Ruger's Own Auction Site
Wednesday May 23, 2007
Sturm, Ruger & Co. now has an online auction site. Strange thing for a manufacturer to do, but there's a first time for everything, right? I started to sign up so I could better comment on the site, but they wouldn't let me register without giving them my phone number and a credit card number. That is none of their business.
They say they will feature "rare, unusual, discontinued or one-of-a-kind Ruger firearms and accessories." Currently there is an M77 bolt-action rifle in 243 Win which was a prototype for the Ruger M77 Mark II Ultralight series. A prominent warning indicates that the rifle has not been tested for safety and should not be fired! Sounds like a pretty useless gun to me.
A news item I read about the site said that these auctions are planned to occur every two weeks.
Comments
I visited the austion site and it seems like a warehouse inventory reduction sale. They don’t, but should, allow you to browse like eBay and then log in, register and give a credit card upon bidding for an item. I would expect more from a company like Ruger.
I think they only have the one auction listed, and may plan to only run one auction at a time. Apparently you can look at it all you want, but you can’t register without giving your credit card and other info.
As for inventory reduction, you’re probably right. But it seems that they are concentrating on oddball stuff that has laid around collecting dust for years, which they think has considerable value. And they may be right.
For instance, their current auction, for a rifle they advise you not to shoot, is above $2300 right now, with 3 hours left. That’s a lot more than I’m willing to pay for such a rifle, myself.
It should be noted that some gun collectors are not shooters. Some people just like to collect fine or rare items just for the beauty or the exclusiveness of the item. I have a friend who owns over 50 handguns and about 75 long guns. He would as soon sell his wife as one of his guns, regardless of the fact that he seldom shoots any of them.
That’s fine for some people. And I do have interest in old guns that probably shouldn’t be fired for safety reasons.
But a modern gun that comes direct from the manufacturer with a warning against firing it, is something that I have very little interest in myself.
Obviously there are many folks in the world with different opinions, and that’s fine. If I had their money, maybe I could bring myself to burn some of it on non-firing guns.
But probably not.
Russ
I have two guns that I recently got from a relative. One is a Ruger 22 cal. long rifle automatic pistol and the other is a Harrington & Richardson 32 cal S&W ctge. Do these have any value to collectors? I have absolutely no knowledge of guns and am afraid to keep them around the house, so I have them in a bank vault. I have no use for them.