An Auction of a Lifetime
There’s a common saying among sportsmen that goes something like this: “when I die I hope my wife doesn’t sell my guns for what I told her I paid for them.” The reference being that most sportsmen, if they have a spouse foolish enough to ask, will likely under state just how much money was spent on the new firearm purchase.
Today there’s an auction going on out in Montana that has excited sportsmen and gun enthusiasts around the country. It’s a lifetime collection of fine firearms being auctioned off by the “Woody” Hawkinson estate. The collection is so fabulous, that a website was actually established to promote the collection. Check out www.woodysguns.com.
As I perused the website I couldn’t help but think about my own gun collection. Certainly mine would not be worthy enough to showcase on a website hoping to draw national attention, yet, there is something intriguing to me about that. I dare say a personal gun collection can say volumes about the person who amassed the collection.
So, stop to think about it. What does your gun collection say about you? Does it grow little by little each year…or has it tapered off in recent years because there simply is no more room in the gun cabinet? Perhaps your interests in collecting guns has simply changed much like the color of your hair. It happens.
Woody has a single rifle on his auction bill that could top $100,000 at sale today. In comparison, I might be lucky if I have a single rifle that could bring $2,000 if at auction this very moment. To say the least, Woody’s and my collection of guns are very different…yet in many ways I suspect we viewed our personal collection in much the same way.
I have a theory…or, instead call it a gun index. Take the number of years since you graduated from high school and compare it with the number of guns you currently own. As a rule of thumb, I try to collect one new gun each year. My current gun index is 24 using this system and yes, I have met this threshold…at least until now. Unfortunately, the gun safe is beginning to max out on capacity.
I suppose to the non-gun owner it is a little difficult to understand what drives the passion in people to collect something such as a gun. I can relate, to me I view people who collect cars and must invest in big expensive buildings to house them as a total waste of time and money. To each his own, I guess.
No, I’m quite sure that when the day I die arrives I won’t have a collection of guns admired far and wide by folks like Woody did. Yet, I can only hope that the guns I do pass on thru my estate are treated with the same respect and honor as given to these guns today. In fact, today’s auction is as much a celebration of Woody’s life as it is an estate clearance of the items which helped define the man.
© 2005 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.