The Ups and Downs of Bayonet Collecting
Reason number 348 why I hate my local gun auction:
Not much going with this one today a MAS 36, a sporterized Enfield No 1 V, and a semi-rusted Portuguese 1886 bayonet. The MAS 36 went high, the Enfield went high so my hopes for taking something home rode on the not too good condition Portuguese bayonet.
Auctioneer id's it as an Austrian Styer 1886 starts the bidding at $50 and some idiot takes the bid. No one does that. But the bidding war begins and is hot and heavy with not two but three guys bidding this thing up to it's final sale price of $185.00. And I'm sitting there shaking my head with a price guide sandwiching it between $60-$125. Condition wise, I'm putting it at about $70-$80 max but probably going for less.
Disgusted, I left the auction, went to the local gun shop where I was told there were some bayonets on a table, there are never bayonets at this gun shop. But low and behold there are four of them on a bargain table. An Enfield spike way overpriced at $40, a Swedish Mauser close at $45, a Turkish Mauser bayonet with the price tag missing and a Carcano 1891 bayonet with a leather scabbard for $20. Probably not too hard to figure out which of the four I brought home with me.
So the moral of the story is there are still a few bargains out there if you are patient and willing to look in places you wouldn't normally do so.
