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Inside a Rare-Gun Auction
 [Garden & Gun] James, an antique-firearms collector from Corpus Christi, Texas, peers down the barrel of a 1958 silver-and-gold-inlaid Winchester Model 12 with a Monte Carlo stock. We’re making a last-minute pass through the gun-filled preview hall at the Rock Island Auction Company in Rock Island, Illinois. Bidding will soon commence on this, day one of a three-day rare and antique firearms auction, one of the top sales of its kind in the world. I’m here to see what all the excitement is about."I learned to appreciate guns from my uncle, a carver of stocks who lived in Austin," says James, the gleam of nostalgia in his eye mirroring the glow of burled walnut. "My first gun was a Model 12," though nothing as fine as the exhibition-quality gem now braced against his shoulder. Like other auction-goers I’ve met so far, James started as a hunter, in his case shooting white-winged dove in the Rio Grande Valley near the border town of McAllen, Texas. He’s older now and his legs aren’t what they used to be, "but if you get out of the game, that’s when they put you under the grass," he tells me. "Collecting firearms keeps me in the game. What first captivated me was the craftsmanship and beauty of the wood. I don’t buy guns as much for shooting as works of art." Posted by: Besoeker 2019-10-10 |
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