doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The one that got away

I had to let a Winchester 21 Duck through my hands in the late 80's. Was in high school and had zero money at the time. I should have sold every item I had to raise the $1000 ask price.

Winchester Model 21 that went for $800.00 at an estate auction about 5 years ago. I am only 24 right now and at the time I knew very, very little about guns, especially double guns.

I wanted the gun at the auction but had no idea what it was worth so I didn't get in on the bidding. Big mistake that I regret often.

I had the luck of buying four English guns from an antique dealer, a friend of mine, who imports entire households of goods from Great Britain. He buys everything for one price and has a agent sort through the stuff and send him the best of the lot. In his container were two doubles and two double rifles. He failed to have them imported properly and got sacred. Called me and offered me the four for four thousand dollars. I bought them. All were pre '98 so no harm no foul.

Sold the small bore double for more two grand. The large bore double rifle went for almost ten grand. That buyer was "thinking about" going to Africa. Far as I know he got no closer than New Jersey. Swapped both of the doubles for other doubles later.

Saw the large bore rifle two years ago and the asking price was over 30K. It sold, but for how much I do not know. Funny thing is that the gun had been "refreshed" and called a high original condition gun. It was a 50-60% gun when I had it, but it looked at last time I saw it a high 90% gun. Since this refreshing would not have been that unreasonable if it was still back in GB I guess it is fair. I still have no need for the large bore but wish now that I had saved it. Been thinking about going to Africa myself. Or at least New Jersey some day.

A scant 3 yrs. ago I hadn't read the Sherman Bell articles in DGJ and I didn't know this site existed. I was still in the dark about Damascus guns and generally avoided them, saving my sheckels for fluid steel shooters. I went to a gun show, one of the few I attended without a Bluebook in hand. Saw a big kid walking with a gun in a case and asked if it might be a double. He pulled out a Lefever saying he knew nothing about it and had been told by several dealers it was worth $350 to $425. It was very nice but the Star Damascus barrels turned me off and I chose not to pay that much for a wall-hanger. I wasn't sure of the grade. It had the scalloped receiver bottom, a single clover engraved on the breech balls, and the rebated rear portion on the sideplates. I said I'd think about it and about 3 minutes later I decided to buy it. This kid was about 6'6" with bright red hair and I couldn't find him. I ran outside hoping to catch him in the parking lot, but no luck. It got worse when I got home and got my Elliot Lefever book out. I'm all but certain it was a B grade, almost identical to the one on pg. 212 that was owned by Grover Cleveland. Thanks for dredging up this rotten memory.

John this thread is about "the one that got away"...not the ones you made a bundle on ?

A goodly many years ago, when I was in college, I had the duty of returning the film club's borrowed reel to the New York City rental company. (Told you it was a long while ago.) There was a gun dealer near the company and I dropped in. They had a Holland Royal rifle in 465 in as new condition. Cased in oak and leather. Complete with a set of dies. And 60 empty brass cases. All for the price of $750. Of course, that was half a year's tuition. And, those were the years when 465 ammo was totally unobtainable. So, I passed. (By the way, a new rifle would have been about GBP 1000.) I could have traded it for a Bentley now.