguns or Chayns would take consignments. I’ve seen each of them auction hundreds of guns and I don’t think I’ve ever thought to myself, “that sold low.”
i have been selling a few of my winchester lever actions(nothing rare) to friends at a little lower price after checking out what the local auction houses charge for their services(20-22 precent), if i offer up a rifle for auction that i paid 1000.00 for it has to bring 1200-1300 for me to brake even and it may not even bring that amount. so the auction houses around here are out.
I worked in Iraq (civilian contractor) for years and that 8 pointed star was everywhere in the architecture. I always looked at it as Sadam’s version of the Nazi Swastika. (I am sure I am way off base on this notion).
Seeing one on a gun does nothing for me.
TXGunNut said
My theory about the use of finished rifles modified to fill special orders is that somehow it made sense at the time for the custom shop to use a finished piece instead of building a rifle (or carbine) from a bare frame. I suspect the regular production lines were more efficient than the custom shop so modifying an existing piece may have been the simplest and most economical way to fill a special order in some cases. I think I’ve seen it before on rifles that spent time in the warehouse unsold, maybe that’s the case with this carbine. I find it interesting that according to the data in the Red Book the receiver was likely produced a year or two before the carbine was built. OTOH I may be overthinking this. Someone once remarked that the early Winchester employees would be very amused with all the conjecture these days about their activities.
Mike
Another possibility – Maybe the custom shop was backlogged and therefore pulling an already finished rifle meant less time for the shop guys to fill the order. OR maybe it made the custom shop look better to the accountants who were only focused on the number of hours it took to earn the special order fee. Kinda hard for them to figure if the shop was profitable if they had to build from scratch. Bean counters are like that…
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