Model 200 Bicentennial

Ok, I'll be the odd man on this one,,,

First let me say I personally think the Auto Mag International is possibly the most beautiful gun ever made and running neck and neck at the top of my list next to the Colt SAA.  Kudos to Lee Jurras for his vision, skills, and determination to even undertake the making of one of these guns, he is truly a unique and talented man!

With that said, the Bicentennial International is just too much for me.  The engraving is so overdone I just cannot appreciate it.  Personally the International that Bruce Stark owns is the most attractive representation of the Internationals.  It has just the right amount of features but with a classic and clean look.  Its THE one to have, well for my taste.

The amount of engraving on this gun is like an exercise in how much you can fit on a gun.  It may be befitting of a gun heading to the museum of engraved stuff, but otherwise to my eye its gaudy, just way too much,,,

Many Colt SAA's have also suffered this fate and as with those guns, I think the over the top engraving has hurt the value of the Bicentennial.  Just look at the sales history of the super high coverage engraved SAA's and you will see why the value of the Bicentennial is not much higher than what it was originally sold for.  There is such a thing as too much.

In a way its a shame that it has not increased in value, with all the effort that went into that gun, and to see other Lomont and Jurras guns aledgely selling for $20k plus, one might reasonable assume that this gun would would be worth well over $100k.  Unfortunately the very low visibility of the Auto Mag is still a factor and they just never end up in the hands of the big collectors.  Just watch any of the big auction houses and what they are selling and you NEVER see Auto Mags as part of the big collections.  You will find Lugers, Colts, Winchesters, crazy obscure guns and very common guns, but never Auto Mags. 

Seems like there are very few people interested in them and sadly the Bicentennial I feel suffers from the "too big/too much" and the fact that Auto Mags are just not of interest to the serious collectors. 

In a way we all benefit from this.  If you follow the prices of the guns that the serious collectors buy, you will quickly see how working class folks like us would be priced out of the market very quickly if the big boys decided Auto Mags are the gun to have. 

So while I would not be shopping the Bicentennial the next time it comes up for sale, there may still be a few of you here who could afford it if you so desired.  

Now try to get your hands on a museum grade Winchester 1886 deluxe grade in say 50 - 110 or 140 or any of the desirable calibers, or a similar Colt, etc and good luck paying that bill,,,

gh

Again, I personally have never appreciated this particular gun, the design is just too personal with the dragons.

The engraved Auto Mags in the Pasadena brochure are the ones I have always admired the most and even then I am torn between the one that is most covered and least covered.  They are both very classy and classic in the execution of the engraving and could easily be in the Smithsonian as representatives of the most unique, most beautiful, most interesting guns of all time.  They are masterpieces befitting of a place where all can enjoy them.

Interestingly the most engraved gun from the Pasadena brochure and the "Dragon" gun have changed hands in the last many years and while the prices were not in a range I was willing to pay at that time, they were not unreasonable.  I remember distinctly being offered one of the Pasadenas for $10k  It was probably a mistake to pass it up, but then what on earth would I ever actually do with it?  Well that was the same question that must have occurred to previous owners when they sold it,,,

Interesting when you look back at what was available to you at any point in time and what your decision was.  Sometime you make good decisions, sometimes not. 

;-)

gh

The 41 JMP Jurras gun you are talking about is yet another understated Auto Mag that just has that PERFECT look, Lee hit a home run with that one for sure.

"need an "exterior" tool to remove , ok" Actually Yenko the International owner is just required to push a pointed screw driver or similar against the detent with somewhat of a medium pressure to disengage the stock.

yenko03 wrote: LEJ01 model 200 is perfect in my opinion, model 500 Grizzly and the 41JMP Silhouette are amazing too , bull barrel look so good

Funny I was just thinking that just a while ago there was a frenzy of activity on the 41 JMP, a bunch of you were just hot to get out and give the 41 a run. 

So what was the outcome, are you guys still shooting it, do you like it any better than the 44 AMP or 357 AMP????

Its not a round I got much out of, it just seems like that round doesn't offer much.

The 44 has big heavy bullets and the 357 is crazy fast, but the 41 just seem like it has no special purpose. 

I would really like to know if anyone found a real reason to shoot 41 JMP other then being unique?

Maybe you have a better selection of bullets today than when it tried it ~20ish years ago???

gh