Redding's auction
was the best kept "secret" in south central PA/central Maryland.
Been to that auction a few times and always came away with a treasure or two. Bargains to be had for sure, but it is an auction and often stuff fetches more than it should. "Auction fever" reigns. You never know what to expect in terms of bidders- yokels who don't recognize a rarity (or think a mundane piece is a rarity and bid accordingly), slickers who run the bidding up senselessly, dealers looking to build their inventory, etc. In short, usually a typical auction crowd. Auctioneers are knowledgeable and efficient- they rarely misrepresent pieces and move the auction at a brisk pace. Staff is friendly and efficient also.
It pays to watch their website as once or twice a year they auction off surprisingly high quality "theme" collections such as Winchester, Colt, etc. Those auctions are not for the feint of heart.
I go, await whichever items interest me, and win or lose spend the rest of the day delving back into the Civil War (it is Gettysburg, you know).
I might go to this one, as I recently discovered a personal family tie to the battle and could kill two birds with one stone. It seems my grandmother's uncle was killed there and his name is engraved on the Pennsylvania Memorial along with a couple thousand other PA boys who died there. Buried in the National Cemetery there, too. (When my Mom told me this a couple weeks ago I asked why she waited 60 years to tell me. "I didn't think you'd be interested." Argh!!!!)