Another Auction - Another Gun; Well...

 ...actually another three guns. I had the pleasure of bidding in another Sportsman Auction, run by Hessney.com, this Saturday past. I checked out most of the offerings over the past week or two, placed some early bids and then spent several hours sitting in front of my laptop as the live online auction took place on Saturday.

 

I bid on several firearms, as is my usual routine but expected to have the high bids on only one or two. As it turned out, mine were the top bids on three of them. Thus, I will soon add these to my collection assemblage of boomers: 

 

1. A Charter Arms Undercover revolver in 38 Special with 3" barrel and walnut grips.

 

 

  

 

2. A Ruger MK I, 22 LR, target pistol, with 6 7/8" tapered barrel and target sights, in "As New" condition with box and papers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. A Norinco model 54-1 pistol in 7.62X25 Tokarev. This was also listed "As New" and comes with box and papers; albeit, the box obviously having seen better days.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I am THE Great Procrastinator, it will probably be a while before I  bring them to the range; however, once I do so, I will likely give a range report on each (sooner or probably later).

 

I also picked up several other things on which I had the high bids. They include:

 

Bushnell Sportview 10x50 wide angle binoculars, with Bushnell case:

 

 

 

 

Several pairs of of assorted shooting gloves:

 

 

 

Three AR-15 mags:

 

 

 

A Sight Mark laser bore sight: 

 

 

 

Two boxes of Remington HTP, 9mm, JHP ammo (for which I over bid by a couple of bucks each, shame on me):

 

 

 

And, a Lee Safety Powder Scale (which I probably will sell at a gun show as I already have another.

 

 

 

Getting back to the pistols: 

 

As for the Norinco Model 54-1, I have had a long time interest in possibly getting one, that after a friend of mine showed me a similar pistol he had (military version) that he brought back from Vietnam. He wanted more for it then than I wanted to pay way back then. Ammo for it back then was not all that readily available; although, he got some milsurp ammo at a gun show we both attended, as best I recall. Ammo today is readily available in the commercial market, new and factory fresh at a decent price. I hope this one functions well, I think it will be fun to shoot wit its bottle necked pistol ammo.

 

Regarding the Charter Arms, there is nostalgia that goes with that one too. A charter Arms Undercover in 38 Special was the first revolver I ever bought. I got it at Yellowmart in El Centro, CA when I was in the Border Patrol circa 1980. I wound up selling it in 1981 to a firearms engraver in CA. That particular revolver had a flaw and I informed the buyer of it; he bought it anyway to practice his art on it. I want to give this model another try. I am not certain if this was made by the original Charter Arms (I hope such is the case) or the second company by that name but will try to make that determination after I receive it.

 

The Ruger Mark I, is just something I want to re-add to my collection. I had one but sold it within the last year or less. I am thinking I probably will keep this one if it is as nice as I hope it to be (which means as nice as the one I sold). Seller's remorse kicked in after I sold the first one and thus I bid on this one as its replacement.

 

Life may go back to being a bit humdrum until the next Hessney Auction; then again maybe not. It may become a bit more fun than usual when I take these three to the range. I just renewed my range permit for a public range in my county in AR and am hoping to get there much more often than I did over the past year and a half or so. I have all the ammunition I could need (except the Tokarev ammo), even if WW III comes to our shores. So, I may as well start shooting some of it since I can't take it with me and since my son would probably only sell most of it once I am gone. Shooting it would be much more fun than sitting on it, so to speak.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

 

 

 

What Did I Say About Gun Going To A Gun Show

 I arrived in Hot Springs, AR for the gun show at about half past noon today. Met my son there, walked around with a Savage 111 Long Ranger Hunter that I  was trying to sell at a good price but did not garner any interest at all. That seemed off to me because it was a good price even for a dealer to buy it from me, and with a bit of haggling, I'd have come down from my asking price. After walking around the venue twice, I asked my son if he wanted to get lunch. So, we went to a restaurant of his choosing, we ate and had some ales. Two of his friends who live close to Hot Springs joined us with their toddler son. Had a nice time, food was okay, ale was okay, waitress was fine and company was grand. After that my son took off for home. I decided to go to my hotel and not back to  the gun show. 

Somewhere on the way to the hotel, I realized I had  forgotten something very important in my apartment this morning - my medications. Most importantly of them are my blood pressure meds and Synthroid. Once at the hotel, I called my health plan online pharmacy to get an emergency supply at a local pharmacy. This happened to me last year and they got me what I needed at a walk in pharmacy within a couple of hours. Today I was told that it would take two days to get an EMERGENCY supply. So, tomorrow, I will get up, have breakfast at the hotel and drive straight home after that to take my meds. I had a stroke in 2020 (actually three, one after the other within an hour) and do not want another. Thus need the BP meds. Very disappointed am I for forgetting the meds and thus ruining most of my weekend.

I used to keep a bottle with a week's worth of my meds in my car. Stopped doing that because it gets so hot here. It was 97 today, where I live in SW AR, and is forecast to be 100 degrees tomorrow and above 100, every day, through at least Friday next. Not good for storing meds in the car. Oh well, I will remember them next time.

  

Then, bored at the hotel, and to make things worse, I decided to go to Oaklawn Casino. They had a metal detector at the entrance to the casino floor. I asked security if I could secure my pistol in the security office, the answer was no. I also  alled the security office, same answer. Then the guy asks me to ID myself while on the phone. I just hung up and left.  

 

Later, I went to MacDonalds for something to eat. Found what looked exactly like a large rat shit that fell out of the last bit of my burger. Oh joy. This has not been my best weekend.

 

 My only consolation is that there will be a gun show close to where I live in early August, and I will have two tables at that one, thus may sell what guns I had hoped to sell today or tomorrow.

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All the best,

Glenn B

Do You Still Go To Gun Shows? I do.

 I still do. I go as both a buyer and as a vendor. In the past year or more, I guess it's been more so as a vendor for me; not that I am a dealer or want to be one. I sell to resupply my savings when my savings account takes a hit due to things like firearms and ammo purchases. When I do sell, I quite often and I do mean most of the time, sell at either a loss or a break even price. I am not in the business of making a profit, or earning a living selling firearms or ammo. First of all, I am pretty certain I could never make it in the business world. What I am though, is happy if I can recoup what I spent on an item or at least get close to my purchase price if I sell at a loss. Sometimes though, the loss is substantial but those are the breaks. When you figure in the cost of vendor's tables, sales signs that I print up, price tags, state sales tax, and travel expenses to shows (though nowadays most shows I attend are local), among other things, it all adds up or should I say subtracts, and all too often results in more of a loss than otherwise.

 

Then, when I attend a show as a spectator and potential buyer, if I do buy something it is at gun show pricing, which when it comes to most dealers' prices are way to high. Yet, I have sometimes found good deals and at times I will bring a gun or two with me to try to sell as an attendee of the show. 

 

Now, I realized, about 30 or 40 years ago, that prices at guns shows were inflated all to often and all to much. Back then though, it did not mean that a good deal was very difficult to find. If you looked, then haggled you could still get a nice price on a purchase. As the years rolled on though, the prices got higher and higher, some to the point of being ridiculous such as a dealer asking $500 or more for a Mosin Nagant 91/30 of no special merit and in only fair to good condition. Still though prices were much lower back then than now. For instance, in 1998, I picked up a Hungarian Mosin Nagant M44 in excellent condition from a gun vendor at a gun show in NY. It cost $80.00 out the door - nearly the same rifle today (probably from a different country though, like Russia) at a gun show in AR is selling for a minimum of $400.00. As expected more or less though, I got a Russian M44 in 2003, but from an online dealer, for $62.95 shipped. So years after I bought the Hungarian one at the gun show, I got a Russian one at about only 78% the cost of the Hungarian model. Goes to show, buying at guns shows is often higher priced than buying from other dealers. Then again, I would pay more for the Hungarian any

day so even though it was more expensive than the Russian and that sale being a few years before getting the Russian; I was quite happy to pay that for a Hungarian model. A Mosin Nagant 91/30, with bent bolt, that I picked up in 2009 sold for $175.00, shipped from an online dealer (yes their prices have gone up drastically too and that gun would go for much more today). I have seen bent bolt 91/30s going for $700 or more at guns shows within the past year. That is outrageous!

 

What is also outrageous is when I know, without doubt, how much a dealer paid for a gun he has for sale on his table. A few of them were being sold by show attendees and I had inquired as to the asking prices before dealers finally bought them, a few others were sold by me to dealers over the years. Once they buy them, they put them o their tables and proceed to jack up the prices, all to frequently, by literally hundreds of dollars, in some case, double or more than what they had just paid for them. My bet is most will lower the price if you are wanting to buy but you also must be willing to haggle and must insist on a price reduction. Some dealers though are truly avaricious and will not come down in their sky high prices. It's those dealers on whose tables you often see the same guns over and over again at future shows. 

 

Still though, good deals can be found at gun shows. For instance, if you get there early, at least a half hour before the doors open, there is usually a line of folks waiting to get into the show. Very often, at least a couple to a few folks on the line (and subsequent attendees after the line dies down) will be carrying a long arm or handgun they are trying to sell. There is your chance for a deal - before they get inside to be set up by the vulture like dealers, who are stuck at their tables, you can ask to see any that interest you and try to make a deal in the parking lot before they get inside (check your local and state laws on this as selling in parking lots at guns shows is {or was} illegal in some gun unfriendly states - like NY as best I recall).

 

Of course, you might also fine a vendor like me, a gun owner selling off part of his personal firearms in private as opposed to commercial sales and one who sells at either a small profit, a break even price or at a loss. Even then, when selling at a loss on something I got at a decent prices, I have potential buyers (with very little potential) trying to haggle me down to an even greater loss and then complaining if I don't go down further. Let's face it, it is not always the gun show vendor, who puts too high a price son his wares, who is the bummer at a gun show but all too many times it is the cheapskate buyer who is the cause of gun show grief.

 

With all that in mind, I plan to attend a gun show, this weekend, in Hot Springs. I will be an attendee not a vendor but I likely will bring along a couple or few guns I will try to sell. They likely will be sold at a loss if only because of how much I will have to lay out for a hotel (damn are they ever so expensive, especially their weekend prices) and other travel expenses to get to the show and stay overnight. By staying overnight, I can attend both days of the show while both looking to sell and looking to buy in an 'oh such a deal' moment in which I may pick up a gem at a great price.

 

Speaking of gems, I will likely have my CZ 457 Royal in 22 LR (unfired in the box), Savage 111 Long Range Hunter in 300 WIN MAG (round count 20) and a mini Mosin Nagant 91/30, unfired in box) by Keystone Arms, with me for sale. All will probably be sold at or below my cost if I get any buyers at all. Yet, even after paying for the trip and hotel, if I sell a couple, I will have more money than before I went to the show. Not much more but a bit more to put back into the bank until I buy more guns or ammo.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

Ever Worried About Disposing Of A Firearm

On a few to maybe even several occasions, I have wondered, if not worried, about guns that I have gotten rid of. There are several ways, over the years I have owned guns, by which I have gotten rid of firearms I have owned. They include: selling, giving away,  being stolen, another was disassembled and thrown into the channel in a saltwater bay (no I did not shoot anyone with it before that).

 

 What I have wondered about, even worried about, has been: did the person receiving it or recovering it plan to or actually use it in the commission of a crime. That is probably a very unlikely outcome with the one that went into the bay but what about for some others.

 

About a year or so ago - when I realized the last name of a criminal, who shot multiple people, was the same last name of a guy to whom I had sold a gun - I started to wonder about what if it had been the same guy! Luckily, it was not the same guy to whom I had sold it because I can just imagine the pain in the neck it could become. Things like law enforcement making inquiries of me about the sale, unwanted and unnecessary attention from the ATF, the possiblity of being sued by victims of the guy's crime because I sold him a the firearm he used to commit  the crime creeped into my mind. Who needs all that!

 

Now, even though I try to remember if I sold a gun to anyone with the same name as a criminal I have read about in current news of a shooting, I am not all that concerned but do wonder. At least, I am not concerned enough to stop selling guns. Why not? Well, because every sale I make is 100% legal. I just wonder, or worry a little bit, is all that a gun I disposed of maybe was or will bbe used to commit a crime. I certainly hope not.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

 

 

Maybe You Can Say a Prayer and Make A Donation...

 ...to an organization like the Salvation Army or the American Red Cross to help out the Texas flood victims. Maybe you can say a few prayers also. 

 

I am not a religious type although I was once upon a time decades ago. Still now and again, I pray or cross myself when calamity strikes. Well it struck in Texas this weekend in an event that evidently caught all by surprise. For a river to crest 30 feet above normal after only 45 minutes of rain is a cataclysmic event, I think one that could not be anticipated. As you must be aware, if you have read or heard the news, many people perished as a result of these storms and many more were injured. The hardest hit place appears to be Camp Mystic, a sleep away from home, summer camp. More at the source: https://www.foxnews.com/us/deceased-campers-identified-death-toll-rises-after-devastating-texas-flood.

 

There are still over 25 (the article says 27) young girls missing from that camp who were swept away by flood waters. I, for one, am praying that they find at least some, if not all alive, but my hopes for either happening are low. As I cannot do much else, I will be praying for the missing campers, their families and loved ones. Even if you don't believe in a higher power, maybe you too can offer up a prayer or three for these young girls. I mean, who knows, you could be wrong about that higher power and even if you are right and there is not one, how can saying prayer hurt. Keep them in your thoughts and prayers please.

 

Of course, you can also do something else to help and that would be to make a donation to a disaster relief type organization, something like The Salvation Army or The American Red Cross and I am sure you can think of others. I just made a donation to the Salvation Army. I prefer to give to them as opposed to the American Red Cross because more of any donated funding goes to actual charitable work done by them, and nowhere nearly as much goes to advertising or to pay their CEOs compensation as it does with the Red Cross, in my understanding. Yet, I think either is usually a big help in such situations. Maybe you can give something too, to a disaster relief organization that offers help in such drastic situations.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

This IsThe Closest I Will Get To BBQ Today...

 ...and I am hungry. 

 

The thing keeping this delicious feast from me is about 150 miles of road between my apartment and my son's place.

 

I can just about smell and taste it. Oh well, off to the dog park soon, then dinner back at my Spartan digs. That could be anything from a fast food burger, to one of the rib eye steaks from my freezer. Right now though, and probably when I eat whatever, all I can think about is that smoked feast my son made.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

 

Happy Independence Day

 Happy Independence day. Stay safe, be careful with fireworks, the grill and driving. Don't get too snockered and if you drink or get high at all today, let someone else, someone sober, cook the burgers, light the fireworks and do all the driving.

 

Happy birthday to the USA.

 

All the best,

Glenn B 

Surprise Independence

Independence of another sort - independent of any covering! I came across this gif file in my files accidentally today. I must say, she reminds me very much of a gal with whom I went to school and knew back in my teen years into my twenties. That gal also, I think, was at least a double D and in more ways than one. To avoid trouble, I will not say in what ways.

 

 

 

 All the best,

GB