BEDFORD, Texas — Historic firearms once owned by presidents Gerald R. Ford and Theodore Roosevelt are set to go on the auction block next month.
Rock Island Auction Company will auction off five sporting arms once owned by President Ford and a percussion rifle from President Theodore Roosevelt's collection. That auction starts May 17 and runs through May 19 in Bedford, Texas.
The auctioneer said while Ford was in office during the country's bicentennial in 1976, he was presented five engraved sporting arms from Winchester, Browning and Ruger.
How Ford's firearms ended up in the hands of an unnamed consigner remains murky, but the collector's weapons will be sold in three lots. Two lots will be sold as pairs.
"Most notably, he has a Winchester Model 21. I'm sure a lot of your listeners in Michigan might know, just a classic design. There's a fancier version of that called the Grand American and this is even beyond that, as you would expect for a presentation to a sitting president. Has the gold presidential seal on the underside... had been engraved in gold inlaid. Spared no expense," Interactive Production Manager at Rock Island Auction Company Joel Kolander said.
This weapon is expected to have a pre-auction value of $125,000 – $250,000.
Also up for auction is a pair of Browning Model 1885 single-shot rifles, with bald eagle engraving and bison in gold relief. These weapons could go for as much as $125,000.
The last from former President Ford's weapons for auction is a pair of Ruger No. 1 single-shot engraved rifles. The leather-bound case is marked on its lid, "Presented to President Gerald R. Ford by the Republican National Committee."
The pair of Ruger No. 1s have a pre-auction value of $40,000 – $60,000.
President Theodore Roosevelt was known for his love of the outdoors and hunting, and he owned many firearms throughout his life.
Up for auction in May is a Hawken, half-stock percussion rifle.
Rock Island Auction Company said a friend gave the rifle to Roosevelt before his death in 1893. That friend said he saw American frontier legend Kit Carson fire the weapon, the auctioneer said.
Roosevelt loaned the rifle to his beloved Boone & Crockett Club, the conservation organization he helped found. The weapon could go for as much as $85,000.
Some of the company's top sellers of all time came from presidents, Kolander said.
A set of Ulysses S. Grant's Remington Revolvers went for $5.17 million in 2022. During the height of the pandemic, Rock Island Auction Company sold one of Theodore Roosevelt's silver-plated Colt Single Action Army for around $1.4 million.
"The popularity of the President, you know, a gun from Abraham Lincoln is going to do very differently than a gun from say, McKinley or Taft or somebody like that," Kolander said.
If you'd like to check out the listing to see the firearms that will be auctioned off, you can check out their website.
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