I need to stop looking in pawn shops…

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I have a really bad habit that I need to stop doing. If I’m driving and I see a pawn shop and if time permits, I usually pop in to see if they have anything new, exciting, or unusual. Well, yesterday turned out to be a very full day of new, exciting, and unusual at the pawn shops I visited.

The first shop had a 7.5 inch ar pistol upper with full length rail, an unusual for-end, stainless match barrel, spikes tactical flash hider, and a nickel boron bolt. It looked new but had a couple of minor surface scratches on the for-end. If anyone recognizes the for-end, I’d appreciate your feedback. The shop was asking $449 for the complete upper. I ended up getting it for $320.

The next shop I got to didn’t have much but I talked to the guy and he told me he has a good as NIB Kimber Stainless Raptor that will be coming out soon. I asked him how much they were trying to get and he said they’d probably start at $850. I gave him my business card and got his. He told me the day it’s coming out and I’ve added the date to my cell phone calendar. I should be able to get it for less than $700. I saw it and it’s beautiful. I’m already imaging a new set of grips on it.

The last shop started closing shop early and the gun shelves were bare. The guy asked if I was looking for anything in particular and I said not really, but… do you have a Glock 23 gen 3? He went back and looked in his safe. He said, I don’t have a Glock 23 BUT, I have a Glock 30 SF. Now, I already own a Glock 30 and it’s my usual carry gun. The Glock 30 SF that he brought out had some added little extras with it. It looks like the previous owner did some home smithing to the front sight. The front sight was a Big Dot sight that was either super glued in or jb weld. It was a little messy but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. The rear sight was removed and in it’s place… a C-More STS Red Dot Sight! Cha Ching. The guy working in the shop looked obviously disgusted with the gun so I played along.

Me: Ugh! What the hell did the previous owner do to this thing.
Pawn Shop Guy (PSG): I don’t know but obviously he did it himself.
Me: I hope you guys didn’t overpay for that Frankenstein?
PSG: Nope, we sure didn’t.
Me: $420 is pretty steep for a gun in this shape.
PSG: Don’t worry, I’ll work with you so we don’t have to sit on this thing. What do you think it’s worth?
Me: I don’t want to insult you but…I would have to get the front and rear sights removed, get a gunsmith to clean that gunk off (goof off worked wonders). I wouldn’t be able to offer more than $250 for it because of the amount of work it needs to get it back to what it should be.
PSG: I completely agree but I have to get at least $275 to break even.
Me: $275 out the door?
PSG: plus $5 call in fee but I’ll throw in a couple of extra mags and a free lock.
Me: Hmmm, I don’t know…. (inside I was jumping for joy like a little girl)…well…ok.

$280 for a G30 SF with a Big Dot sight and C-More STS.

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