Saturday, August 28, 2010

Some People

Some people are luckier than others. For some reason a plethora of people approach them and give the story, “Hey my great uncle died last year at the age of 101. Naw, his heart gave out whilst inflagrente delicto. It’s the way he wanted to go… Anyway we’re trying to get rid of his old .30-30. Do you want it? I’ll take $50 for it.” or “The Missus hates guns and wants me to get rid of this 12 gauge now that there is a baby on the way. Can you take it?”

It’s an odd phenomena. The only one that did that to me was my father and ex father in law. But I know a few people that have picked up a half dozen shootin’ irons that way from half a dozen people. Like they were born under a charmed star, guns just fall into their lap.

You can’t be picky with your firearm selection this way. You want a peep sighted tactical 870 shotgun? Well here is a single-shot 16 gauge.

What would I do with a 16 gauge if one came me way in that manner? I don’t even think I’ve SEEN 16 gauge on the ammo shelf. Nor 10. But if one came to me from that route, out of the blue, you’re darn right I’d take it. Unless they were selling it for some unreasonable price. Or they were a shady character. I can’t think of a gun I’d turn down that came to me from a trusted associate. AND I don’t think I’d turn around and sell it, either. I wouldn’t cheat a trusted associate, either. If they tried to sell me Teddy Roosevelt’s first lever gun for $50 I’d recommend they check with Sotheby’s and get the full $15,000+ for it.

I was thinking of adding another section to my Master List of “Guns I’d Take If They Fell in my Lap” and put stuff on there like a, “a .40, a .380, a 12 gauge,” but I’d take anything. There are a few models I WISH would fall out of the sky on me, but that pretty much matches the rest of the list.

3 comments:

Old NFO said...

Meh- I had that happen with a friend, the new wife is anti to the max, so I ended up 'buying' the three guns she knew about, I gave two back later, but he really wanted to get rid of the Kimber, so we arrived at a good price. I'm now trying to trade it for something I really want...

Jon said...

Hey! I own a 16 gauge break-action single shot. You're right, I haven't seen any ammo around for it in a long long time. It's been even longer since I shot it.

ZerCool said...

Oddly enough, I also own a single-shot 16ga. I trade a semi-running chainsaw for it; I think I got the better end of the deal. I haven't bothered to go looking for shells because they will cost far more than 12 or 20ga, which I also possess.

But that's not the point. Fella on one of the forums I read is one of Those People. Made a parking lot deal at a gun show last week. Guy unloading a couple of M1 carbines from the car, says he wants $300 for the pair. Fella has attack of the honests (god bless him) and says, "you can get at least three times that for those by going inside and trying to find a buyer, or I'll give you $600 right now".

They both left happy.

I wish such things would happen to me.