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The Rare and Historic Firearms On The Block at the James D. Julia Auction House

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:10:51 -0400

James D. Julia Auctions has made tiny Fairfield, Maine, a destination for gun fanciers. Julia’s spring and fall auctions offer pieces that are among the highest works of the gun makers art; are steeped in history; are exceedingly rare, and sometimes all three combined. Guns from Kentucky rifles to M16s, owned by the famous and the infamous alike sell at Julia’s.

Voumes 1 & 2 of the fall auction catalog contain an overwhelming 700 pages of guns and related items, such as Douglas MacArthur’s gun case. Here is a preview of the the fall 2011 auction that runs October 4-5 as well as a look back at some guns from past Julia auctions.

Cali Paterson Colt Revolver Fetches Nearly $1 Million at Auction

Online Editors — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:00:40 -0400

The gun recognized as one of the greatest Paterson Colts fetched a record $977,500 at auction in Dallas at Heritage Auctions on Sept. 18, the most a single firearm has ever fetched at open auction. It surpassed the previous record firearm auction price of $920,000, also for a Colt revolver. The buyer of the Paterson Colt was identified only as a “Silicon Valley mogul.”

The entire Cali collection sold extremely well, a testament to collector Al Cali’s eye for quality according to Greg Martin of Greg Martin Auctions. In addition to the Paterson Colt, a pair of revolvers tied for second highest price at the sale at $805,000 apiece, both well above their pre-auction estimates. One was a cased, engraved presentation Model 1861 New Model Navy; the other, a cased ivory-gripped Colt Third Model Dragoon revolver, engraved by Gustave Young and inscribed to “Colonel P.M. Milliken.” The “Thumbprint Walker” brought $690,000.

For details and photos of the Paterson, the 1861 Navy, the Dragoon, the Tumbprint Walker and other amazing items from the Cali Collection, click here or on the photo above.

Announcing the 2011 Gun Nut Target Photo Contest

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 13:22:42 -0400

Random Thoughts: Fine Guns and Mixed Martial Arts

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 08:46:34 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Fine English shotguns are a hot commodity, says Time magazine. Investors seeking to diversify their portfolios after the disasters of the last couple of years have discovered the fine gun market. The limited supply of fine guns – most makers build very few guns a year – keeps the market strong.

For instance, thirteen of Eric Clapton’s guns, including a pair of specially engraved William Evans doubles, recently brought over $700,000 at Sotheby’s.

Fine English doubles are appreciating at 3 to 5 percent per year, which isn’t much, but it’s steady. Besides which, in the event of complete global ruin, you have a gun – albeit one that only holds two shells.

* * *

It is unfortunate with all the attention brought to New York slasher Maksim Gelman, we don’t hear as much about Joe Lozito, the man who helped disarm him in a bloody fight on the subway. Lozito says years of watching Mixed Martial Arts helped him survive.

Lozito is a regular guy who works at New York’s Lincoln Center but commutes two hours each way by train and subway from Philadelphia so his family can live in a better neighborhood. On the subway to work last week he was confronted by Gelman holding a knife.

As other commuters fled to the next car, Lozito fought. Although he has no martial arts training, Lozito tried a move he had seen while watching MMA matches. The 260 pounder went for Gelman’s legs. The two men then grappled on the floor of the car. Despite receiving several deep cuts, Lozito was able to grab Gelman’s knife hand. Transit police joined the fight and Gelman was subdued. Another passenger applied pressure to Lozito’s wounds and helped keep him alive. Gelman has been indicted on 13 counts, included four murder charges and the attempted murder of Joe Lozito. Said Lozito from his hospital bed: “I'm glad he picked me. There were a lot of women and children on the train who couldn't defend themselves. He picked me and instinct kicked in.”

Wonderland On Paper: 70 Classic Gun Advertisements Published in Field & Stream from 1940 to 1960

Online Editors — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:48:38 -0400

How to Shoot a Magazine for Fun and (Maybe) Profit

Online Editors — Thu, 27 May 2010 13:20:41 -0400

We want you to take the July issue of Field & Stream out and shoot it. Well, not the whole magazine, but the target on page 49. It’s part of the special Gun Nut issue, in which DEP and I put this blog on the pages of the Field & Stream. In the section you’ll find shooting advice, lots of guns, Gun Nut rules to live by and such vital minutiae as my five favorite gun scenes in the movies and Dave’s nominations for the Three Meanest Gunwriters Ever. The issue hits newsstands on June 22nd.

Back to the target. We want you to shoot it. Really. With any gun, at any range. One shot or many – doesn’t matter – then shoot it again, this time with a camera. You can be in the picture, too. Whoever takes the photo our editors like best wins a Smith & Wesson M&P MOE in 5.56mm. And by “wins” I mean, we give it to you (via a registered FFL dealer) and you get to keep it. You can enter the contest here once your issue arrives.

I have shot a bunch of phone books (you test penetration by seeing how far in the alphabet the pellets reach) but I don’t recall ever shooting a magazine so you are on your own in your choice of guns and ammunition. My only advice is be safe, be creative, have fun, and send us your pictures.

There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t send in pictures of more than one target. That will require buying more magazines which, of course, is all part of our insidiously brilliant plan. Magazines are supposed to be dying out, killed by the Internet as delivered on home computers, laptops, phones and iPads. Maybe someday, but for now, we are proud to say we have created an app for a magazine that can’t be replicated on a screen. Well, I guess you can shoot your laptop if you want to, but we won’t let you win a gun for doing it.

Chad Love: Locked & Loaded in Parkland

Joe_Cermele — Wed, 27 May 2009 15:28:51 -0400

There's already been a boatload of bloviation expressed on the recent reversal of the ban on loaded firearms in our national parks, some of it sensible but most of it (predictably) bordering on hysterics.

This column from the Huffington Post is a perfect example:

"In fact, the new rule is likely to make national park visitors less safe around wildlife. Packing heat could give some people a false sense of security and make them more likely to approach bison, elk, moose, and grizzly bears, rather than keep a safe distance which is better for both people and animals."

But the most certain outcome of this congressional action is that it will promote poaching. The National Park Service warned in its fiscal 2006 budget submission each year for the past several years ... The data suggests that there is a significant domestic as well as international trade for illegally taken plant and animal parts." Poaching, the agency said, "is suspected to be a factor in the decline of at least 29 species of wildlife and could cause the extirpation of 19 species from the parks."

Two points I'd like to make in response. First, poaching. When you make an argument it's generally a pretty good idea to make sure the data you use in defense of your argument actually support it. Apparently Mr. Markarian skipped that chapter in his high school debate class. There's absolutely no, none, nada, zip not a shred of evidence or data to support his assertion that allowing visitors firearms "promotes poaching." He, to be perfectly blunt, reached around his backside and pulled that statement out of his a**. And that National Park Service budget submission he quoted was published in...2006. Yes, three years ago. You know, back when packing in national parks was illegal.

Second, it's obvious the author has never visited a national park. If he had he would know that it's complete fantasy to believe that current (unarmed) visitors to our national parks exhibit good judgment and keep a safe, prudent distance from roadside wildlife. Quite the opposite. Thanks to the constant anthropomorphization we're subjected to we now believe that wild animals have a deep, intrinsic empathy toward humans. They would love us, if only we would put down our guns and let them.

In fact, if one could make a sweeping generalization about the common sense of the average American tourist by observing their behavior around national park wildlife, one would have to reach the inevitable conclusion that we're already a nation of clueless, pushy, overly-aggressive suburban jackasses. Guns certainly aren't going to change that. If you point out the obvious fact that wild animals have no interest in connecting with us on a spiritual level but if we intentionally harass them they will most assuredly connect with us on a physical level, then you're simply an unevolved lout who doesn't get it. See video below.

But I'm a pragmatist, and I think I've reached a compromise that will make everyone happy. Why don't we make loaded firearms illegal within say, 100 yards of any RV-accessible road but allow loaded firearms in campsites and on all trails? This achieves two goals: it gives backcountry hikers and campers a measure of personal protection from criminal and animal attack. It also gives park wildlife the freedom to (without the threat of being shot) continue stomping, goring, maiming and otherwise communing with the hordes of camera-wielding Animal Planet watchers who choke our national park roads every summer.

Discussion Topic: Field & Stream Wins ASME’s Highest Honor

Joe_Cermele — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:32:04 -0400

F&S is the best magazine of its size on the planet. Okay, I’m a little biased on that point--but it’s not just me who thinks so. Last night, the country’s top magazine editors representing the country’s top magazines met at New York City’s Lincoln Center for the 44th Annual National Magazine Awards. Known as Ellies, these are basically the Oscars of the magazine industry, and “General Excellence” is “Best Picture.”

The 2009 General Excellence nominees for magazines with a circulation of 1 to 2 million were: Field & Stream, Bon Appetit, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Popular Science. And the winner is, from the American Society of Magazine Editors website:

Field & Stream: Anthony Licata, editor, for May, June, December/January issues
From tips on becoming a total outdoorsman to profiles of veteran amputees reentering the world of hunting, Field & Stream respects its readers enough to challenge them. Like all great magazines, this one is much more ambitious than it needs to be and delivers the goods, but also provokes with content that is consistently savvy, witty and large-hearted. Nominated 14 times, this is Field & Stream’s first Ellie.

I know all of you have been waiting for an opportunity to heap praise on us—and who are we to hold you back? So just go for it.

What's It Worth? The Porter Rifle

Online Editors — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:43:43 -0500

Before the Civil War, competition was fierce among gun designers to create a practical repeating rifle. In 1851, inventor P.W. Porter thought he had the solution. It was a nine-shot, .44-caliber percussion gun that fed from a radial magazine, which was rotated and locked by a lever. The individually loaded chambers on the perimeter of the turret were ignited by a self-priming side-hammer mechanism.

But there were issues. The rifle was as complex as the average lunar rocket-"and it was equally dangerous at both ends. With the turret loaded, one chamber was pointed at the shooter, and if the primer flash went into that chamber, he got to see what the next world was like. Nevertheless, Porter went into production and built 1,250 rifles in three variations, mostly in Manhattan. This is the Second Model, of which 350 to 400 were made. It has a screw-off cover for its magazine and a serpentine loading lever at the muzzle. It looks to be in NRA Fair condition (basically, a 3 on a scale of 10) and, assuming the action is operable, is worth $4,500 to $5,000. Not a bad thing to turn up in a closet.

- S.P. Fjestad

Click here for information on gun appraisals, and to purchase a copy of S.P. Fjestad's Blue Book of Gun Values.

Do you have a firearm you'd like to get appraised? If so, contact:

Blue Book Publications, Inc.
Attn: Firearms Appraisal
8009 34th Ave. S. Suite #175
Minneapolis, MN 55425, USA
Fax 952-853-1486
guns@bluebookinc.com

What's It Worth? The Savage 1899

Online Editors — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:35:33 -0500

During the 19th century and well into the 20th, most major American gunmakers featured high-grade firearms in their catalogs. Shooters who had the money and yearned for something much nicer than what their friends could afford would thumb through and choose among half a dozen or more fancy and ultra-fancy offerings. (Parker, for example, offered nine ascending grades.)

Savage was no exception, and the 1899 Leader Model is a prime example of the kind of gun that highly skilled workers could produce. This is a takedown lever action in .303 Savage (a highly popular cartridge of the day that is roughly equiva-lent to the .303 British). It was made in 1912 and bears the serial number 1211XX.

The rifle barrel is 24 inches long and the optional .410 smoothbore barrel is 22 inches. -The special-order features that were available include Sav-age's Grade B engraving, deluxe walnut and special checkering for the pistol-grip stock and the fore-end, both open and aperture rear tang sights, a takedown action, and a fitted luggage case.

Today, some rotary-magazine Savages that sold for $100 when new are bringing 10 times that. But this rare and beautiful gun puts them to shame.

In 1912, the 1899 Leader Model sold for $81.95 (a plain Jane Model 1899 would have cost about $20). This particular firearm pictured above is in NRA Excellent condition and is presently valued at about $7,500 to $8,000.

Click here for information on gun appraisals, and to purchase a copy of S.P. Fjestad's Blue Book of Gun Values.

Do you have a firearm you'd like to get appraised? If so, contact: Blue Book Publications, Inc. Attn: Firearms Appraisal 8009 34th Ave. S. Suite #175 Minneapolis, MN 55425, USA Fax 952-853-1486 guns@bluebookinc.com

What's It Worth? The Savage 1899

fieldandstream-editor — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 07:00:00 -0400