Shear_stress
Member
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,728
Followed the country two-lane to my favorite gun store this afternoon. The primary mission was pay off the balance of a neat early 1960s Colt Detective Special. Of course, I had an ulterior motive.
A phone call earlier in the day confirmed that that one early 1970s nickel, 2 1/2" barreled Python was indeed still on the shelf after two months. The Python was not perfect. It could more charitably be described as a "shooter". On the other hand, it's rare for the price of even an imperfect Python to be within the realm of possibility for mortals like me. Time to make an offer and see what happened.
Got to the shop and the proprietor greeted me with, "The Python's still here." I took care of the Detective Special paperwork and asked to see the other gun. Nope, the Python hadn't gotten any prettier since I saw it last. That spot of nickel was still missing on the right side. The ejector rod was still dinged. Someone's initials were still carved on the bottom of the stocks. Still, it was worth a try.
As it turned out, someone had just placed an offer on the Python, an offer the consigning owner hadn't yet had a chance to accept or refuse. The dealer asked if I wanted to submit a higher bid. I turned down the opportunity. The other guy beat me to the gun, fair and square.
That was when something made me ask, "So have you got anything else in the back?" The dealer didn't think so, but offered to check. Five minutes later, he returned. . . with another Python. Apparently, this one had been in the shop all of two hours. It was a Royal Blue six-incher from the mid-70s, in almost perfect shape save for a little swipe of finish wear at the muzzle. The asking price was the same as the nickeled Python. All the shop needed was ten percent down.
Moral of the story: always ask what's in the back!
A phone call earlier in the day confirmed that that one early 1970s nickel, 2 1/2" barreled Python was indeed still on the shelf after two months. The Python was not perfect. It could more charitably be described as a "shooter". On the other hand, it's rare for the price of even an imperfect Python to be within the realm of possibility for mortals like me. Time to make an offer and see what happened.
Got to the shop and the proprietor greeted me with, "The Python's still here." I took care of the Detective Special paperwork and asked to see the other gun. Nope, the Python hadn't gotten any prettier since I saw it last. That spot of nickel was still missing on the right side. The ejector rod was still dinged. Someone's initials were still carved on the bottom of the stocks. Still, it was worth a try.
As it turned out, someone had just placed an offer on the Python, an offer the consigning owner hadn't yet had a chance to accept or refuse. The dealer asked if I wanted to submit a higher bid. I turned down the opportunity. The other guy beat me to the gun, fair and square.
That was when something made me ask, "So have you got anything else in the back?" The dealer didn't think so, but offered to check. Five minutes later, he returned. . . with another Python. Apparently, this one had been in the shop all of two hours. It was a Royal Blue six-incher from the mid-70s, in almost perfect shape save for a little swipe of finish wear at the muzzle. The asking price was the same as the nickeled Python. All the shop needed was ten percent down.
Moral of the story: always ask what's in the back!
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