Well, I did my typical stunt. Won the auction and then decided I wanted a lever actiion without checkering (the one up for auction had checkering). Turns out I was buying from a dealer so asked him if we could switch. He checked his distributer and found what I wanted. Costing me a few more $$ as the prices have gone up a bit (so what else is new), and will add a week or two more before I get it, but in the long run I know I'll be much happier with the switch.
all to say--be sure, very, very sure what the item up for auction is exactually what you want.