What is the difference between Auction Types?

Premier Gun Auction Our Premier Auctions take place three times a year, each over a three-day period. A Preview Day is held all day on the preceding Thursday and the items are sold Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A Premier Auction consists of 2000 plus antique and collectible lots. Each of these auctions is made up of rare, unusual, mint, and highly collectible pieces. The full color, 3-volume catalog set features each lot with in-depth descriptions, a high and low estimate, and multiple high resolution photos. Each volume of the catalog corresponds to a day of the auction. The three Premier Auctions are typically held in April, August, and December. Our Premier Firearms Auctions have made international press and are renowned for offering the most significant, historic and important firearms. It is not uncommon for us to set a world record in any given Premier Auction. Each auction routinely covers the main genres of collecting from antique to modern Winchesters, Colts, U.S. and European Military, Sporting, etc. Our Premier Auctions also offer swords, bayonets, military artifacts, and other related material. Our website features the entire auction catalog online and is searchable by model, serial number, manufacturer, lot number, keyword, and more.

Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction Our Sporting & Collector Firearms Auctions are made up of affordable antiques, beginning collector’s items, usable sporting arms, modern firearms, and many non-firearm lots. A majority of the lots have multiple firearms. A Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction has routinely consisted of approximately 3,000 lots with as many as 10,000 firearms in those lots. We hold two to three Sporting & Collector Firearms Auctions per year. The Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction also has a Preview Day which is held all day on either Monday or Tuesday prior to auction and then we begin selling Tuesday or Wednesday thru Friday. The concept of the Sporting & Collector Firearms Sale was initiated by the demand that our customers developed for the “everyday collector” type guns. Were these guns placed in a Premier Auction, they would simply be overshadowed. We recommend these guns be seen in person as we keep the description to a minimum and use a rating scale for the condition. These auctions are comprised of sporting and hunting firearms from manufacturers such Browning, Winchester, Ruger, Colt, Remington, and Smith & Wesson. They also contain a strong number of military firearms from the U.S. and Germany, but also house Japanese and European military firearms. You will also find firearm related books, holsters, swords, parts, leather, ammunition and more. This is also an auction for antique and highly collectible items. Each item is listed with a headline, high and low estimates, condition rating, and photo. As with our Premier Auctions, our website features the entire Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction catalog of items and is searchable by model, serial number, manufacturer, lot number, keyword, and more. All items are viewable in color online and all guns have both sides shown!

Arms & Accessories Day Auction Rock Island Auction Company continues to be an innovator within the firearms industry and is proud to offer an additional platform to sell your items. Guns listed here for auction will be sold in the same way as our other auctions except there is no live preview or bidding audience in our facility during the auction. Bids are accepted absentee, telephone and live on the Internet during the day of the auction. These auctions are held monthly and are comprised of a myriad of firearms and related material. Typically, items in our Arms & Accessories Day Auctions are placed there as they do not meet our minimum lot value to earn a spot in a Premier or Sporting & Collector Firearms sale. Again, as with our Premier Auctions, our website features the entire auction catalog of items and is searchable by model, serial number, manufacturer, lot number, keyword, and more.