Tribal
Member
Picture, if you will:
It's finals week at my grad school and we've just had a killer exam the day before. Unable to get my mind to work well enough to study, I decide to go to Richmond to browse the gun shops and maybe pick up some mags or accessories. I've been wanting a Kimber Ultra Carry II, but Bob's in Norfolk and A&P and The Armory in Virginia Beach are all out. I figure that looking at mechanical stuff will be a good way not to think about the subject matter for my next exam.
I look on my GPS for "Gun" and it lists a place I've never heard of: Bob Moates'. After browsing Green Top, Dominion, and Southern, I decide to check out this new place. The staff is friendly, but the pricing is all over the place. They've got Russian Mosins-Nagants for $350 and Walther P22's for $420, but most of their guns seem to be the same as Green Top or Bob's. As I'm glancing at the autoloaders, sandwiched between a P22 and a Tomcat something catches my eye: wait, go back. It's a old blued Hi Power. I've been wanting a blued (rather than whatever the new coating is) Hi Power for a while now. May I see it? I look at it and it's got an Eagle and Swastika. The finish is worn, but not horribly so. The barrel is filthy but the rifling's still in very good shape. According to the guy behind the counter, it came from an estate sale and had been sitting in a holster for at least the past fifteen years. I think it over, but knowing that I'm mostly looking for a carry gun in .45, I put it back and look at the micro-compact 1911s. They have a black Kimber Ultra-Carry II. May I see it? That's nice; it has tritium sights. However, it's $150 more than A&P says theirs will be when they next get a shipment. I put it back, decide that I simply have to have the (dusty and sticky) Hi Power, so I get it.
I then decide I may as well check out Gander Mtn while I'm in the area and, lo-and-behold, they have a Ultra-Carry II and...it has regular sights. My brain struggles and finally clicks: A&P's is $150 less because it doesn't have expensive tritium sights. Even if they can install some or order ones with them from the factory, the price difference will be negligible (especially with the cost of gas) and when it will come in isn't exactly a settled matter.
I trudge back to Bob Moates' and they're surprised to see me: Is there something wrong with the Hi Power? Other than being sticky, no, but I tell them that they're going to get a lot of my money today. I get the Kimber, too.
Taking both pistols home, I clean off the Hi Power and now it's pretty nice. It fits my hand really, really well, it points naturally, and it's a piece of history. Some research shows that the "a" at the end of the 91xxx serial number means it was made in late 1942 and the Waffenmark of "WaA140" means it was made in Herstal. There are various other marks which I don't understand, such as an "R" on the trigger guard and a "4", "H", triangle-with-a-dot-inside, and what's either a crescent or part of a sideways "C" are on the butt.
Sorry for the long post, but it's a rare day when I buy two guns and I'm just a little excited.
It's finals week at my grad school and we've just had a killer exam the day before. Unable to get my mind to work well enough to study, I decide to go to Richmond to browse the gun shops and maybe pick up some mags or accessories. I've been wanting a Kimber Ultra Carry II, but Bob's in Norfolk and A&P and The Armory in Virginia Beach are all out. I figure that looking at mechanical stuff will be a good way not to think about the subject matter for my next exam.
I look on my GPS for "Gun" and it lists a place I've never heard of: Bob Moates'. After browsing Green Top, Dominion, and Southern, I decide to check out this new place. The staff is friendly, but the pricing is all over the place. They've got Russian Mosins-Nagants for $350 and Walther P22's for $420, but most of their guns seem to be the same as Green Top or Bob's. As I'm glancing at the autoloaders, sandwiched between a P22 and a Tomcat something catches my eye: wait, go back. It's a old blued Hi Power. I've been wanting a blued (rather than whatever the new coating is) Hi Power for a while now. May I see it? I look at it and it's got an Eagle and Swastika. The finish is worn, but not horribly so. The barrel is filthy but the rifling's still in very good shape. According to the guy behind the counter, it came from an estate sale and had been sitting in a holster for at least the past fifteen years. I think it over, but knowing that I'm mostly looking for a carry gun in .45, I put it back and look at the micro-compact 1911s. They have a black Kimber Ultra-Carry II. May I see it? That's nice; it has tritium sights. However, it's $150 more than A&P says theirs will be when they next get a shipment. I put it back, decide that I simply have to have the (dusty and sticky) Hi Power, so I get it.
I then decide I may as well check out Gander Mtn while I'm in the area and, lo-and-behold, they have a Ultra-Carry II and...it has regular sights. My brain struggles and finally clicks: A&P's is $150 less because it doesn't have expensive tritium sights. Even if they can install some or order ones with them from the factory, the price difference will be negligible (especially with the cost of gas) and when it will come in isn't exactly a settled matter.
I trudge back to Bob Moates' and they're surprised to see me: Is there something wrong with the Hi Power? Other than being sticky, no, but I tell them that they're going to get a lot of my money today. I get the Kimber, too.
Taking both pistols home, I clean off the Hi Power and now it's pretty nice. It fits my hand really, really well, it points naturally, and it's a piece of history. Some research shows that the "a" at the end of the 91xxx serial number means it was made in late 1942 and the Waffenmark of "WaA140" means it was made in Herstal. There are various other marks which I don't understand, such as an "R" on the trigger guard and a "4", "H", triangle-with-a-dot-inside, and what's either a crescent or part of a sideways "C" are on the butt.
Sorry for the long post, but it's a rare day when I buy two guns and I'm just a little excited.
