Massive military estate sale/Johnny's Auction

Hi all. I just got onto these boards, so I hope I'm not breaking protocol. I've been helping out with an estate sale for the last couple months. This is a massive undertaking, and I have honestly never seen anything like it in my life. I have seen handled and identified guns I have literally never seen outside of museums. The gentleman who owned this collection was a Vietnam Vet, and had been collecting for over 40 years. His widow and children do not want to carry on with the firearms, so we've been cataloging and selling items through the auction house. We estimate there are over 1200 rifles alone in the collection. That's not counting bayonets, flags, uniforms, helmets, and other military items from the mid 1800's to the end of the Second World War. Here's the link. Look at the videos. The first two auctions are done. We estimate at least three to four more, all with 200 plus rifles in them. Enjoy.

Johnny's Auction

In some ways it seems sad that one man's collection is being broken up and sold off, but on the other hand, hopefully, all the lots will find new owners that will appreciate them and look after them for future generations.

I agree, it is. The man collected for over 40 years. I know museums that have less items, and less quality items than a number of museums. At the same time, his widow and the kids really don't want the entire collection. They took a few things they wanted to remember him with, but decided to share this rare collection with other folks.

That was an impressive collection.

I watched the three videos and the discovery video as the collection was found was overwhelming.

I can't imagine stacking the rifles like cord wood. The only time I've
seen that was captured rifle piles. The rafter collection was interesting as well.:eek:

The memorabilia collection was even more impressive.

Looking at the selling prices +18% fee still some reasonable prices.
As in all auctions some things went for way more than they should especially
some of the ammo.

Thanks for the heads up. Nice post.

AZB

Mind boggling to say the least!!!
Even though the majority was collected over the last 40 yrs.....sometimes I wonder how a fellow can afford to accumulate so much stuff. I guess he must have had deep pockets....but then I ask myself, why in the world would he have not built a proper facility to house his collection like maybe a bigger garage especially if he had the funds to accumulate the treasure trove in the first place. It looks like items were purchased and just thrown on top, beside or under everything else. I've come to realize that all the dings and gouges in woodwork are not all from hard training or actual battle use......it's too bad but a lot of "battle scars" come from collectors as well. I remember going down into a fellows basement that housed a substantial Enfield and Ross Rifle collection....and I'm not talking run of the mill stuff here boys, there were some very, very rare and valuable pieces, the humidity was so high that some of the stocks were starting to form spots of mold, you could just about drink the air....unbelievable....I almost offered to buy him a de-humidifier.
My thoughts are we only "temporarily borrow these beauties", we all know someday they are going to belong to someone else so take care of them and preserve them as they are meant to be!!!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bros

why in the world would he have not built a proper facility to house his collection

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He was a compulsive hoarder...they don't look at things the same way we do. We look at things in an orderly fashion and they see needing "MORE!"...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bros

.sometimes I wonder how a fellow can afford to accumulate so much stuff. I guess he must have had deep pockets

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But we don't know what he may have gone without to be able to afford his collecting. For example, he may, perhaps, have gone without holidays, new clothes, the latest phone/laptop and only consumed very basic food so that he could afford his collecting?

Provided an individual is acting within the law, it is up to them how they spend their money.

Personally, I am careful on how much I pay for an item but I never buy anything to resell; I only buy items that it is legal to own in the UK. I'll buy an item if it looks interesting and other than the conditions that I have just mentioned, I'll buy almost any item provided that it looks interesting to me. I tend to prefer the 20th century time frame and specifically WW1, WW2 and the Cold War period.

The two auction listings both contained only a very small amount of guns and consisted mainly of nearly everything else. Will there be gun only auctions later since the few guns you had listed so far were only of little interest to me.