The Firearms Column

by Robert Kyle

A rare opportunity to bid on items from one of the most significant private arms accumulations in America—if not the world—will occur when part one of the Frank and Karen Sellers collection is offered by Rock Island Auction in Moline, Illinois, September 8-10.

"His collection is rich in history as it pertains to our country and rich in history in the development of firearms," said auction president Patrick Hogan. "Frank has every model of Sharps, except one. His collection has over fifty serial-number-one firearms as well as prototypes, patent models, and rare and exotic variations. The collection is simply too large and important to present at one auction. Our December eighth through tenth auction will feature the balance."

Hogan said about 30% of what Sellers acquired over 40 years will be offered in September. The author of many gun books and articles, Sellers is best known for Sharps Firearms, the bible of this Civil War and buffalo hunting weapon, first published in 1978 and reprinted many times. Sellers, who writes catalog descriptions for Rock Island Auction, described his own guns in the September catalog. He will also attend the sale.

Included in the over 2700 lots in Rock Island's September sale will be 14 Kerr revolvers from the Val Forgett collection; almost 200 Colt New Service revolvers from the William "Wild Bill" Powell estate; a show display of 25 Second World War Liberator pistols from the Ralph Hagen estate; 14 miniature, scale model guns from the Joseph Kramer collection; and 60 rare single-shot rifles collected by Jim Drummond, a California rancher and vineyard owner.

"The list of guns is huge, and the auction is expected to top seven million dollars," Pat Hogan said. For more information, go to Rock Island's Web site (www.rockislandauction.com) or call (800) 238-8022.

-Hollywood Guns Donated by Tom Selleck to National Firearms Museum

Visitors to the National Firearms Museum just outside Washington, D.C., in Fairfax, Virginia, can see seven guns used by actor Tom Selleck in some of his Westerns. He donated a reproduction Henry rifle, a Model 1876 Winchester, a Schofield revolver, a Colt Richards conversion revolver, a Colt open-top revolver, a Colt Single Action Army revolver, and a Model 1886 Winchester.

Also on display in a special exhibit of L.C. Smith shotguns are personal hunting arms used by Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable. For more information, go to the museum's Web site (www.nationalfirearmsmuseum.org).

-Hollywood Guns and Real Ones Bring over $8 Million in California Auctions

A pair of California auction companies attracted the attention of collectors worldwide in June. Famous Hollywood movie guns were sold by Little John's Auction Service. At Greg Martin Auctions classic Colts, Winchesters, and a real stagecoach crossed the block when the company celebrated with a fifth anniversary auction.

The Stembridge armory collection at Little John's on June 5 consisted of over 460 lots from the company that provided the motion picture industry with guns for over 80 years. The most important rental guns were eventually identified, cataloged, and removed from the inventory by Walter J. O'Connor, a firearms expert and movie star authority, who had the foresight that the props should be preserved for posterity.

This group was later purchased by Robert Petersen, founder of Petersen Publishing Company. His line of special interest periodicals started in the mid-1940's with Hot Rod magazine. His love of cars was equaled by a fondness for firearms, which spawned Guns & Ammo magazine. Later came Motor Trend magazine and many others.

Petersen had planned to create a museum using the Stembridge collection. It would be adjacent to his automotive museum. On March 23, 2007, he died of cancer. He was 80. The guns he acquired from Stembridge retained ID tags for which film and/or actor used it. The high prices they earned revealed that guns used by imaginary heroes can be more valuable than those connected to real Old West lawmen and lawbreakers.

Han Solo was the make-believe hero in Star Wars. His futuristic ray gun weapon, called a DL-44 Heavy Blaster, was actually a real military gun, ironically one that may have seen combat against the Allies. It's a modified Second World War German Model 1896 Mauser semiautomatic pistol, serial number 64673, commonly called a "broomhandle." Timing couldn't have been better to sell this item; the media was buzzing with Stars Wars talk because the original film celebrated its 30th anniversary in June. Carrying a modest estimate of $3000/6000, it sold for $201,600 (includes buyer's premium).

The Ringo Kid was another creation from Hollywood. He was John Wayne's character in the 1939 film Stagecoach. The memorable gun The Kid used was a Winchester model 1892 carbine with an extra-large lever and short barrel. Two identical examples were on the set during shooting. One was in the Stembridge collection. Estimated at $15,000/ 30,000, it sold for $128,800.

Another mythical hero, Indiana Jones, used a Smith & Wesson Model 1917 .45-caliber revolver in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It sold for $72,800 (est. $2000/4000).

The three examples just mentioned were real guns, but reproductions in the right hands in the right film were also in demand. Ordinarily, you might pay a few hundred dollars for a reproduction Colt Walker revolver, but one used by Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josie Wales becomes a valuable artifact of film-making history. It sold for $45,920.

The Wolf Song was not Gary Cooper's most memorable film, but in it he carried an authentic Kentucky rifle made circa 1800 by Andrew Fighorn of Berks County, Pennsylvania. At some point in the 78 years since the movie was made, someone cut the barrel and gave the gun a new shorter stock. (They did what?) Regardless, it was offered in its present configuration with a $2500/5000 estimate. It brought $14,000.

An English-made percussion belt pistol, used by Charlton Heston in 1980 in The Mountain Men, was estimated at $2000/ 4000 and sold for $13,440.

The Stembridge collection totaled about $1.4 million. There were about 400 registered bidders, with "hundreds, I mean hundreds, of phone and sealed bids," said Carol Watson, auction director. She said most guns stayed in the U.S. Over two more days, Little John's sold about 950 additional guns and related items, totaling an additional $1 million.

For information, go to Little John's Web site (www.littlejohnsauctionservice.com).

In San Francisco on June 18-20, Greg Martin Auctions threw a fifth anniversary party by offering 2200 lots of guns, ammo, books, and related items. Expectations were that the diverse lineup would sell for $5.5 million. The final tally proved better, with about $5.95 million earned.

The top lot at $632,500 (includes buyer's premium) was a Winchester Model 1873 Deluxe rifle, gold-plated and engraved and once the property of General William E. Strong (est. $250,000/ 300,000). Another Model 1873, a "One of One Thousand" edition, sold for $356,500 (est. $200,000/ 300,000).

A Model 1876 Winchester carbine with half-nickel finish and deluxe wood brought $115,000 (est. $100,000/125,000). A Model 1873 Winchester with a special order 30" octagonal barrel was $57,500 (est. $40,000/ 60,000). An early production Model 1886 Winchester also sold for $57,500 (est. $40,000/ 60,000).

A sidelock double-barrel rifle made by Daniel Fraser, .600 Nitro caliber, in a case, sold for $115,000 (est. $90,000/120,000). An authentic Old West stagecoach attributed to the Abbot-Downing Company of Concord, New Hampshire, sold better than expected at $109,250 (est. $50,000/70,000).

In a group of Model 1876 Winchesters offered, one in excellent condition in .50-95 express caliber sold for $34,500. An example with a half-nickel finish and deluxe wood reached $115,000. A carbine attributed to the Northwest Mounted Police was $6325. A musket with British proofs and Baker sights sold for $20,700.

Not everything at a Martin auction is expensive. A reproduction pepperbox pistol sold for $86.25. An Allen & Thurber real pepperbox in fair shape was $460. A 1911-17 Lefever Arms catalog went at $373.75. A Lefever 1918 catalog did better at $575. In German Second World War pistols, a group of ten P-38s ranged from a high of $747.50 to $488.75.

Go to Greg Martin's Web site (www.gregmartinauctions.com) for more information.

On the East Coast on June 27, Alderfer Auction & Appraisal in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, offered about 480 lots of guns and accessories. Highlights were a Winchester Model 1886 rifle, .38-56 caliber, octagonal and round barrel, $6325 (includes buyer's premium); a Colt Single Action Army revolver, 7½" barrel, shipped in 1886, with factory letter, $3575; a Brown Bess flintlock musket, 2nd model, with bayonet, $3080; a Colt single-action revolver, shipped 1895, with letter, $2200; a seven-barrel volley gun by H. Pieper Liege, $2860; a double-barrel shotgun by Churchill, 12 gauge, $2970; and a Spencer Model 1865 carbine, $2200.

For more information, check Alderfer's Web site (www.alderferauction.com).

-Supreme Court Rules Against Gun Collector, Now in Prison

On June 21 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer issued the court's opinion to uphold a previous appeals court decision to put Victor A. Rita Jr. away for almost three years for lying to a grand jury about buying a gun kit for a Second World War Russian submachine gun, which had been rendered inoperable.

His plight may have simply faded away, except two weeks later President Bush commuted the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby for the same charges (lying under oath and obstructing justice) for which Rita was convicted. Newspapers, Web sites, and blogs lit up around the country questioning why Rita shouldn't be excused of his infractions too.

Rita's attorney, Thomas Cochran, assistant federal public defender in Greensboro, North Carolina, told this reporter his client reported to prison on July 2, the same day Libby's sentence was waived. Cochran said he plans to appeal the sentence to the House Judiciary Committee and may ask the Supreme Court to reconsider. He didn't rule out asking President Bush to intervene. Rita is in a minimum-security prison in Pensacola, Florida.

In a brief filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, here's how, in part, the case against Rita was documented:

"In 2003, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated whether InterOrdnance of America, a licensed firearms dealer in Monroe, North Carolina, had illegally imported machine-gun parts kits. The ATF determined that federal law classified certain items sold by InterOrdnance, including a parts kit that could be used to assemble a PPSH-41 submachine gun, as machine guns that could not be possessed legally without registration. In April 2003, ATF agents began a nationwide recall of the PPSH-41 parts kits, contacting customers who had purchased the kits from InterOrdnance and asking customers to turn the kits over to the ATF. One of the customers discussed the recall with an InterOrdnance employee, who had advised him not to turn the kit over to the ATF.

"Petitioner [Victor Rita] had purchased a PPSH-41 parts kits from InterOrdnance in January 2003. At the time, petitioner was an asylum officer with the Department of Homeland Security. ATF agent Bonnie Levin contacted petitioner and informed him of the recall. During a conversation on September 4, 2003, petitioner agreed that he would turn the kit over to the agent the following week.

"After speaking with Agent Levin, petitioner placed a call to InterOrdnance. Two days later, he mailed the PPSH-41 parts kit to the company. Petitioner did not attend the scheduled meeting with Agent Levin. Through his attorney, petitioner subsequently turned over a different parts kit that he had purchased from InterOrdnance, one that was not the subject of a recall.

"On October 27, 2003, petitioner testified before a federal grand jury in the Western District of North Carolina that was investigating InterOrdnance's sales of PPSH-41 parts kits. Petitioner denied having any telephone conversation with InterOrdnance before he returned the kit to the company. Petitioner also claimed that Agent Levin had not asked him to turn over the PPSH-41 parts kit to ATF.

"Based on the two false statements before the grand jury, petitioner was charged in an indictment with two counts of perjury, two counts of making false statements and one count of obstruction of justice. A jury found him guilty of all five charges."

Victor Rita, now 59, had no criminal record. He has 25 years of military service. He served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Vietnam and later joined the U.S. Army and Army Reserve. He is also a veteran of the first Gulf War. He received over 35 medals, commendations, and awards for service to his country.

In February 2006 the U.S. government dismissed all 83 counts against InterOrdnance except four for failure to maintain proper records.

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