Friday, May 15, 2015

I Keep Thinking I Want To Sell A Gun Or Three...

...to put the money toward a new pistol. The thing is, for the life of me, I can't figure out what I'd be willing to part with and then not regret it later. If you have been into firearms for a decent amount of time, you probably know exactly what I mean. You sell a gun you are certain that you are willing to part with and that you surely will not miss and then boom, six months or a year or so down the road, you regret ever having sold it. Then maybe, a year or three later you sell another gun and you wind up regretting getting rid of that one even though the money you got from the sale went to buy another really nice piece.

I first sold a couple of my guns, in separate sales, when I was in the Border Patrol. No big deal then because I wound up buying the same exact ones again, they were Beretta Jetfires in .25ACP. There had been condition issues with the ones I sold - like getting rusty from sitting in my sweaty pocket all day long when I was chasing down illegals, through salt cedars, in 100 degree plus heat. That can ruin a gun really quickly even if you oiled it the night before as I had done. I also sold a few other guns in the early years of my marriage when we were strapped for cash. Bad move because I wasn't able to buy even one new gun with the cash I made off of those sales. Then, several years later, I started selling a gun here, a gun there, luckily not a gun everywhere. I regretted selling each and every gun I sold when I was strapped for cash and almost any of the others I have sold now and then after that. Every time I think of some of the ones I have sold before, I just about kick myself in mine arse and believe me, if I actually did it, it would be a hard one at that! 

So, that's were I am right now. I can't make up my mind on what to sell to help fund buying the new one(s) I want. I have been going over the list of what I have though and have come up with a few possibilities. Some of the ones that come to mind as a possible for sale guns are my:

Winchester Model 37 Shotgun: This is a 12 gauge, single barrel shotgun. It's in good shape cosmetically with wear and light rust over most of it. Cleaned up fairly well once I bought it. In very good to excellent mechanically. The bore is shiny. The only downside of selling this shotgun (other than seller's remorse) would be that the sale will not fetch much, I am guessing $100 or less. I suppose there might be some opposition from the peanut gallery if I try to sell it as my son kind of likes it.

New England Firearms Pardner Shotgun: This is a single shot, 12 gauge, shotgun. It has surface rust with minor some truly pitting that takes only from the gun's appearance on blued and case hardened surfaces;  although, it cleaned up fairly well after I purchased it. The bore is bright and shiny. It is in excellent mechanical condition. I figure I should be able to get $75 for it.

Iver Johnson Hercules Grade SXS Shotgun: This is also a 12 gauge shotgun but a double barrels, side by side. It is in poor condition and shame on me for not paying more attention when I bought this at an auction. I bid on the wrong one - here were two of them offered up for bids and I missed my opportunity on the other one and wasted my money on this one. I may be able to sell it for parts or I could use it as a wall hanger. I am guessing that, if lucky, I might be able to pull in $50 - $75 for the parts that are useable but this gun was so butchered by a previous owner as to maybe not be worth the effort of stripping it.

Polish WZ-48 Training Rifle: A military surplus training rifle, in the style of a Mosin Nagant. It's a single shot, in 22LR. It is in very good to excellent condition. I might get around $250 - $350 for it. I have had it for a couple to few years now and have not fired it even once so I don't suppose I would miss it much.

High Standard M-101 Duramatic Pistol: This is chambered in 22LR. It is in excellent condition cosmetically and mechanically. I imagine it would bring in a tidy sum, probably around $325 - $350. In addition to the shorter barrel that was standard, this one has an additional longer barrel. I might consider selling that separately from the pistol. If I sell it with the pistol, I am figuring on adding at least another $75 - $100 to the asking price and if I sell it alone I would probably ask for $100.

Smith & Wesson 22a-1: It's a semi-auto pistol in 22LR. I am sure it would sell quickly but am none to sure I want to sell it even though I don't like it much. It functions alright and shoots just fine and cosmetically it looks new but I do not like how it takes down nor the overly cheap feel of it. I am not saying it is cheap but that is certainly how it feels to me (probably not a good selling point ). I have been debating buying an additional magazine or two for it or selling it; so it will either become a $35 - $75 liability (if I buy the mag[s]) or maybe a $200 - 250 money grabber.

Taurus PT145 Millennium Pro: Another semi-auto pistol I am debating with myself as to whether or not I should sell it. It is in excellent condition both cosmetically and mechanically and is only one of two pistols I have chambered in 45ACP. It shoots just fine, in fact better than I had expected since I had sort of a prejudice against Taurus after hearing stories from others. Note I said "had" in that previous sentence; I really like almost everything about this pistol. About the only things that I do not like are the fact that it is equipped with an internal lock and the trigger pull. The trigger travel is extensive and it feels mushy to me (and to my son for that matter). I guess, if I could get used to the trigger, I would love I instead of just liking it. Yet' I doubt I'd ever carry it except as a backup because of the internal lock. I would hate for that to somehow lock up on its own while I was shooting the gun in a defensive situation. I don't even know if that is possible but I believe strongly in Murphy's Law. I am figuring I could get $250 - $300 for this one easily but like I said, it is one of only two 45s that I own.

I can easily sell the rifles and shotguns but am not too sure about how easy it would be to sell my pistols here in NY unless I sell them to a dealer. I'd like to avoid selling them to a dealer because they virtually always try to lowball anyone selling to them. If I sell them to an individual, I believe I still have to go through a dealer for two things - a NICS check and an FFL transfer (required I think by NYS law) even though a private sale. If I sell them to someone out of state, I have to go through not only an FFL on the buyer's end but I am pretty sure on my end too (again, I believe, because it is a pistol, that to be NYS law but I could be wrong and need to check on that). As for the rifles, even in a private sale, I have to go through a dealer for a NICS check on the buyer and some (as in most) of those dealers will not do that unless they also do an FFL transfer and charge for that too. Anything to do with guns and ammo, in the apparently less than constitutionally abiding totalitarian regime of Cuomoistan, is a major pain in the arse .

I am considering picking up a Henry Small Game Rifle lever action rifle in 22WMR and a Glock 19. Thus the reason I am considering selling at least some of those listed above. Of course, if lucky, I'll be able to save some money or hit the lottery and not need to sell anything.

All the best,
Glenn B





 

No comments: