Alpo Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 Sometimes you can get a good deal. I walk into the shop one day, and on the shelf behind the counter I see what appears to be an N frame Smith. I asked what it is, and the owner told me it was $100. So I pulled out $100. Didn't know what it was, but $100 for an N frame Smith? Then he lays two things on the counter. It was a 1917 that had had the barrel chopped. A ramp front sight had been installed using JB weld, which had let go. And there was some kind of Mickey Mouse rear sight attached to it. I go out to the truck and come back in with a set of ears, a roll of duct tape, a sharpie, and a box of S& B ball. I rip off a piece of duct tape, set the front sight in the groove in that pile of JB weld on the end of the barrel, and tape it back into place. Then I run the sharpie up and down the ramp, which made a black stripe on the gray tape. I go back behind the counter and get a 3-inch orange dot out of the filing cabinet. I put on my ears, dumped five rounds into my hand, and headed towards the range, grabbing a silhouette target as I went by. I put the spot on the back side of the target, drop the five rounds in the cylinder, run the target out to about 30 feet, and shooting single action I put five rounds into about an inch and a half. Then I bring it back into the shop and tell the owner that I need a 4473. Couple months later a gunsmith of my acquaintance told me that he was going to a double action revolver school, and that he needed a Smith & Wesson hand ejector as a practice piece. If I would let him use one he would return it with an action job. I gave him the 1917, pointing out the "still held on with duct tape" front sight, and he said he would also solder the sight on. I don't know whether it was cleaning the barrel in preparation for the solder, or whether the heat of the soldering did it, but there is no blue on the barrel. It now has a nice brown patina. Smith & Wesson hand ejectors lock up at the back at the recoil fieldSHIELD, and at the front at the end of the ejector rod. Part of his action job included drilling a little divot into the frame, and installing a spring-loaded ball bearing into the crane. Now the cylinder locks up in three places. Very tight. Very smooth. All for $100. Oh, and the Mickey Mouse rear sight? That's called a Wonder Sight. It was invented back in the 30s, so you could mount an adjustable rear sight on your fixed sighted revolver. There was a woman and her bodyguard. They were preparing. I don't know what they were preparing for, but they were preparing. They bought a pair of SIGs and a pair of HK91s, along with web gear and mag pouches and many many magazines for all four guns. The bill was rolling up around $5,000. Then the bodyguard had a sudden thought. He said he no longer needed THIS, and asked if he could get a trade in on this $5,000 purchase for this gun, and pulled a 6-inch K38 masterpiece out from under his arm. They gave him $50. After they had left I pointed to the 38 and asked how much. $100. The deals are out there. But then again, these two purchases happened in the neighborhood of 2002, maybe 2003. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennessee Trapper Tom Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 ZI’ll bet the guy at the shop making the deals was generation Z. I feel sorry for the LGS and good for you. I’ve lucked into those kinds of deals from time to time. I also like to do searches on gunbroker for misspelled headings. Scored quite a few deals that way because nobody else finds them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 I would definitely snap those deals up. I like that Wonder Sight. I have never even heard of those let alone seen one. Thanks for the history lesson @Alpo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 I think the best deals that I have ever gotten was a new $100 Marlin 336 in 1992. A guy that worked with my wife got it as a gift from an uncle or some relative as a going away present when he left New England and moved to CA. I guess he felt a Marlin wasn’t cool enough. I still have it. I got a Winchester 94 AE carbine for $220 almost new. The guy claimed it had 5 rounds through it. Apparently it kicked too much. That was in ‘98. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyesa Horg Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 I won 3 shotguns at a NWTF back in the 90's. That was a great deal. Still have 2, the other was stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 Best deal I ever got was when a friend was dying and gave me a 1957 Colt Detective Special I had been trying to buy from him for about two years. It is in very, very nice shape, just some holster wear on the front of the frame and a rust spot on the hammer. I added a Tyler T-Grip to it and bought a holster. I have instructions for my kids: when I die you find his widow and see that she gets that gun back, no matter what. As I see it, the gun is still Mike's gun. BTW, that little .38 is one of three "carry guns" that are almost always with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001 Posted April 26, 2023 Share Posted April 26, 2023 through the years , I have picked up some bargains , mostly stuff , that needs a bit of care and repair CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major E A Sterner #12916 Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 Best deal I ever got was a Bond .357 derringer for $50.00 from a guy getting out of CAS. He set the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 I nearly forgot that back in ‘99 I bought a rusty Ruger Blackhawk for $100. Some WD40 and 0000 steel wool, some TLC and new grip panels made it into a fine 6 shooter. It was really accurate. A good friend always admired it when we we nt shooting and he always asked to shoot it. One day he asked what I would take for it. I sold it to him for exactly what I paid for it. $100. I sometimes regret selling that gun to him. Forgot the “TL” in front of “C”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpo Posted April 27, 2023 Author Share Posted April 27, 2023 8 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said: Some WD40 and 0000 steel wool, some C and new grip panels made it into a fine 6 shooter. Yeah, I wondered what "some C" was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 Early '90s, there was a pawn shop owner I had helped out on several occasions. He sold me a 1979 Colt Python for what the pawn shop had in it. $100. Three years later, in a moment of stupidity, I sold it for 6 times what I had given for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted April 27, 2023 Share Posted April 27, 2023 I've gotten a few good deals over the last ten years or so. The best was at my Favorite LGS, Murphy's. He has decent prices, but don't think that you're going to get a "good" deal, usually. Some of you have seen pics my S&W 625, .45ACP, 5" full lug, brushed stainless finish, with Herrett Shooting Star grips. He had it priced at about $450. Similar guns were going for at LEAST $700, usually more. I didn't question it, I just took "Yes" for an answer and brought it home. The next one was at a USA Pawn when they first came to town. It was an Uberti SAA in .45 Colt and a 7.5' barrel. This thing looked like it had been rode hard and put up wet. The brass gripframe was tarnished to heck, the one piece grip looked like it had been beat on, and there wasn't much bluing left on the barrel or cylinder. The CCH frame was okay though. THe best part was that it was marked "Intercontinental Arm Co." They eventually became Interarms in about 1968, which dates the gun. I disassembled it, sanded and refinished the grips, cleaned up the gripframe and cold blued the barrel and cylinder. When I took it back to show their head gun buyer, she couldn't believe it was the same gun. $179. At the same Pawn Shop, a while later, they had three Taurus 85s, two Blued, one stainless. All hammered, 2" barrel. I have a real liking for these little guns, the older versions, NOT the more modern ones. Well, I wound up taking home TWO of them for $500 out the door. At the time, you could find them for anywhere from $300 to $350 on Gunbroker. Add in shipping and Transfer fees, and I got a good deal. The last one was a Ruger LCP. Same pawn shop, different location. $150. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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