The Rock Island Auction Company was established in 1993 by Pat Hogan and has since grown to be one of the most well-respected and well-known names in the firearms industry for firearms auctions and other militaria collectibles and curios. Rock Island dedicates a [Read More…]
The 26th President of the United States of America, Theodore Roosevelt, was quite fond of both Colt revolvers and Winchester lever-action rifles. However, during the summer of 1898, then Assistant Secretary of the Navy (under President William McKinley), resigned from [Read More…]
Most firearms that make their way from private hands through the Rock Island Auction Company usually sell for anywhere between tens of thousands up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, a few select items often fetch much higher prices stretching all the way [Read More…]
Like any other Rock Island premier firearms auction, the upcoming August 2022 auction is also full of unique firearms of virtually every category. However, what caught my attention when I was browsing its catalog, was the amazingly large collection of various rare [Read More…]
In one of the previous installments of our Wheelgun Wednesday weekly article series, we took a look at a Colt 1851 Navy revolver attributed to Wild Bill Hickok that was consigned to May 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. Although everything indicated that the [Read More…]
There are a handful of prop guns that I know almost anyone would want to have as part of their private collection. James Bond’s Walther PPK, John McClane’s Beretta 92, a genuine prop M41A Pulse Rifle from Aliens, or even Han Solo’s famous DL-44 Heavy [Read More…]
The May 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction ended last weekend and the lot with the highest estimated price, a pair of cased Nimschke engraved Remington New Model Army revolvers that belonged to President Ulysses S. Grant, was sold for a whopping $5,170,000 [Read More…]
A couple of Wheelgun Wednesdays ago, we talked about the President Ulysses S. Grant’s Remington New Model Army revolvers that are consigned to the upcoming May 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. Today, we’ll take a look at another amazing lot found in [Read More…]
Welcome back to another installment of TFB’s Wheelgun Wednesday. Today we’ll take a look at a legendary custom Colt Single Action Army target revolver – Elmer Keith’s No. 5. Although Elmer Keith owned a number of revolvers, this particular one [Read More…]
Premier auctions of Rock Island Auction Company always contain firearms that once belonged to prominent historical figures. The May 2021 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction was no exception but it was rather exceptional as a truly unique lot was consigned to it. Lot [Read More…]
At their upcoming May 2021 Premier Firearms Auction, Rock Island Auction Company will be offering a true treasure of American history, a pair of flintlock pistols that belonged to none other than Alexander Hamilton himself. Although over the years, RIAC has sold a [Read More…]
December is a gun auction month. Many of the largest American firearm auction houses hold premier auctions in December where they sell the most unique, rare and expensive firearms. When the companies publish the catalogs of their premier auctions, we thoroughly browse [Read More…]
Welcome back to another installment of our series of articles dedicated to firearms consigned and sold at the largest American auction houses. Last time, we took a look at some of the most obscure guns found in the catalog of the September 2020 Rock Island Premier [Read More…]
Continuing our series of articles dedicated to the most valuable firearms consigned to major American auctions, today we’ll take a look at the top 5 most expensive lots sold during the June 2020 Rock Island Premier Gun Auction. This auction took place from June [Read More…]
When you hear “lever-action rifle”, you probably think about Winchester, Marlin or Henry …maybe also Volcanic or even Colt, but I bet never Smith & Wesson. However, there is such thing as a Smith & Wesson lever-action rifle and one of three [Read More…]
The catalog of upcoming Rock Island Premier Gun Auction is now published on the company’s website and as always, it is full of incredibly interesting, historical and rare firearms. In this article, we’ll take a look at two consecutive lots (#417 and #418) [Read More…]
At the beginning of the past month, we reported about Rock Island Auction Company preparing to hold the world’s largest firearm auction. The auction took place as scheduled (February 13th to 16th) and with over 11,200 guns sold in over 5,500 lots, the [Read More…]
Rock Island Auction Company has announced that with over 5500 consigned lots that consist of over 11200 guns, their February Sporting & Collector Auction will be the largest firearms auction ever held. Besides firearms and edged weapons, the lots also include a [Read More…]
As usual, shortly after the end of another Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction, the list of prices realized was published and we examined it to find out what lots were the most appealing in collectors’ eyes and were sold at the highest prices. Like any RIAC [Read More…]
December 2019 Rock Island Premiere Firearms Auction is the last large American auction of the year. As always, when its online catalog was published I started browsing it to put together one of TFB’s articles about the rarest and most unusual firearms seen in the [Read More…]
While browsing the catalog of the upcoming December 2019 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction for putting together one of TFB’s articles about most interesting firearms seen in largest US auctions, I came across a couple of rather rare yet interesting Colt [Read More…]
Today’s POTD depicts a pair of beautifully engraved Colt Thuer derringers found in the catalog of the upcoming May 2019 Rock Island Premiere Firearm Auction. These derringers are chambered in .41 RF and feature checkered ivory grips and nickel plated finish. Here [Read More…]
The catalog of the upcoming Rock Island December 2018 Premiere Firearms Auction includes a lot of incredibly interesting and rare firearms. Fellow TFB writer Matthew Moss has already written an article about some of the coolest guns of this auction. In this article, [Read More…]
When your company is in a trouble and struggles to survive, you have to come up with unique solutions and make non-standard decisions if you want to save it from bankruptcy. And gun companies are no exception. History knows many examples of gun companies having to make [Read More…]
I was going to write another overview of the most expensive firearms sold at recently ended Rock Island April 2018 Premiere Firearms auction in the same fashion that I have been doing it before. However, this time the auction was quite different – it set 10 world [Read More…]
Continuing our series of articles telling about the most expensive firearms sold in the major US auction houses, today we’ll take a look at the ten most expensive firearms sold in December 2017 Rock Island Premiere Auction. This time there are also two world [Read More…]