I want to warn you about my recent experience with Little John's Auction Service and Little John's Antique Arms, Inc, based in Orange Calif. They deal mostly with antique and curio and relic firearms. In the past, I used their internet service to bid on and win a couple of antique pistols that were accurately described and were in good condition. But I am disgusted with my experience with their most recent auction. Using the internet, I was the high bidder on these two antique pistols:
Remington Elliot 5-shot derringer: Little Johns described the action as "good." They say they use the NRA definitions of gun quality. NRA says that "good" means that the action is in good working order. This gun was delivered to me with the firing pin missing. Does that seem like a "good" action? Is a gun with a missing firing pin in good working order? Little John's photos and their complete description did not indicate in any way that the gun was missing a critical part.
Rupertus pepperbox: Little Johns described the action as "working." The rest of the description and the photos did not indicate any missing or broken parts, but the gun was delivered to me with an important part of the action broken off and lying loose in the package. I am not sure whether the broken part can be repaired, and the gun does not work correctly without it.
The package was delivered by Fedex in exceptionally good condition with no sign of any damage during shipping, so there is no way that the shipper can be blamed for broken or missing parts.
I emailed Little John's multiple times to complain and explain the problems, but they did not bother to reply. Their Terms and Conditions of Sale include a "sold as is" clause, but another part of the Terms and Conditions of Sale says that Little John's "warrants the accuracy of the catalog descriptions." It is clear to me that their descriptions were faulty and incomplete.
If you have an interest in bidding on any guns in future Little John's auctions, beware that a similar situation could happen to you.
Remington Elliot 5-shot derringer: Little Johns described the action as "good." They say they use the NRA definitions of gun quality. NRA says that "good" means that the action is in good working order. This gun was delivered to me with the firing pin missing. Does that seem like a "good" action? Is a gun with a missing firing pin in good working order? Little John's photos and their complete description did not indicate in any way that the gun was missing a critical part.
Rupertus pepperbox: Little Johns described the action as "working." The rest of the description and the photos did not indicate any missing or broken parts, but the gun was delivered to me with an important part of the action broken off and lying loose in the package. I am not sure whether the broken part can be repaired, and the gun does not work correctly without it.
The package was delivered by Fedex in exceptionally good condition with no sign of any damage during shipping, so there is no way that the shipper can be blamed for broken or missing parts.
I emailed Little John's multiple times to complain and explain the problems, but they did not bother to reply. Their Terms and Conditions of Sale include a "sold as is" clause, but another part of the Terms and Conditions of Sale says that Little John's "warrants the accuracy of the catalog descriptions." It is clear to me that their descriptions were faulty and incomplete.
If you have an interest in bidding on any guns in future Little John's auctions, beware that a similar situation could happen to you.