I've noticed that James D Julia is having a pretty decent fixed auction next week with a bunch of machine guns.  

The link is here: https://jamesdjulia.com/auction/fall-2017-firearms-auction/?aucSession=all&aucSort=&aucCat=1&aucMan=&aucCol=&aucSearch=&aucPage=1&aucPP=25

Lots of the estimated price ranges are a good bit lower than what they are selling for at most of the reputable dealers.

I guess it all depends on how the bidding goes but there are a lot of nice guns there and if they stay in the estimated ranges there will be some decent deals had

Has anyone had any experience with buying machine guns at auction?

I've never bought but followed some that were more common. M16, uzi, macs etc. and they always seemed to blow past the estimates plus the 15% buyers premium, so that 20K is really 23K after paying.

might want to look at their past auction prices, it isn't working for me on iPad though.

I think auction sites are best for rare machine guns or those with historical provenance. You're just never going to get a "good" deal on a machine gun there since the seller is going to sell for close to market value and then the auction house takes an additional ~17.5%.

I have gotten some fair deals on machineguns at auction.

In the past 5ish years I have picked up an M16, Thompson, and 10/22 all at what I would say were under market at the time.

However, these all came from smaller auction houses and one off Gunbroker where there is not as much traffic as the big Julia and RIA auctions.  The Julia and RIA auctions in my estimation are somewhat of a crap shoot as prices can be all over the place.  Overall I would say its uncommon for desirable guns to go for much under "internet" market value once you factor in their 15 to 20% buyers premium.

You can look at some of the Julia and RIA auction results from the past year and you will get a better idea of what their guns go for in comparison to the "high/low" values they publish.

Auction houses list items with a low price range in order to get bidders excited

it's very common and it works like a charm

so don't think those $20,000 estimates for a Colt Thompson are what you'll get the gun for

I purchased my transferable Mg42 at Rock Island Auction back in 2016.

Won the auction at $32,000 and total price was $37,500.

I'm happy with what I paid as they've gained somewhat since then. Granted it's not comparable to a "entry level" MG, I think RIA and JJA do offer good deals. Some people will gripe about prices and it's tough to argue against what the market is fetching. Yes, there are better places to watch for deals but how often do Mg42, Mp43/1, Mkb42 and FG42s pop up for sale?

Got the Mg42 when I was 28. It's beating my 401k.

I haven't but I've bid on a few before.

I noticed MGs in top notch condition tend to sell quite a bit above market value as people get in a bidding frenzy or miscalculate how much it will cost after a 20% few, while those with flaws will sell for a lot less than market value. I just as an example two non-colt M16s were being sold from the same estate, one was mint condition and sold for $18k when you could buy one just like it from any dealer for $15k, the other was spray painted in various camo colors, nothing physically wrong other than the paint, it sold for $11k. Thats a $7k spread for basically the same exact firearm.

The auction house events sometimes have bidding wars, similar to what is occasionally seen online.  E.g., a recent auction house had a nice WWII MP40 go for what most comments have said was very overpriced amount due to a run up between a couple bidders.  As with anything, know what your top bid is going in, and stick to it.  I never have won.  I guess I have unrealistic expectations.

FWIW, over the last year my 401K has had a 10.8% increase in value (MAGA effect), which is better than my Vector Uzi and Colt M16A1 have done, but I've had more fun shooting the machine guns than reading a stock report.

MHO, YMMV, etc.

You also have to consider "buy bidders", that is, people (either the auction house or representatives of the owner) bidding against you to just raise the prices. It's illegal but happens at almost every auction.

I go to several live gun auctions where they sell an estate and the guns are just part of the overall auction. On most of your "run of the mill" guns, they seem to bring over market as people seem to get caught up in the bidding. I've always been wanting to find a transferable gun at one of these auctions where most people there would be oblivious to what it was and you could get it for a song. That hasn't happened yet. Most "gun people" know that civilians can own MGs but have no idea of the process and zero comprehension of what they are worth. They think they are at the top of the market with their old Browning shotgun or whatnot and don't have a clue that one transferable MG can easily surpass the entire value of their whole collection.