That's my main complaint about him. He always feigns ignorance when it suits him, but when it's something truly rare and not well known he won't just tell you what book to find it in, he'll show you the page! He or someone who he commonly does business with must have piles of Arisaka bolts. I've seen so many "matching" Arisakas with bolts from other manufacturers. He'll just say it's "kanji marked" to feign ignorance, when he knows what they mean. My favorite being a serial number 1 gun, with a bolt numbered 001, while all the rest of the parts are just marked 1. The gun was also listed as mismatched in the very same book he's shown before.
1899 Spandau GB win recently.
- Thread starter Jdt
- Start date
That's my main complaint about him. He always feigns ignorance when it suits him, but when it's something truly rare and not well known he won't just tell you what book to find it in, he'll show you the page! He or someone who he commonly does business with must have piles of Arisaka bolts. I've seen so many "matching" Arisakas with bolts from other manufacturers. He'll just say it's "kanji marked" to feign ignorance, when he knows what they mean. My favorite being a serial number 1 gun, with a bolt numbered 001, while all the rest of the parts are just marked 1. The gun was also listed as mismatched in the very same book he's shown before.
biggymu
Well-known member
Caveat emptor! He does provide ample and clear photos for you to make a decision.
This. People will say “it’s impossible for him to know everything and to catch every fake.” He’s literally sold thousands and thousands of rifles, and I trust he’s sold three-digits worth of arisakas. You don’t get to feign ignorance at a certain point.
He may have some good stuff, but I generally avoid even looking at his auctions.
I do the grocery shopping and I meander through the produce department every visit and it is a fact that I couldn't off-hand name 5% of produce I pass by... Larry volume suggests he probably does the shopping and has employees doing the dirty work of listing and researching. And while they probably have dozens of variations they routinely deal with they can hardly be expected to be very knowledgeable. More than a few German rifle collectors can hardly answer simple questions about markings you can hardly expect a flipper crew to know much.
CB and I often discussed Larry's operation, he said more than once that his auctions provided more than enough pictures to evaluate a potential purchase, if anything that is even more true today. I think Larry does more than enough to be given the benefit of the doubt, in over 20 years I do not recall someone saying he was cheated or refused a return and his operation has consistently improved, - I have lifted more good data from his sales than any other seller, every year they get better, hell they routinely do BC's & lower bolt flats... who else does that?
*** when I first started trending in the mid-late 90's Larry was selling on AA & GB and he did half a dozen to dozen really crappy pictures, which was normal, he and a few other led the evolution we take for granted today on GB (lots of decent pictures - which is all one can ask from a high volume flipper; and a generous return policy which have never heard complained about)
Larry is as honest as flippers get. His indirect contribution to research (probably across several fields) is highly beneficial to our hobby and research. (and more importantly to the health of this hobby as his business or operation (greed or better called self-interest) reveals more rifle opportunities to more collectors (he does the footwork that supplies discoveries that would normally be purchased and hidden away for decades)
CB and I often discussed Larry's operation, he said more than once that his auctions provided more than enough pictures to evaluate a potential purchase, if anything that is even more true today. I think Larry does more than enough to be given the benefit of the doubt, in over 20 years I do not recall someone saying he was cheated or refused a return and his operation has consistently improved, - I have lifted more good data from his sales than any other seller, every year they get better, hell they routinely do BC's & lower bolt flats... who else does that?
*** when I first started trending in the mid-late 90's Larry was selling on AA & GB and he did half a dozen to dozen really crappy pictures, which was normal, he and a few other led the evolution we take for granted today on GB (lots of decent pictures - which is all one can ask from a high volume flipper; and a generous return policy which have never heard complained about)
Larry is as honest as flippers get. His indirect contribution to research (probably across several fields) is highly beneficial to our hobby and research. (and more importantly to the health of this hobby as his business or operation (greed or better called self-interest) reveals more rifle opportunities to more collectors (he does the footwork that supplies discoveries that would normally be purchased and hidden away for decades)
Yes, even though his descriptions don't usually mention any issues, he does usually post enough photos to spot any obvious problems!
