To all,
I am considering attending the Rock Island auction. I won't know for sure until approximately March 22nd. That is when, I was told, that their catalog will be completed and I will be able to ask a guy named Ken some questions about the 1906 possible navy rig. He sounds like the guy who knows guns. At that time, I will try to factor in travel time and cost of lodging into the cost of the gun. Since Moline is on the far western side of Illinois, I figure 1.5 to 2 days of driving from Detroit at about 600 miles a day (one way). All this depends on weather since April has unpredictible weather. Then there is one day of inspection and one day of bidding. I could be one tired cowboy when I get there. So going to Simpsons shop is probably out of the question.
Since I travel with my dachshund, Bucky, I would prefer to take my motorhome. But, like usual, I developed a water leak in its roof and in the water tank line during Michigans deer season. Then there is the possible problem of squirrels getting into my engine compartment and chewing up the wires over the winter storage. I probably won't have those problems fixed in time.
I have never been to this auction before so I don't know if I could park in their parking lot over night or how close the nearest campsite would be. I have no idea about how big a town Moline is. In small towns in Northern Michigan you can park in supermarket parking lots overnight. Michigan has lots of state land so I can alway find an old deer hunting trail to pull into. If Moline is like that, then I could chance driving straight through in my motorhome and be fresh for the auction.
I assume that there will be some heavy hitters at this auction since there are some fine looking guns there. I have been to a number of auctions in Michigan and Ohio and have seen many examples of crazy bidding that sometimes goes on at these events. This makes me wonder about the value of going that far for just one or two guns. It would be easy to be outbid by someone going ballistic. Yes, there is a possible second gun that I may be interested in.
If I do go, I sincerely hope that I can meet Ed Tinker there and maybe a few other Lugerforum people too. Maybe I could bring a couple of my "babies" with me for bragging. With Ed now living in Colorado, maybe he could drift over to the show and maybe loan me some money (HEE! HEE!).
Big Norm
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