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.
