doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Holts

I live in the US, and was considering trying to buy a gun from Holts Auctioneers. I read through their stuff, but am unsure how to proceed with this. I am also not sure what other costs, other than their commission. I know shipping and customs duties, as well as a FFL here, but other than that am stumped.
thanks.

Steven Bertram
Firearms imports and custom gunmaking
Bertram & Co. LTD LLC
195 Hickok Trail
Ward, CO
80481
303-938-1996

I buy from them occasionally. They work with a company there that does consolidated shipping after auctions to the US. It's pretty easy, especially if it's an antique.

Pay for the gun and fees with a credit card. Contract with either Holts or an American importer to ship it. I used Steve above for a Reilly 16 bore side-lever 1886 a few years ago. Holts now has gotten directly into the business but I have not used them myself.

I also import and bring in a couple of shipments a year.

Thank you all for your advice. I am looking at a couple of 20 g guns, and will follow this auction to see how things go. I am really uncomfortable buying sight unseen, but they seem to have a good reputation.

Diggory used to do inspections for a fee. He doesn't do that anymore but possibly there is someone else who does this.

In the main sale, they will give you a condition report upon request. All the guns are roughly inspected to make sure they are in proof and any major defects like a visible or repaired and still visible cracks are reported and being loose which implies needing to be put back on face. The sealed bid auction guns are with little inspection beyond being in proof and safe for sale. The main sale will also have a bore measurement for all the guns where the sealed bid auction will only have the simple notation walls below recommended.

The problem is you can buy guns cheap, but cost of importing them and the Holt's percentage must be included in your valuations. You can buy a decent box lock for $500.00-750.00, then spend another $500-750 getting it shipped to you. So is that screaming deal at $500.00, still a screaming deal at $1,000-1,250.00? Some are and some are not. Out of more than a dozen guns bought, I have not had one that was a train wreck and about a third or more have been much better than expected. All have been safe to shoot, with proper loads. It does not hurt to just watch a few auctions to learn that low estimations are often used to generate interest.

There will be a sharp bidder(s) on hand, to bid "gems" up to honest price levels. And a few rare, or exceptional guns will go for 4-5-6 or more times the high estimate. I have bought several shoot-able guns for the low estimate but often will drop out bidding on one which goes much beyond the high estimate. I take the position that there will be another gun along soon enough to not get so caught up in the auction to spend stupid money for any one gun.

KY Jon,

Thank you for your very complete answer. This is exactly what I was trying to figure out.

I'll watch a few auctions and see. The best option would be for me to fly down to inspect the product, but that is just not going to happen.

Zehyani

The bore measurements are available. Read them and weep in my case. .017, .016, .014 and my favorite .013” on four guns on my list watch list. Seems like there are a lot of thin barreled guns in this auction, so do your homework. To be fair each was noted as barrels being below recommended minimum. But to me .018-.019 is below, .013 is scary thin which ought not be shot except under need to defend yourself from certain death. And all are in proof.