I’m a shooter/collector and have focused on 16b Ithacas for as long as I’ve collected and shot SxS’s. Purchases can be long between because I’m focused on models or variations that are usually low production number examples and personal resources have always been limited. I regularly watch three auction sites (GB, GI, & GA) and have noticed in the last 3-4 years that buyers are thinning out and values are slipping. More than once in the past there would be 4 or 5 of us bidding at the end. In one example, it thinned down to just two of us and over and over he would wait until the last seconds of the 15 minute reset before raising his bid. We went back and forth deep into evening before I finally had to let the gun go. No more. Last year I purchased a gun that I had long looked for and I was the only bidder. It was an all original in fantastic condition and I bought it for the opening bid that was about 40-50% below what would have been its value just a couple of years before. A friend of mine who occasionally sells a gun via penny auction told me recently that the last two he sold that way (field grade Parkers) went for dimes on the dollar. There may be increased interest in Turkish SxS’s but in the SxS niche that I’m familiar with there is definitely not a “renaissance.”
Last edited by FallCreekFan; 08/09/24 10:00 AM.
