The Muzzleloaders of the Rock Island Auction Company May Premiere 2021

This past weekend I attended the record-breaking auction at the Rock Island Auction Company. With $30 million spent over 3700 lots, it was an incredible weekend for firearms enthusiasts of all timeframes.

Lot 1099, a Kings Mountain Attributed Dickert Flintlock American Long Rifle on the auction block.

Muzzleloading Stars

Muzzleloaders weren't the entire auction by any means, but there were some really incredible pieces featured. Here are some of my favorites.

The breakout star were the Alexander Hamilton Pistols, bringing $1.15 million

The famous "Running Deer" Rifle, admired for it's early American folk art running deer in the cheek piece , brought an impressive $161,000

This impressive set of pistols from F. Bigoni of Brescia realized $115,000, a small price to pay for these beautiful works of art.

Not technically a muzzleloader, but still pretty cool, this Ferguson patent breechloading flintlock by J Hunt brought $86,250

I knew going into the auction that these big-ticket items were the real stars of the show, at least for me. What I didn't realize, through my own ignorance was how many muzzleloaders were in this show, and how affordable they can be.

Before the auction starts, visitors have an hour and a half to visit the "Preview Hall" to get an up-close look at what is going on the block that day. Imagine, it's 7:30 in the morning. You walk down a hall that opens up into this warehouse-sized room FULL of beautiful collectible firearms. The best part is, even with the base level "Guest Pass" I was wearing, I could put on a pair of gloves and pick up any of the items for auction. Unfortunately, I missed out on the Hamilton Pistols, but I was able to handle some of the other fantastic muzzleloaders.

Just one of the rifle racks for Sunday at the auction.

In my opinion, this is the real understated, amazing thing offered by the RIAC. For many of these pieces, this weekend will be the only time in a generation that anyone from the public gets to see them up close. When you combine that with the variety of historically significant pieces that were in this auction, and the other auctions coming up, it makes this auctions a really special occasion for anyone interested in antique firearms and other collectibles.

If I was in the market for an original Brown Bess, blunderbuss, Enfield, pretty much anything but a documented longrifle or Colt cap and ball revolver, I could swing it with some planning. Rock Island has to promote the big ticket items, but there's only so much time, and these more affordable, still really nice items, hang out in the wings and wait for a new owner.

This was a long auction and one of the most competitive ever for RIA. The combination of in person turn out, phones, proxy bidding, and Rock Island Live drove bids up and pushed bidding long. You could really see the wear on the staff come Sunday morning but they really stuck with it and finished out strong.

This increase in competition and record breaking turnout is attributed to generational cycle in collecting. Rock Island cites a 50-30 years collection cycle. Collections inevitably break up or rotate at the end of this cycle, all lining up to right about now where we are seeing these wonderful pieces up for grabs.

Hospitality

This was my first trip, and I can’t believe how nice everyone is! Right when you walk in the door RIA staff is there to greet you, direct you to registration, which as a guest is free, and answer any questions you might have. Stationed all around the preview hall are trained staff, ready to hand off a one-of-a-kind piece made 200 years ago for you to get up close and personal with. I'm going to keep repeating it, but it's so awesome!

Imagine if you could go into any museum and get so close to a painting you can smell the paint, that's what you can do with these antique firearms at the Rock Island Auction Company.

And it doesn't stop there, for their "Premiere" Auctions like this one, they offer free breakfast snacks, and they also cater lunch from local food trucks, at no cost to the visitors. They only ask for a donation to the NRA-ILA, which they match at the end of the weekend. How cool is that? It sounds nuts, and maybe this is some kind of lifehack that won't be around forever, but if you can get there you get to spend all weekend looking at and handling antique firearms with a free lunch. Is there a better way to spend the weekend?

This may sound like I was paid or compensated somehow, but I really wasn't, scouts' honor. This trip was a spur of the moment, throw a bag in the car and drive through the night kind of trip, and I can't thank the Rock Island Staff enough for making me and everyone else attending feel so welcome. Special thanks to Seth Isaacson, the lead historian for inviting me out, Joel Kolander for talking photos and videos, and all the other great folks at the Rock Island Auction Company for their support of collectors of all calibers.

I really encourage you to look through the catelogs sometime if you want to do something other than scroll through facebook. The describers fill the pages with awesome history, and the photographs are second to none. I already put the catalogs from this weekend on my bookshelf and can't wait to reference them soon.

Below, I've listed out a few of the really interesting muzzleloader lots from the auction. Check em out, you'll be happy you did.

1011 Running Deer Rifle

3099 Wesson Target Percussion

3104 Gibbs Creedmore

3108 Pre Rev War Flintlock

3109 -3129

3112- Brennan Rifle - $7000

3136

3136 light brigade -16000

1339 - 1806

3142 - Root revolver $8500

3143 Colt prototype $40000

3144 Colt 1849 $35000

3154 Colt 1855 revolving rifle

3266 Waterproof Double Barrel Flintlock- $25000

3271 Drilling Double barrel $6000

3272