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Custer-Attributed Revolver Pair Brings $47,500 as Nevada Gun Auctions Sells Every Lot in Carson City

The carved pair from Reno’s famous Harolds Club gun collection brought $10,000 in 1994. At the August 24 sale at Casino Fandango it drew 32 bids, and every lot in the catalog sold.

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — September 2026 — Nevada Gun Auctions, the Carson Valley auction house launched by Witherell, sold all 274 lots in its August 24 live auction at Casino Fandango in Carson City. The sale totaled $383,700 at hammer, the largest in the company’s history. A pair of carved Starr revolvers attributed to George Armstrong Custer led the day at $47,500, nearly double its high estimate.

The revolvers began as Starr Model 1863 cavalry sidearms, the kind issued to Custer’s own Michigan “Wolverines.” After the Civil War they were converted to cartridge, engraved throughout, and carved deep in the Black Forest style with a chief’s head, a stag, and hunting scenes. One is fitted with a matching carved shoulder stock. The pair is believed to have been a presentation to Custer from a Swiss-American heritage group in Michigan. It came to the sale with a framed display of a Major General’s epaulettes and a clipped Custer signature dated June 6, 1870, and was estimated at $15,000 to $25,000.

The pair also has a Nevada past. The Harolds Club gun collection began at the Roaring Camp, Raymond Stagg’s bar on Lake Street in Reno. In 1949 Harolds Club’s Raymond “Pappy” Smith bought the collection whole and put it on show in the casino’s Roaring Camp room, billed as one of the world’s finest displays of antique American firearms. Brian Witherell spotted one of these very revolvers in a vintage photograph of the old Roaring Camp, hanging above the bar.

When Butterfield & Butterfield sold the collection in 1994, the pair went as lot 3872 on a $1,000 to $1,500 estimate and brought $10,000. On August 24, auctioneer John R. “Little John” Gangel opened it at $10,000 and called it “iconic American history from the iconic American collection.” Thirty-two bids later the hammer fell at $47,500.

A 1949 Dodge Power Wagon B-1-PW, one of the first civilian four-wheel-drive trucks built on Dodge’s WWII military design, brought $32,500. It was also the most-viewed lot in the online catalog. An engraved Colt Single Action Army with carved mother-of-pearl grips, shipped to a New York dealer in 1883, brought $10,500. Two lots brought $5,500 each: a Colt cavalry revolver from the “Custer range” of serial numbers, later issued to the U.S. Signal Corps in the Spanish-American War, and a 1912 U.S. Navy contract Colt Model 1911. A Union Switch & Signal Model 1911A1 pistol went to $4,750 against an estimate of $1,000 to $2,500.

In all, 196 registered bidders competed in the room, on the phone, and online. The catalog offered antique and modern firearms, edged weapons, and militaria from the estate of John Gibson and the collection of Marshall Caskey. Prices for the August sale are hammer prices and do not include buyer’s premium.

Nevada Gun Auctions is now accepting consignments for upcoming sales. Collectors and families with firearms, edged weapons, or militaria to sell can reach the company at (775) 790-2926 or info@nevadagunauction.com. Full results are at NevadaGunAuction.com, and the full story of the Custer pair, with The Reno You Know’s video segment on it, is at NevadaGunAuction.com/harolds-club-custer-pair.

About Nevada Gun Auctions — Nevada Gun Auctions, by Witherell, is a family-owned firearms auction house headquartered in Gardnerville, Nevada, serving collectors and estates throughout the western United States. It was founded by Brad and Angie Witherell and is owned and operated by Brian and Donna Witherell. Both Brad and Brian Witherell have served as invited appraisers on Antiques Roadshow. The company conducts live and online auctions of fine firearms, edged weapons, and militaria alongside sister companies Witherell’s and Annex Auctions. NevadaGunAuction.com · (775) 790-2926 · info@nevadagunauction.com.

Nevada Gun Auctions Holds Live Auction August 24 at Casino Fandango in Carson City

The Witherell family’s new Gardnerville auction house brings a Custer-attributed revolver pair, a 1949 Dodge Power Wagon, and a full day of antique and modern firearms to the auction block; public preview the morning of the sale

GARDNERVILLE, Nev. — August 2026 — Nevada Gun Auctions, the Carson Valley auction house launched by Witherell (whose Sacramento auction house has appraised and sold the American West’s finest art and antiques for more than five decades) holds a live auction Monday, August 24 at Casino Fandango, 3800 S. Carson St., Carson City. Public preview runs 8–11 a.m. the morning of the sale, with bidding from 11 a.m. to conclusion, called by auctioneer John R. Gangel (“Little John”).

The sale features antique and modern firearms, edged weapons, and militaria from the estate of John Gibson and the collection of Marshall Caskey, presented in a fully illustrated 288-page catalog. Headlining the day is a pair of Starr Model 1863 Army revolvers attributed to George Armstrong Custer, with carved stocks and framed epaulettes and signature (estimate $15,000–$25,000), and a 1949 Dodge Power Wagon B-1-PW 4×4 pickup (estimate $25,000–$50,000). Further highlights include a Mauser C96 “Red 9” Broomhandle pistol with holster stock, a U.S. Army Colt Model 1911, and painted steel helmets of both World Wars, among them a WWI “doughboy” helmet hand-painted with patriotic motifs and named to its soldier.

“There’s nothing like a live auction, and we’re excited to host the first live Nevada Gun Auction in Carson City,” said Brian Witherell, owner of Nevada Gun Auctions and a longtime appraiser on PBS’s Antiques Roadshow.

Bidding is conducted live with telephone, absentee, and online options. All details and a full catalog are available at www.nevadagunauction.com. Nevada Gun Auctions was founded by Brad and Angie Witherell and is owned and operated by Brian and Donna Witherell. Both Brad and Brian Witherell have served as invited appraisers on Antiques Roadshow. The company is a licensed Federal Firearms Dealer (FFL) and handles transfers, registration, and fully insured shipping on every lot; antique (pre-1899) firearms transfer without FFL paperwork. Lot inspections are available by appointment at the company’s Gardnerville facility, and sale highlights are on display at the Big Reno Show in August.

About Nevada Gun Auctions — Nevada Gun Auctions, by Witherell, is a family-owned firearms auction house headquartered in Gardnerville, Nevada, serving collectors and estates throughout the western United States. It conducts live and online auctions of fine firearms, edged weapons, and militaria alongside sister companies Witherell’s and Annex Auctions. Catalog and bidder registration: bid.nevadagunauction.com · (775) 790-2926 · info@nevadagunauction.com.