How do you feel about pawn shops?

I don't feel right taking advantage of someone else's misery/stupidity/misfortune....

I would buy from wherever has what I want for a reasonable price...Unless it was stolen, or I felt that the person was genuinly nice and had no idea what they were selling.

So sure I trust them, no I have never been burned, just do your homework and you'll be fine.

Pretty unlikely that you're buying a stolen weapon at a pawn shop, they have to run a check and hold them for X days before they can be sold.

If it turns out stolen, that's on your police dept as much as it's on the shop.

A lot of them are hit and miss. Some totally stink and I never go back. Someplaces I've been it's about the only way the state will let you have a gun shop and the guys have more new stuff than pawned/used stuff. Odd, that the state seems to think a pawn shop is better than a gun shop but that is a different story.

I buy lots of fishing and firearms stuff from pawn shops.
Some people don't want bank accounts and pawn what they own.
My carry gun and match gun are pawn shop guns.

I've never been impressed with the prices or quality of ANYTHING in a pawn shop, and I consider most of the operators to unscrupulous cretins out to cheat everyone that comes through the door, one step above carnies.

Sorry, just my opinion. I tend to avoid the places.

There have been a few times over the last 30 years where I say after I left, "Why didn't I buy that??". The one that really kills me though is the S&W 27 I turned down, because I had a 28 no dash already, and didn't "need" it. I went back about an hour later, and missed it by a few minutes, the paperwork was just about done when I walked in. I can't remember how much it was, but it was cheap. The gun had a small amount of holster wear, but was in perfect mechanical condition, and I doubt it had been fired.

Pawn shops are, at least in my neck of the woods, required to perform a serial number check with the Police/Sheriff's department to make sure the guns are clean (not stolen or used in crimes) before they are made available for sale.

I was a bit leery of buying a used gun from a pawn shop as well when I first became a gun owner. Nothing but new guns for me. I quickly learned that you can find some very nice and interesting guns at the pawn shop, like my 1922 Colt Police Positive 38 (not a special). I say, give it whirl. You never know what they have that just might tickle your fancy.

Mixed bag--some have nothing but junk, and sometimes it's hot. There's two in my town that I would trust and I have a S&W 65-6 on layaway with one of them. What's nice is that they have a 90 day 'same as cash' layaway which I haven't found a retailer anywhere to have. They have a regular turnover of a wide variety of guns, both revolvers and semi-auto's. It's a great place to do business at a fair price.

I have bought a couple rifles from an established pawn shop. With any used firearm, you have to inspect it for damage. Some of the guns I have seen in pawn shops are junk that they think are treasures with a price to match.

There are 2 pawn shops that I regularly stopped buy....and bought from. The first one in just north of Ft Worth in Keller. The second is their sister stor in Haltom City. They are friendly, knowledgable, and very reasonably priced. I got my LNIB Kimber Custom Target II at the Keller store for $550. It is the pistol I use for IDPA. I have since put about 10,000 flawless rds thru it.

There are a few that think their lumps of coal are gold bars. I stay away from them at all cost.

The only time I would step foot in a pawn shop is when I'm looking for a tool that was recently stolen.(I have recovered stolen tools more then once.) I think they are nothing more then legal fences.

I bought a gun from a pawnshop once. Only, I didn't know it was a pawnshop until after I'd bought the gun...

No, I wasn't lost, drunk, or stoned. Well, maybe a little drunk. Just kidding. Or not.

Anyway, I actually bought a Browning BAR (I think it's a Longtrac Stalker) in 7mm Rem. Mag. I got a very good price on it, especially considering that it came with Nikon glass. I think I paid $750 for it.

And the kicker is, I bought it at a gun show. This being California, I didn't actually buy the gun at the show. I put a down payment on it, and showed up the next business day at the address on the receipt; a pawnshop. Honestly, I was less worried about the fact that it was a pawnshop, than about getting my shiny (well, matte) new rifle from the shop to my car without drawing attention, although I had 10 days to figure it out. I should have brought a guitar case. I still need to get one.

Edit: Hey, wait. This is in Handguns... uh... I like Sigs, apropos of nothing whatsoever.

I just got my newest member of the family from one, a first year 6" stainless gp100 with scope rail, red dot and box of .38 and a box of .357 for $475 out the door, was offered 600 by a guy that walked in, I turned him down.

I periodically look in the pawn shops around here to see what they have to offer. Thus far, I've seen only a few pieces that I've really been interested in, and the prices were higher than a cat's back. In fact, I've often seen "used" stuff in pawn shops that they want more than the new price. Not for me.

Corner Pocket

The pawn shops around here are over-priced hell holes. They are out of their minds. But, if you want to buy a Mini-14 from 1993 for $850, be my guest.

I love pawn shops! Over the years, I've purchased S&W's(Mod13 for $125), Colts(1911 for $375, Highway Patrol for $300), Walthers(P38 for $250, P1 for $210), a Glock(Mod20 for $400), a Sig(P220 for $450), several Rugers(6"Sec6 for $125, 3"Sec6 for $250), several Dan Wessons, and numerous shotguns from pawn shops. The variety of firearms is awesome, and prices can be almost give-away low.

They are fun to look at. Many of the pawn shops in this area just don't do firearm sales because they feel the Paperwork is "Too much of a hassle".

I wonder if state law (gun laws and pawn laws) might partly account for the variety of pawn shop experiences posted at THR. I envy the good pawn shop deals that others report and have no luck here at local pawns.

My only pawn shop purchase was a chain saw which turned out to have a bent shaft. I was a lot younger then and wouldn't make that mistake today. Buyer beware.

Cruising around pawn-shops is one of my favorite things to do. It's like a magical adventure into a land of used powertools and bubba'd milsurps.

Pawn shops can be hit or miss. If you find one that has good prices on guns swing by on a regular basis because lots of other folks are doing the same.

As to the chance of getting a stolen gun, it does exist. Pawn shops are often run my unscrupulous folks and they will make a "mistake" and miss a number or their "1" will look like a "7" so be careful.

When times are good I love going to pawn shops. Stuff just sits and they tend to be willing to make deals.

When times are bad (now) it gets cutthroat and I don't enjoy going much anymore. Well okay I enjoy going but I don't buy much stuff for sure!

Pawnshop Guns

I sometimes go into a pawnshop looking at their firearms. It is very rare that they have anything I want and even MORE rare anything that I'm willing to give their outrageous asking price for. Two exceptions are the Churchill Highlander imported from Italy by Kassnar in 7mm Rem.mag. w/44Magnum scope for $179+tax and the beautiful Winchester M94,30-30 with figured walnut furniture for(gasp!) $160!

I don't enjoy the sport of haggling. It's too much energy to expend instead of simply buying something NIB from a straight up gun store. I don't want some egocentric event. I just want to buy a gun.

I also agree with the comment that they're one step from being carnies. Which is a great way to describe them, imho.

What has been sold
Not strictly made of stone
Just remember it's flesh and bone
What has been sold
Not strictly soul
Please remember it's flesh and bone

I have bought some of my favorites from a Pawn Shop with no issues...

Moss500
Marlin60
Xd9

Great prices on all three, of course having a family member own one helps