#RockIslandAuction

Two historically significant revolvers are coming up for sale at Rock Island Auction’s May 17-19 Premier Auction. One has direct ties to the Battle of Little Bighorn, and the other is a former personal belonging of doomed U.S. cavalry leader George Armstrong Custer.

Welcome back to Wheelgun Wednesday!  This week, we are taking a look at the most hotly anticipated and highly valued firearm to hit the auction block in Rock Island Auction Company’s premier auction in December.  Normally, a gold-plated and engraved 1st Generation Colt Single Action Army would be a hot item in its own right.  This particular model, however, has some serious historical value, having been inscribed and gifted to Pancho Villa in 1917.

Rock Island Auction Company’s premier auctions always contain firearms that belonged to prominent figures such as renowned political and military leaders, artists, celebrities, etc. The recently-ended August 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction was no exception and there was a Smith & Wesson Model 53 revolver consigned to this auction that once belonged to the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll Elvis Presley. The estimated price range that this revolver was expected to be sold at was $60,000 – $90,000, however, the King’s wheelgun was sold for over twice the estimated high price – $199,750.

Today’s Photo Of The Day is from the catalog of Rock Island Auction Company’s upcoming Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction. It depicts a rotary manually operated firearm that is built with six Norinco SKS rifles. In other words, it’s an SKS Gatling gun!

With a staggering $22 million in sales, Rock Island Auction Company’s Premier May Auction showcased an impressive array of collector firearms, military artifacts, accessories, and artwork that left enthusiasts and history buffs in awe. From the revered Beaumont-Adams revolver once surrendered by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to Zane Grey’s cherished Winchester Model 1895 rifle,  the list of notable pieces that stole the spotlight during this three-day auction extravaganza is pretty extensive and Rock Island Auction is excited to share the news, so I’ll let them do that in the press release below.

For today’s edition of Wheelgun Wednesday, we have another artifact of American history found in the catalogs of the Rock Island Auction Company. Consigned to the upcoming  May 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction, this Beaumont-Adams percussion revolver belonged to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, who surrendered it to Union Cavalryman John Hines at the time of his capture. The revolver was presented to Davis by Robert Adams of London, the co-inventor and manufacturer of these revolvers.

Today’s Photo Of The Day is from the catalog of the upcoming May 2023 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction and depicts a pair of damascened Orbea Hermanos pinfire revolvers. Damascening is a surface decoration technique of inlaying metals into one another, in this case, gold and silver into steel. This set of wheelguns consists of a 6.5″ barreled 11mm caliber Lefaucheux Model 1854 pattern single action revolver and a 7mm caliber rifled double action pepperbox. Both guns have a similar grape motif of damascene and ebony grip carvings. The set comes in a custom-fit case.

In the pantheon of larger-than-life characters from America’s Old West era, few loom larger than Theodore Roosevelt. Prior to his two terms as the 26th US President, from 1901 to 1909, Roosevelt discovered and embraced the Wild West lifestyle, establishing and operating a cattle ranch in North Dakota. In spite of his New York socialite roots, TR learned to cowboy, rope, ride, hunt, and more in the rough country around the Little Missouri river. These experiences served him well when he formed the first volunteer US Cavalry regiment, the Rough Riders, at the outset of the Spanish-American War in 1898. At this time, he was gifted a Smith & Wesson single-action revolver. Rock Island Auction recently sold this historic firearm at auction (along with numerous other interesting pieces), and as you might expect for such a storied gun, it fetched quite a sum – $910,625.

A couple of Wheelgun Wednesdays ago, we took a look at a  Smith & Wesson Model No. 3  revolver from the catalog of the upcoming  December 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearm Auction that belonged to one of the most famous figures of American history, Theodore Roosevelt.   What we have today is another variation of the Model No. 3 revolver from the same auction’s catalog, a Smith & Wesson First Model Schofield revolver that is attributed to one of the most infamous figures of American history, Jesse James.

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 into seven-figure territory. We previously reported that Han Solo’s DL-44 Blaster pistol from the 1977 film Star Wars would be going up for auction at the end of August. With the conclusion of the August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction, we’ve finally got the results and were surprised to hear that the DL-44 Heavy Blaster pistol prop sold for a whopping $1,057,500. Full details and the results from a handful of other famous pieces will be posted below.

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 revolver belonged to Wild Bill, it was not 100% proven, but apparently, that was enough for the buyer who parted with $616,875 to purchase the revolver, a price that way exceeded the auction house’s estimated high price of $225,000. What we have in today’s edition of Wheelgun Wednesday is another Wild Bill Hickok revolver, a Smith & Wesson Model No. 2 Old Army, which is consigned to the upcoming August 2022 Rock Island Premier Firearms Auction. According to Rock Island Auction Company, this revolver is solidly documented as owned and carried by Wild Bill Hickok.

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 Blaster Pistol. Like most Star Wars “blaster” props, the DL-44 Blaster Pistol used by Han Solo in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is actually a real firearm with a bunch of stuff tacked onto it – not too dissimilar from 90% of the firearms you’d find on  Hot Gat or Fudd Crap. The DL-44 is now being put up for auction through the Rock Island Auction Company meaning if you’ve got the scratch, you can now potentially own a piece of well-known silver screen history.

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 ($4,400,000 hammer price plus the buyer’s premium), way over the estimated high price of $3M.

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 the same auction catalog, an engraved Colt 1851 Navy revolver that is attributed to another legend of American history – James Butler Hickok better known as Wild Bill Hickok.

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 is the most well-known Keith wheelgun and is considered by many the best custom SAA to exist. This revolver was featured in Guns & Ammo and The American Rifleman articles as well as in the “Sixguns” book written by Keith. Currently, this wheelgun is consigned to Rock Island Auction Company and will be sold during their  September 2021 Premier Firearms Auction.