Ammo auction prices Sept 1994

#1

I have kept and old copy of the British Guns Review magazine mainly because it contained an auction report on an ammo sale. As its almost Christmas I thought I would share it with you now as an entertainment. Remember these prices are seventeen plus years old. For dollars multiply by 1.58

10rds Jeffrery .600 Cordite Express £1955
20rds Kynoch .600x3in £1,955
50rds Kynoch .577x 3in £2,300
20rds Eley 500/465 3 1/4" £1035
10rds Kynoch .476NE £977
10rds .475 no2 £172
10rds Kynoch .450 3 1/4in £552
10rds .450/400BP Express £805
10rds .577 Snider Solid £862

There are a lot more which I will update later. It was probably also the point at which I gave up cartridge collecting and became a “reader” because I realised it was beyond my pocket.

#2

Vince,

Neat, and interesting. After we multiply the .600 Cordite Express price by 1.58 to convert to U.S. Dollars, we have to multiply that ($3,089) by 1.53 to account for inflation since 1994. The 10 rounds, at $4,726, do seem a bit pricey. Wonder why the .600 x 3 inch were half price.

Mel

#3

Actually you have to add a bit on to that because the auction was held at Christies in London and they add a percentage charge to the buyer. What I don’t know is whether the buyers were buying it for collecting or shooting. What a mind blowing mental image that creates! Traditionally, a lot of big game ammunition sold at that time was bought for shooting because before Kynoch re-emerged as a supplier it was hard to get any other way. I can’t imagine anyone shooting that stuff off but you do have to wonder.
I am constantly amazed at how much people are prepared to pay. I know there are well heeled collectors about but most of us are paupers. The question I would like to throw open to the dealers among us is would they even realise that price today? I wouldn’t know, I am far removed from that world.

#4

Here are some more from the same magazine but not the same auction

Two boxes each containing 3 (of 5) 600/577 Rewa cartridges £1,265 and
£1150

But then we get to the really interesting stuff in terms of price difference

10rds Eley .577 x 2 1/4" BPE £32 (thats right, not a typo)
20rds Wesley Richards 500/450 No1 £38
40rds Rigby 275 in sealed cartons £18
10rds ,450/577 ball in unopened carton £32
40rds of Kynoch .450 x 2 1/4" in cartons of 5 £40
10rds Gibbs 256 Mag £24
20rds Eley 500/450 BPE £50
100 rds Kynoch .300 Rook Rifle in iriginal carton £12

I could go on but much of the rest is routine stuff like .455 ammo

Confused? well I am, two Auction houses of about equal repute, the second one is Weller & Dufty. This game is confusing in the extreme. My purpose here is only to illustrate the madness that is pricing and if it provides a little Christmas relief then I have done what I wanted to do

There is one last thing. The magazine has about 56 pictures of cartridge boxes, all sorts but quite small pictures. Its mostly Kynoch yellow and red but there is one Kynoch red and blue and one Kynoch red and grey and about twenty misc boxes, all British. I don’t think the picture is good enough to stand a good scan but its readable with a magnifying glass.

If any box collector wants the mag they can have it. First to PM me gets it free, I just want to find it a good home. For anyone else I wll try a scan and see how it comes out. Merry Christmas everybody

#5

In our 1998 sale #3 lot 1065 was a Jeffery headstamped 600 3" NE it sold for $675 + $67.50 BP or $742.50. So 10 X = 7425.00 for ten of the little devils as a auction price. Although we all know that math is perhaps faulty as some could sell individually higher & some at a lower price. Or perhaps there aren’t nine other folk needing a Jeffery headstamped .600 3" NE?

So Mel’s figure at $4,726.00, even with inflation sounds cheap to me!

I think that sale that Vince notes also included a box or tin? which would add to the price.

Please note I’m just adding fluff to the post, not trying to prove anything & a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you, one & all.

#6

Thanks Pete you provide an insight .