Rock Island Auction Company is proud to announce that we’re replacing the old, black & white catalogs printed for our Sporting & Collector Auction with new customizable color catalogs that you can print from our website or view on your favorite eReader device.

This free, easy-to-use setup provides our clients with better photos, more flexibility, and a personalized experience like never before. All the sorting and browsing filters of the RIAC searchable website catalogs are used to personalize your custom catalogs as you see fit, so you can create a printable PDF or a digital eReader download that’s as specific or open-ended as you like.

The new RIAC printable online catalogs offer numerous advantages and provide a better user experience all around.

Though conceived of as a way to replace Sporting & Collectors catalogs, this exciting new feature can be used with ANY Rock Island Auction Company auction going forward. When an upcoming auction’s catalog is posted to our website, anyone with a Rock Island Auction Company account can start creating custom free gun catalogs.

Why switch to an Electronic Catalog?

Rock Island Auction Company has been no stranger to innovation, leading the firearms auction industry in high-quality photography, easy-to-use website features, and own our online bidding system, Rock Island Live. Replacing the black and white Sporting & Collector Auction catalogs with a free customizable gun catalog was the next natural step, and a clear upgrade for everyone. Let’s take a look at just a few of the advantages below.

High-resolution color photography. When you bid on a gun, you want to know exactly what you are getting, and the new catalog provides color photos of every lot. The old black and white catalogs typically included a 1-2 photos for each lot, where the new custom catalog uses color photos, Plus, when viewing the catalog on our website, you can now view feature items from multiple angles.

No more late shipping. No more waits and delays and worrying about the USPS delivering your catalog in time for auction. COVID-19 severely disrupted the mail industry, and delays are an ongoing issue. With Rock Island Auction Company’s new digital free gun catalog, once an auction is posted, the catalog can be personalized, downloaded, and printed at any time.

Once an auction catalog goes up on the website, it can be customized, download, and printed immediately. No more shipping delays!

Reduced cost and clutter. Did we mention the new printable online catalogs are FREE? No subscription fees, no hidden charges, and it’s more environmentally friendly to boot.

RIAC printable catalogs are freely available to our customers through our website. With a few clicks, you can generate a custom catalog to print or take on the go!

How to Print a Regular Catalog

Fans of the traditional catalogs need not worry. A printable catalog that includes every lot in the auction is available by default, and it's only two clicks away. First, make sure you’ve logged in with your Rock Island Auction Company account. If you don’t yet have an account, you will be prompted to create one. Luckily, it’s a straightforward process, and you’ll be up and running in no time.

Click the login button on the top right of the page and enter your Rock Island Auction Company account name and password.

Next, make sure you’re on the main page of an auction catalog, like this page from RIAC’s October Sporting & Collector Firearms Auction.

Simply click your mouse on “Download Catalog as EPub” for a file that can be read on your eReader, or click “Download Catalog as PDF for printing” for a version that can be printed anywhere you like.

Next, click on the large yellow button at the bottom of the pop-up, as illustrated below. First, let’s take a look at downloading a printable file.

To create a printable file, enter your email address, then click the yellow button labeled “Generate my PDF”

You should receive an email within a few minutes or less from “Info at Rock Island Auction” with the subject line “Your RIAC Catalog PDF Download is Ready.” Open the email, and you will see the following links and directions.

Click the first link to download your catalog export or copy and paste the address provided into your internet browser's address bar.

If you click the link in your email or copy and paste the custom address into your browser, you'll notice a download taking place. If you’re using the Chrome browser, or Firefox, this download will likely occur at the bottom of the screen. If you’re using Microsoft Edge, the download typically takes place at the top of the screen.

Downloading a printable version of the RIAC catalog in Chrome.

If you’re using Microsoft Edge, the download takes place at the top of the screen.

Downloading a printable version of the RIAC catalog in Microsoft Edge.

If these catalogs are printed with text on both sides of the paper, you can expect about 30 to 35 pages for the average A&A Auction, and about 100 to 225 pages for the larger S&C Auctions catalogs.

How to Publish your Free Gun Catalogs to an eReader/ePub Device

The download process is going to be exactly the same when generating a file for your eReader, but without the need to enter your email address or open any links in your email. All you need to do is make sure you’re on the main page of an auction catalog, then click “Download Catalog as EPub," and a file will download to whichever device you are using.

Downloading an eReader version of the new catalog couldn’t be easier!

The Rock Island Auction Company free gun catalogs are compatible with the following eReader devices:

·        Kindle
·        Android Tablet
·        iPad

Kindle, Android Tablet, and iPad are all compatible with Rock Island Auction Company’s new custom catalog.

Upon checking your eReader, you’ll find a clean-looking document with full-color images and detailed descriptions of every item. As download sizes go, you can expect about 10 MB for the average A&A Auction catalog, and about 40 MB for the larger S&C Auction catalogs.

How to Make a Custom Free Gun Catalog

As you can see, a full-length catalog can be a lengthy document. Fortunately, RIAC’s new custom catalog feature can be filtered and narrowed down in numerous ways, creating a document as specific or general as you’d like. It’s a straightforward process, too. Hop into any auction catalog hosted on our website, and a thorough list of search features appears on the left-hand side our online catalog. These filters include sorting the catalog by auction day, product type, category, manufacturer, and weapon caliber.

All of these filters can be combined to further narrow your free gun catalogs. Let’s take a look at a more detailed breakdown below.

·        Auction Day: Select all, or select only items from one specific day of the auction.
·        Product Type: Narrow your search to such lot categories as handguns, pistols, revolver, long gun, carbine, shotgun, musket, rifle, combination, or other (for miscellaneous militaria, ammo, artwork, and various historical objects.)
·        Category: If you’d like to sort by ATF category, such as antique firearms, curio & relic, modern firearms, or Class III guns.
·        Manufacturer: Every firearm manufacturer in the auction is listed, and only items produced by the specific manufacturer selected will appear when you enter this filter.
·        Caliber: Filters the catalog by specific ammo caliber.

And finally, individual keywords can be entered in the “search” box to further refine your catalog. For instance, if the keyword “experimental” is used along with the “curio & relic” filter, the custom catalog below is narrowed down to six relevant lots.

You can download your free gun catalogs as a printable document or an eReader file at any point throughout this process, using the exact same method we detailed in the last section. Downloaded a catalog but need to add a few important filters? Just click the filters you like, download the catalog again, and you’ll receive a new and updated document to reflect any and all changes.

How to Generate Multiple Searches

Narrowing down a custom catalog can be extremely handy for a bidder, but what if you’re hoping to create two or more custom catalogs with extremely different filter results?

Above, we see a custom catalog for only 1911 pistols. But what if you’d like to generate another specifically for M1 Garands?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. At any point, you can select the “Clear Filters” label on the very top left (below the RIA logo) to remove all selected filters and return to the base catalog. From there, you can select a new set of filters and create a completely different custom catalog.

You can generate and download up to 5 catalogs per day, so don't be afraid to experiment. Whether you'd like to tailor a separate catalog for each auction day, or create catalogs sorted exclusively by manufacturer or product types, it’s as simple as selecting “Clear Filters” and repeating the process described above.

Free gun catalogs

And that’s all there is to it! We hope this brief tutorial is helpful, but we also understand that new technology can be a lot to take in and change can seem a little overwhelming at first. If you have any questions or problems with these exciting free gun catalogs, don’t hesitate to call or email us for help.

The most important thing to take out of this article is that the new custom catalogs are designed to provide the end-user with a better experience all around. These free gun catalogs can be used for ANY type of Rock Island Auction Company auction, and that’s a win for everyone.

As always, if there are any questions regarding consignment, registration, future auctions, or the new customizable and printable catalogs featured in this article, please contact Rock Island Auction Company today. Our upcoming auction schedule is updated frequently on our website, so be sure to go through the listing and start making your plans to visit. All our events adhere to the latest COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions. We can’t wait to see you here!