DNR sets confiscated gun auction for May 2

[ex-LT]

Originally posted under Deals and Group Buys, but I decided to delete it from there and repost here.....

Saw this on the Strib website this morning.....

DNR sets confiscated gun auction for May 2

The auction of nearly 300 confiscated rifles and shotguns will be at the Hiller Auction Barn in Zimmerman. The guns will be sold “as is.”

Last update: April 14, 2009 - 9:22 PM

The Department of Natural Resources will sell nearly 300 confiscated rifles and shotguns at a public auction May 2 in Zimmerman.

The sale will be at the Hiller Auction Barn, two miles east of Hwy. 169 and County Road 4. Bidder registration begins at 8 a.m. and potential buyers can inspect the guns at that time. The auction starts at 10 a.m.

It's the first public auction of DNR- confiscated firearms -- forfeited by hunters for serious game violations -- in about a decade. The guns, collected over the past four years, vary widely in quality. A complete inventory will be posted on the Hiller Auction Web page at http://www.hillerauction.com.

The guns will be sold "as is" and all sales are final. Payment may be by cash, by most major credit cards, cashier's check, money order or traveler's checks. A convenience fee may be added to each credit card transaction. Personal or business checks also will be accepted if they are accompanied by a letter of credit from a bank stating that the bidder's credit is in good standing. Those letters must be provided when registering.

Hiller Auction, which won the bid to conduct the sale, will do background checks of bidders before releasing guns. Following the background check, a buyer can take possession of a gun immediately. Bidders can bring their own gun case to legally transport them or they can buy a temporary, disposable case from the auctioneer.

[EJSG19]

That would be fun to go to, just to see if any deals happen. I bet the turn out will be thick as fleas though. The pecimist (sp?) in me says there will be no great deals to be had on May 2nd.

Lots of cool models listed though, depending on condition there are a lot that would fill up my to buy list.

[Rip Van Winkle]

Dear old Dad took me to a gun auction hosted by the SPPD about 30 years ago. The old man was looking for a shotgun and I a 10-22. Everything that looked good sold for 10%+ over new retail price.

We went home empty handed.

That was the last gun auction I ever attended.

[1911fan]

I have attended many, two things happen, one you get a bunch of pikers who bid everything sky high, then drop out, or you get no one there, and you set your own price.

I was at an auction several years ago in St Cloud, there were four of us, that was it, we kept waiting for the crowds to show, A lot of guns got one or two bids, hardly any got more than four. it was a happy day.

[ex-LT]

Considering this is the first auction they've held in ten years, I kinda expect that there will be quite a few people there. There's a couple rifles on there I wouldn't mind bidding on, but I won't go to a Hiller auction. I've been to a few of their snowmobile/atv auctions in the past, and in addition to sales tax, they've charged a 10% "buyer's fee". They don't mention the buyer's fee on the DNR auction bill, so maybe they're not charging it for that one, though.