WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Milestone‘s Premier Firearms two-day sale on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 features 1,174 weapons from World War II, the Civil War, and the rough-and-tumble era when Texas Rangers chased bank robbers on horseback. The catalog is now available for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
Day One’s top lot is a Colt .45 long cartridge single-action Army revolver that was owned by World War II hero Audie Murphy. The son of Texas sharecroppers, Murphy tried unsuccessfully to join the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, but was rejected for being underweight. Eventually, he was accepted into the Army when he was barely 17 years old. Not only did he go on to become the most decorated combat soldier of the Second World War but also one of the most highly decorated soldiers in U.S. history. At age 19, he received the Congressional Medal of Honor for singlehandedly holding off a company of German soldiers at the Colmar Pocket in France, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition. He would later star in many Hollywood Westerns. Murphy’s Colt revolver is one of only 244 such guns assembled in 1947-1948 under the direct supervision of Harry St. John, whose personal stamp F appears at the rear of the trigger guard. The gun was shipped in 1958 to Murphy’s home address. It comes to auction together with a 1989 Colt archival letter signed by Colt Historian Emeritus M. S. Huber, and carries a $50,000-$100,000 estimate.
This 1908 single-action Army revolver is highly prized for its gorgeous overall artistry by Colt Master Engraver Cuno A. Helfricht. It features steer-head relief-carved grips with silver pony medallions and gold-plating on the cylinder, hammer, trigger guard, and backstrap. All of these significant details are confirmed by a Colt archival letter signed by Colt Historian Emeritus M. S. Huber, which accompanies the firearm. It is estimated at $30,000-$50,000.
Perhaps no other firearm in the sale witnessed as much action as the 1912 Colt .41 caliber double-action Army Special revolver that belonged to legendary Texas Ranger Captain Manuel T. ‘Lone Wolf’ Gonzaullas (1891-1977), who is enshrined in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. Formerly a Mexican Army major and U.S. Treasury Department special agent, Spanish-born Gonzaullas became a Ranger in 1920. He was as tough as they come, enforcing the law in Texas oilfields and boomtowns and all along the Texas-Mexico border. The Colt’s backstrap was engraved – likely at the Colt factory – with Gonzaullas’ name and the words TEXAS RANGER. It is estimated at $7,500-$15,000.
Many Confederate States of America army members had to supply their own firearms. Lieutenant A. S. Matteson of Arkansas chose an English Tranter .44-caliber double-action revolver made circa 1856-1857. The cap-and-ball revolver has markings that appear to say Wilkerson London and Thomas Griswold & Co. New Orleans. The piece is accompanied by an actual antique photo of Matteson, and is estimated at $25,000-$35,000.
A 1944 Rolex gold watch ordered by an American POW and actually delivered to him at the stalag where he was imprisoned is estimated at $7,500-$15,000. Rolex serial number 309040 was factory-shipped from Rolex in Switzerland to B-25 bombardier 2nd Lt. Benjamin Elms at Stalag Luft 3, where he was allowed to keep and wear the watch his father in Texas had paid for. Interestingly, Elms and fellow inmates would later inspire the hit 1960s TV series Hogan’s Heroes. The watch is in running order and is accompanied by extensive original Rolex documentation confirming shipment to the stalag in Hammelburg, Germany, including a receipt actually stamped by the stalag. A remarkable and historically important timepiece, it is estimated at $7,500-$15,000.
