Yard Sale Finds

[JohnH]

Nothing to really brag about, 3 books at 50 cents eash, the NRA hardback "Handloading" (pub. 1981), the NRA hardback "Gunsmithing Guide-Updated" (pub. 1982) and The Gun Digest "Sporting Rifle Take Down & Reassembly Guide (pub 1981)

My wife goes "yard sailin'" (as she calls it) like I go shooting.....every chance available. Been looking for two years for reloading oriented stuff, and this is the first we've seen, no doubt I grabbed it up. Now wish I had asked the lady if there was more of this stuff at her home (people set up all along the main drag of town, makes it easy on us lazy types who go to the grocery store and yard sail simultaineously) I half heard a comment to another present that left me with the impression her husband had passed in the last year or so.

Anyway......Do any of you guys yard sail? What kind of treasures have you found along the way? My books probably cost $20.00 or more when new, and are in unused condition. Lots of good reading and info in 'em.

[imashooter2]

We have an annual borough wide yard sale here. I look for shooting related stuff every year, but the only one selling is me. Closest I've come to gun stuff is a new in box Coleman gas stove to use for smelting... $5.

[arkypete]

I've always thought that an open house weekend at the gun club/shooting range would a great place for a shooters yard sale. I can take all my used junk and sell it so that I can rediscover it next year and buy it back.
Over the years I've accumulated various and exotic parts and pieces for firearms and reloading that's too good to throw away but has no earthly use to me.
At one point in time I had a set of 17 caliber Remington dies, cases, bullets, hundreds of the darned things. I tried to sell them, give them away, put them away, and finally threw them away. This was pre Ebay!
Buckets of 38 Spec brass, 270 brass, 300 Win mag brass. I'm too cheap to leave it on the ground or trash can.
The reloading dies from the evolution of reloading various calibers.
There's tons of this stuff out there.
Jim

[carpetman]

I went through a period where every Saturday morning I made an itenerary of yard sales from the newspaper want ads. I also stopped at those not listed. I had part time job calling BINGO and had to finish in time to get to this in the afternoon. I found some reloading equipment. I had some very interesting experiences. The best reloading deal,I still cant believe. I was already leaving,when I happen to notice some familar green colored boxes on a table with clothes. Went and looked and sure enough there was a bunch of RCBS stuff stacked and tied together---for $7.00. I dont recall exactly what all,but there was a powder trickler,auto priming kit,funnel,I think two sets of dies,reloading blocks---all like new. I grabbed it up an was paying the MAN when I noticed the instructions for a Rockchucker press. I commented he must have already sold the press. He said,I forgot to bring that. It's at my house(sale being held at friends)I will call my wife and have her bring it over if she can find it. I asked how much if she finds it? He said I'll just throw it in. WOW!!!!! A few minutes later she arrived with the press---like new. I was happy camper.

[Swagerman]

Here in the northern woods of Wisconsin there are no surprises finding anything at a yard sale that relates to reloading equipment.

Sometimes I think I'm the only guy up here that is into reloading, the few gun stores that are in this area might carry some primers, boolits or powder but that is about it...no reloading presses or dies...and no casting equipment, period.

Wait! I take that back, I once found a ladies garage sale that had some 6.5 jap dies, and original jap loaded ammo...but had no use for them...everything else was ladies stuff.

If I want to sell reloading equipment I have to advertise on the forums, and even then it is slow going.


Swagerman

[wills]

"there was a bunch of RCBS stuff"
Some folks say RCBS is pretty good equipment.

[MT Gianni]

One of the disadvantages in living in a gun friendly area is never seeing used stuff at a bargain. Everyone knows someone who reloads. One of the gun clubs did a survey and said that not every Montanan owns guns, but the households that have guns average 27 per houshold. Yes 27 not 2.7, I told Holly that I was finally above average.
We saw the movie Sahara the other night and in one scene the hero slows down and tells his buddy to disarm, he takes 30 seconds to lay down all his weapons and it didn't get a laugh here. We all figured the other guy was a fool for only carring one. Gianni.

[azrednek]

Many years ago I hit pay dirt!! Two boxes of reloading equipment for 20 bux. The tools were mostly old Herters stuff from an estate sale. Complete set-up for metalic and shotshell and plenty of old componenets. This one is hard to believe, 11 boxes of Hornady 150gr 30 caliber bullets for $10.00!! The boxes were smoke damaged from a fire. The yard seller's father worked for the restoration company that did the clean up. Father died and son had no idea what they were worth. The hard part about that lucky find was what was sold before I arrived. He said something about selling a box full of bullets before I arrived.

I used to spend alot of time searching flea markets, estate and yard sales Occasionally I would find something military, gun or reloading related and turn around and make a quick buck on Ebay. My former brother-in-law supports himself, rather well I should add searching estate, yard and flea market sales and selling collectables on Ebay. I've watched him make thousands on what I would have passed by as junk.

[Ed Barrett]

Around this part of Missouri some stuff that's really junk (sprung presses, rusty, pitted dies, bent balance scales) goes high but on most components I've found some pretty good buys on. I bought a box actually a 5 gallon bucket of J word bullets for a dollar and got to use my $25.00 digital scale to sort them this winter. Mostly .30 cal spbt's but also 300 of .44 and 450 of .357 pistol. I have also bought some primers with the seal still on the cases for next to nothing. Farm auctionsused to have some pretty good buys on firearms but it's been years since I've seen any buys, a rusty Sears .22 will bring over $100.00.
Istill keep going hopeing for a find.

[carpetman]

One Saturday morning I found a single shot bolt action .410 Winchester shotgun at a garage sale for $125. I thought a little high and surely no collector value. I didnt have a Blue Book in the pickup. One guy offered I think $110 and the guy said the gun belonged to an older guy and that was the price he had put on it and he was not at liberty to reduce the price.(The guy holding sale had already stated that and then the guy offered the lower price???) I went home and looked in the Blue Book. Was I ever wrong and shocked. This was a model 41---a non serialized model. If you go back to the 11th edition Blue Book it had a $200-$450 range. Go to a 12th Edition and this gun has suddenly became a 24K model. 12th Edition stated a range of $250--$1200 and went on to say only 22,145 produced from 1920-1934 and rare in 80% condition. I would rate this one over 90%. Later Blue Books did drop the price again. I think the only older gun I have ever known about to drop in value. I quit buying Blue Books because I had personal assurance from the top that they were going to include information on a Winchester Westerner (Not the old one but one from about 1980) which had never been included. I bought the book and the information was not there. So my latest is a 22nd edition(anyone with a later edition--would appreciate an update on the Win 41 shotgun and if the Westerner is now included(Maven also has a Westerner). Now the rest of the story. After reading that 24K price,I just knew the gun had been sold. I had to call bingo so I took a shower,headed back across town and the gun was still there. I pulled $125 out of my wallet so fast it smoked and headed to my part time job.