I recently bought a rifle from Little John's Auctions in southern CA. I was bidding through Proxibid. The catalog description said the bore was excellent. When the rifle arrived, I found the bore to be both rough and dark. When I contacted the seller. I was told condition was subjective and that I should consider that the rifle was over 100 years old. If you're ever inclined to bid sight-unseen on one of Little John's auctions, be warned. Catalog descriptions are optimistic, and they're not backed by any recourse.

Ditto Australian Arms auctions, and likely most others. Best to have on site inspection before bidding. Old guns are hard to but if not in hand.

Pay with a credit card. Not happy? Stop payment.

This is typical of some auction houses. There's no way that this is just one person's idea of excellent vs. another's idea of dark and poor. The description is just way too far off what you really got. It's flat out misleading, and designed to garner more bids and higher sale prices.
It also makes me leery of bidding at their auctions.

I've found that the descriptions of items on the various Proxibid auctions are all over the place from nonexistent to downright verbose. Which latter is fine if the "verbs" are accurate. They often aren't.

I sometimes sell guns on these auctions when I can't find a local buyer, but I only buy guns that I have gone to see and handle at the auction site. Never used Little John's because I literally can't find the site. "Someplace in Orange"! (Their online directions took me to a decent Chinese restaurant....a great money-saver!).

I recently saw several items, a Remington 1894 and a Blanch, on auction thru Proxbid. When I called the auction houses for futher information, I was told "as is where is,". Needless to say, I passed.

This weekend I won a pre WWI era Marlin '94 deluxe rifle at a local auction. The auction only provided one image of the right side, and I broke my own rule of not bidding without good pictures, or going to look at a gun. I had little notice, so no time to go look.
I bid half of what I thought it was worth in an absentee bid, and it closed at 2/3 of what I bid, so I was surprised and excited. I went yesterday to pick it up, and got another surprise. A crack in the wrist on the left side that was nicely repaired. Appears to be a very old repair, and I can make it look even better with some work. But it does reinforce my previous rule of looking first. But if I had looked, I'd still have bid the same, and been happy with the purchase. It is a stunning piece, and in very nice condition for 111 years old.

Many years ago I purchased a rifle from Little Johns. I learned the first time and did not go back

John Boyd

PS: Have met John a few times and is actually a very nice guy.

Having dealt with rocky mtn bill's integrity on other sub-forums here, I would have to say that people who live in glass houses should not be throwing stones at Little John's Auction House.

(I can provide links and quotes to back up that statement Billy)

Vall, maybe you can post some pictures of your new Marlin. Sounds really nice. I'd love to have a Deluxe. What caliber and barrel dimensions/profile?

I can if it doesn't break forum rules?
It's a .25-20 Marlin caliber, and is the "pencil weight" barrel contour. The barrel is 24" long.









If this breaks any rule, feel free to delete it.

I bought a Springfield '03 from them during the July auction. It was in 35 Whelen AI and was listed as having 2 boxes of ammunition. BBT dropped off the box and I found myself with a rifle with some minor defects that were hidden and not described accurately. In addition the 2 boxes of ammo were not included. A phone call and about a weeks wait while they searched the auction site and store failed to turn up the ammunition. To their credit they gave me the option of them either buying me 2 boxes of ammunition of my choice and shipping it or refunding me $100. Since I have a few thousand '06 LC match cases, I opted for the refund which was promptly mailed. So while they may be a bit slack and optimistic in their description, I have to give them due credit for honesty and going above and beyond in rectifying the missing ammunition.

What a Sweetheart!

Thanks!

BTW, there ARE no forum rules here anymore...

Thaine, I can add a note to your experience with Little John's. A year ago I bought my first rifle from them. They had not described bore condition in the catalog so I called and got someone there to describe the bore. I was told it was excellent. When it arrived , I was surprised to find several areas of serious pitting in the bore. After some phone discussion, they refunded a satisfactory amount of the purchase price. This time, however, they simply refused to acknowledge their misrepresentation. I won't be their client again. Two- for- two is one time too m any.

Vall:

That's truly a delightful little rifle and in one of my favorite cartridges. How does it shoot?

Rem

Right... Apparently now you can use this website to post unsubstantiated complaints about someone's business ethics without them having a chance to tell their side of the story.

How about some bore scope photos of the alleged defect Billy? And how about letting Little John's tell us their version of the sale? Or do you think getting both sides of the story would be unfair?

This wouldn't be the first time someone here complained when they got a good deal, but still wasn't happy:

AUCTIONS-- Caveat Emptor

Since I've only owned it a few days, I haven't even got loads made up, or a load worked out. I had sold all my .25-20 brass because I thought I was done with the caliber. Fortunately I kept dies, molds, and bullets. So I've got a few hundred cases coming, and will be working up loads with the 86 gr. and 90 gr. cast lead bullets I have.

Those sound like mighty big bullets for what I am magine the twist is in that rifle. Have you had success with them to 4 in lever guns of that caliber?

The 86-90 gr. bullets are the standard for .25-20, and it's all I've ever used in them. Not sure you can even find lighter .258" bullets suitable for the .25-20 these days?
Winchester used to list a 60 gr. and an 86 gr. as a factory load, but my two boxes of original .25-20 M are both 86 gr.





Twist rate for the Marlins in .25-20 is 1:12".

After closer inspection (still!) I was sure the bluing on my newly purchased '94 Marlin deluxe was not original. The key being a purple hue to the receiver, hammer, and lever. So I made the decision to bite the bullet and strip them to send off for color casehardening, as they were originally.
Broke the gun down, and turned the barrel off. Got out my trusty Rustoleum rust remover and applied it to all the parts. After 15-20 minutes I rinsed the parts in hot water and got a big surprise!
Whoever did the hot bluing didn't polish out the parts before bluing! The remnants of case color remained on all the parts! Not vivid or new looking, but very appropriate for the condition of the wood stocks. I decided to simply coat the parts in oil and reassemble the gun.
I prefer the faded case colors to new case colors, or the hot blue. It has a nice appearance that fits the rest of the finish well.

Looking good. I have a question concerning the Rustoleum. The one time I used it, nongun related, I thought it etched the metal. This was on a large 4"+ diameter x 12" piece of hex stock. Have you had any problems with that? Do you dilute it? I haven't tried it on a gun because of that and formulas may have changed since that was in 1980.

I've use Rustoleum jelly in brush on and spray on containers, and not seen any etching. I've actually preferred it for stripping vs. sanding the old bluing off,as sanding removes more metal than chemical stripping. It saves me time, effort, and makes the final polishing much easier.
As you might see in the pics after, there is no etching I can see. The receivers I'v done come out slightly dull, as compared to the blued finish, but not etched at all.
If I'd gone after this bluing with emery paper I'd never have known there was any case colors left under it.

I'd think etching of the metal with any acid based blue or rust remover would depend upon the concentration of the acid, time, and temperature. Rustoleum rust remover appears to contain phosphoric acid, which would account for the gray coloration and slight frosting effect. This product probably would have removed any remaining case colors if left on the surface long enough, or at a higher temperature. It would have been very easy to walk away and let it work longer, and never know there were remaining case colors under the blue. It would probably etch the surface if left on too long as well. But the success of this is very interesting, and makes me wonder if the results for salvaging old case colors hidden under rebluing might be even better with a different acid.

The instructions say to leave this product on for 15-20 minutes. I never leave it on that long normally. I was impatient when I started using it years ago, and rinsed it after 10 minutes. I found it had done most of it's work, and only had to spot remove patches of bluing.
So now I check it about 10 minutes in, and if I wipe some off and if it's not done I simply cover the spot I wiped clean, and let it continue.
I have no idea why this worked so well, but I'm certainly glad it did.

This is a public forum if Little John's wanted to respond I dont think anyone would deny them the opportunity and a dialog has to start somewhere. I have never used their service so have nothing to add to the specifics.