Auction Hunters, Pawn Stars Etc. The deals I never get.

[planedriver]

It seems every time I watch Pawn Stars, Auction Hunters, Storage Wars Etc. Those guys are always getting some kind of ultra cool gun for give away prices. I never get the kind of deals Hollywood puts out every week.

My Question is. What is the best deal you have ever got on a gun?

 

[snorko]

In the early 1990's Evansville still had police auctions of firearms. I went to one in 1991 or 92 and bought several guns. Most memorable were a Tec-9 with three mags for $50 and a POS Gercuda 7 shot .32 H&R revolver for $2.00.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

You might consider what I used to do to be more akin to Barter Kings.
I did this numerous times but, off the top of my head, here's one:

I started with a Jimi Hendrix poster and an old radio out of a truck.

traded the poster and radio for a Mongoose bicycle->

traded the Mongoose and an old 16ga H&R shotgun (free & clear from a previous trade) for 2 Marlin model 60's (+ scope, rifle sock)->

traded both of the Marlin model 60's for a Maverick 88 (+ slings, shells, case, etc) and a really nice dartboard (still in the mancave)->

traded the Maverick 88 for a FEG SMC 380 (+ holster, ammo)->

traded the FEG and a Wii (free & clear from a previous trade) for a Taurus PT740 Slim (+ holster, ammo)->

traded the Taurus PT740 Slim, 50ct box of .40 ammo & $100 cash for a Glock 23 gen 3 (night sights, 3 mags, holster, etc)


So I may have been out-of-pocket $100 cash (the items that I kept notwithstanding-dartboard, ammo, etc.),
I went from a Jimi Hendrix poster and an old radio to a Glock 23

 

[red_zr24x4]

Bought a $10 Friends of the NRA raffle ticket and won a M1A

 

[Beowulf]

Picked up an 1873 Springfield trapdoor rifle (made in 1878) for $300 at the Lafayette gun show the other year. It was so cheap because it was non-functional. Took it home and figured out that it needed about $18 in parts to fix it (which took all of 15 minutes to put in... those guns are super simple to work on, it turns out).

Now I have a Trapdoor that goes BOOM every time I pull the trigger.

I was pretty pleased with that deal.

 

[Leadeye]

Anything NFA bought in the 70s.

 

[churchmouse]

You might consider what I used to do to be more akin to Barter Kings.
I did this numerous times but, off the top of my head, here's one:

I started with a Jimi Hendrix poster and an old radio out of a truck.

traded the poster and radio for a Mongoose bicycle->

traded the Mongoose and an old 16ga H&R shotgun (free & clear from a previous trade) for 2 Marlin model 60's (+ scope, rifle sock)->

traded both of the Marlin model 60's for a Maverick 88 (+ slings, shells, case, etc) and a really nice dartboard (still in the mancave)->

traded the Maverick 88 for a FEG SMC 380 (+ holster, ammo)->

traded the FEG and a Wii (free & clear from a previous trade) for a Taurus PT740 Slim (+ holster, ammo)->

traded the Taurus PT740 Slim, 50ct box of .40 ammo & $100 cash for a Glock 23 gen 3 (night sights, 3 mags, holster, etc)


So I may have been out-of-pocket $100 cash (the items that I kept notwithstanding-dartboard, ammo, etc.),
I went from a Jimi Hendrix poster and an old radio to a Glock 23

I used to do a lot of the same thing but after a while my time doing other things was more valuable.

 

[Beowulf]

Anything NFA bought in the 70s.

Ain't that the truth. It makes a bit queasy to hear about the full auto pricing back then. Guns like like the Reising SMG, M2 Carbines, M10/11s practically being given away because they weren't cool enough (all of which go for $5k and above now).

Too bad I wasn't born until 1978. Granted, though, I had my chance to pick up an M11 back in the late 90s for $800 (hell, I had someone offer me a Japanese Type 99 converted to 7.62x39 for like $1500), but I was too busy putting all my extra cash into booze up at Purdue.

 

[rob63]

About a year ago at an auction I won an original Harper's Ferry Model 1855 rifle for $500. This is the rifle, not the rifle-musket. They were only made at Harper's Ferry and only a little over 7,000 of them were ever made. I wasn't even considering bidding on it as I figured it would sell for far more than what I had available, I just got really, really lucky. There were quite a few other Civil War era guns in the auction that all sold at the beginning of the auction, but this one came up later. The only thing I can figure is that everyone else that was interested in old guns ran themselves out of money earlier and left the auction. Later that same month I saw an almost identical gun sell at Rock Island Auction for $7500.

 

[DaveO]

Got a German Makarov at an auction for $60, got the holster at a yard sale for $5. Got a Ruger 10/22 magnum at the same auction house for $200.

 

[jcwit]

Winchester model 52B made in 1946 with a Lyman TargetSpot scope, and all the accessories--$50.00.

Original Sharps 45/70 Trooper model--$400.00.

New in the box S/S Springfield, 1911 45--$300.00

These are only the few.

 

[Lebowski]

Old Ruger Standard or Mark 1... unsure what it is exactly, I think it's a Mark 1 though. Anyhow, best deal I got on it: Free. (It was a gift from a family member)

 

[ChrisK]

Polytech Legend and 1000 rounds of ammo for $400.. That was 2 years ago

 

[Romero Zombie]

Got a Mini-14 Ranch in stainless with synthetic stock that had less than 100 rounds through it for $350. Came with the box, rings, paperwork, and 30 rounds of ammo.

A friend sold me a cetme for $300. I put a new bolt and rollers in it to get it in spec and swapped in a lot of HK parts including green stock set. It's a nice G3 clone that is a smooth shooter.

 

[500 mag]

Got a nice Walther p22 with everything it came with new for $175.

 

[mkgr22]

I once bought a beat up mauser for $20 at a Louisville gun show, then sold it for $100 a little further down the aisle.

 

[vedearduff]

Old Ruger Standard or Mark 1... unsure what it is exactly, I think it's a Mark 1 though. Anyhow, best deal I got on it: Free. (It was a gift from a family member)

If your Ruger has a factory adjustable rear sight, it's a Mark I. If it came with fixed sights, it's a Standard. I have a Standard with a 6 inch barrel, made in 1976 and has the Bicentennial inscription on the top of the receiver.

 

[Disposable Heart]

A Springfield GI 1911 "cap gun" at a yard sale for $10. Not kidding. When I informed the lady selling it that it was a real one, she said, "well, even better, I don't want a real gun in my house!!" Gave her $10 and never looked back. Their father had died and they were doing a HUGE yard sale to get rid of the stuff in the house so she could move in (was his daughter who got the house in the will). I overheard the lady and a few others talking as the sale progressed, lots of stuff to peruse through. I did look around but found no other "toy" guns there. Did notice there was a Prius in the garage with Illinois plates, so that might explain it.

Still have it, will never get rid of it. That gun has been unmodified, but resprung, coated in CLP Collector and put in a very safe place for my kids.

Found an Essex frame at a Goodwill, all parts intact, but the hammer race was badly beaten up and the hammer was cracked (apparently some kid thought it was a fake gun and "shot" it alot...) I bought it for the $5 listed, but couldn't use it, WAY out of whack...

A yard sale another time yielded a Colt (actual, factual Colt) commerical model for $100, with box. The family barely spoke English, but appeared to be another family member death-clear out the house deal. By the time I hit an ATM and got back, it was being bought by two saggy pants'ed individuals who proudly were waving their new "heater" around... Sad....

 

[T.Lex]

About 1994, I bought a Chinese SKS, with scope, external detachable and internal magazines, and 20 boxes of ammo for $200. The owner was the dad of a friend of mine. He just didn't like the rifle and wanted to get rid of it. He was willing to write off the ammo; I looked at it as buying all the ammo and getting the rifle for free.

Still have the rifle - put a plastic stock on it, though.

 

[LarryC]

Really can't say I have made many firearm purchases that haven't turned out really well ~ as an investment don't think they can be beat! Bought an SKS in the 80's for $100 with about 1K rounds of ammo. One of my better buys was a Russian SVD 40 Tok, paid $360 at a gun show in Tipton, few weeks later the ATF banned the import of these. It has the original cleaning rod and mag. Book is well over $1200 now.

My only problem is that I don't sell any! Think I have sold or traded 4 or 5 firearms in my life - I'm 73 - and one was a rifle I found to have a very poor bore so I returned it to the dealer and traded it in on a Winchester shotgun. Of course all of us old farXs knew what we know now we would have a house full of full auto SMG's and MG's (or would own a whole lot of Wallyworld or IBM stock).