LGS almost gave me a heart attack yesterday

Riomouse911

Contributing Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
13,396
Location
Ca.
A bit long-winded, but here goes:

A while back I posted that I saw a very nice Ruger 6 7/8” Mark II on a “California chain-store LGS” consignment sheet for far too much $$ ($699!!). Here in Ca the asking price for any off-roster gun being sold by a private party is often jacked up, but I refused to fork over that much even if it was a gun I wanted. (My Mk II is a Government Target, 6.5” bull barrel model, I wanted a medium weight target gun as well.)

For months I kept looking, Mk II’s in a variety of styles and conditions popped up and then disappeared as they sold. But they were either fixed sight models or were at a store that is too far away to make it worth the trip. (That $699 gun sat for months, no one else was going to pay that either. 😂 )

Finally, at the same location the overpriced Mk II was at, its twin was listed at $449 and two other Mk II’s were $499. Still priced high for a Mk II by free state standards, here that price was fairly reasonable. I made the 32 mile drive to that store in late October and checked it out.

The gun was nice; Original grips with no scuffs or chips, a small scratch by the safety switch, a hint of muzzle wear on the left side, two period-correct magazines with a bit of bluing wear, there was some old oil that was congealed on the bolt, and it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.

I told the clerk that I would buy it, and I got my ID’s and wallet out. After I committed, I was told that I could pay now but I would have to come back in 12 days to start the paperwork because it hadn’t been cleared for sale yet. Rats! :fire:

I shelled out the full $$, as the store wont let buyers pay half when buying used-consignment guns, then I left and drove home. (Within a day all the MkII’s were off the consignment list, except the $699 Mk II.)

13 days later, the gun manager helped me when I made the 64 mile round trip to fill out the 4473 and start the 10-day wait 🙄.

Yesterday was day 11, so I made my third trip down there to pick up the Ruger. I showed my ID to a different clerk than the other two. He checked the computer, saw the gun was paid off and the waiting period was over, and went to the back. After about 10 minutes he comes out with a large plastic handgun case.

He sets it on the counter, cracks it open… and pulls out a Government Target model with Hogue rubber grips! :oops:

I immediately say, “That’s the wrong gun. The one I bought has a medium-weight barrel and adjustable sights.” (As I already own one of the Govt models, I certainly wasn’t looking for another!) He looks at the gun, looks at the paperwork, and reads off the serial number put on the 4473. It matched the one on the Govt target. I again said this wasn’t the correct gun, so he gets the manager. (Who was the guy who helped me when I made the second visit to the store, and took my IDs to fill out the 4473.)

They start looking over the paperwork, checking the counter for other gun tags (I saw the $699 Mk II’s was reduced now to $599!) and tried to confirm that this was not the gun I wanted to buy. I made it clear that this was not the one I looked at the prior month, it was not the one I wanted, and I was not interested in buying the $599 Mk II.

At one point during the hour long “what happened” search the managers went on, the original sales person came over. He confirmed to me that he remembered showing me the Mk II with the medium-weight barrel, and this gun in the case was not it.

I was at first thinking the gun I wanted was sold to someone else, but I was told that gun was still in the store. Then I was dreading I would have to go through another waiting period and 64 mile round trip to correct the error. (That would have made this purchase add up to over 250 miles!)

Ultimately, they confirmed by reviewing the camera footage from October that the Govt model was not the one I initially checked out and bought. They determined that somehow the tags on the guns were switched because the descriptions of these two guns in their system was so similar, so the wrong serial numbers were assigned to these two guns.

The 4473 was corrected, and as an apology they let me buy a full 20-boxcase of 9mm that was on sale and normally limited to 5 boxes per customer, plus they knocked off a bit more $$.

I took it home for a take down and cleaning, which it needed. Afterwards, it looks very good inside and out. Trigger pull averaged a pretty clean 2lb 11 oz. Not quite on the level of my Volquartsen kit in the Mk IV, but not bad IMHO.

IMG_7722.jpeg

(Pre-cleaning pics showing the shellac on the bolt:)
IMG_7717.jpeg IMG_7718.jpeg
IMG_7720.jpeg

I shot the gun today at the indoor range, putting 200 Rem 40 gr Golden Bullets through it. Perfect function, with the usual Ruger Mk series accuracy out to a yard or two beyond 15 yards. :thumbup:

I’m not in @NIGHTLORD40K’s Mk-series collecting class, but I sure do see why he likes these pistols.

Stay safe.
 
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A bit long-winded, but here goes:

A while back I posted that I saw a very nice Ruger 6 7/8” Mark II on a “California chain-store LGS” consignment sheet for far too much $$ ($699!!). Here in Ca the asking price for any off-roster gun being sold by a private party is often jacked up, but I refused to fork over that much even if it was a gun I wanted. (My Mk II is a Government Target, 6.5” bull barrel model, I wanted a medium weight target gun as well.)

For months I kept looking, Mk II’s in a variety of styles and conditions popped up and then disappeared as they sold. But they were either fixed sight models or were at a store that is too far away to make it worth the trip. (That $699 gun sat for months, no one else was going to pay that either. 😂 )

Finally, at the same location the overpriced Mk II was at, its twin was listed at $449 and two other Mk II’s were $499. Still priced high for a Mk II by free state standards, here that price was fairly reasonable. I made the 32 mile drive to that store in late October and checked it out.

The gun was nice; Original grips with no scuffs or chips, a small scratch by the safety switch, a hint of muzzle wear on the left side, two period-correct magazines with a bit of bluing wear, there was some old oil that was congealed on the bolt, and it hasn’t been cleaned in a while.

I told the clerk that I would buy it, and I got my ID’s and wallet out. After I committed, I was told that I could pay now but I would have to come back in 12 days to start the paperwork because it hadn’t been cleared for sale yet. Rats! :fire:

I shelled out the full $$, as the store wont let buyers pay half when buying used-consignment guns, then I left and drove home. (Within a day all the MkII’s were off the consignment list, except the $699 Mk II.)

13 days later, the gun manager helped me when I made the 64 mile round trip to fill out the 4473 and start the 10-day wait 🙄.

Yesterday was day 11, so I made my third trip down there to pick up the Ruger. I showed my ID to a different clerk than the other two. He checked the computer, saw the gun was paid off and the waiting period was over, and went to the back. After about 10 minutes he comes out with a large plastic handgun case.

He sets it on the counter, cracks it open… and pulls out a Government Target model with Hogue rubber grips! :oops:

I immediately say, “That’s the wrong gun. The one I bought has a medium-weight barrel and adjustable sights.” (As I already own one of the Govt models, I certainly wasn’t looking for another!) He looks at the gun, looks at the paperwork, and reads off the serial number put on the 4473. It matched the one on the Govt target. I again said this wasn’t the correct gun, so he gets the manager. (Who was the guy who helped me when I made the second visit to the store, and took my IDs to fill out the 4473.)

They start looking over the paperwork, checking the counter for other gun tags (I saw the $699 Mk II’s was reduced now to $599!) and tried to confirm that this was not the gun I wanted to buy. I made it clear that this was not the one I looked at the prior month, it was not the one I wanted, and I was not interested in buying the $599 Mk II.

At one point during the hour long “what happened” search the managers went on, the original sales person came over. He confirmed to me that he remembered showing me the Mk II with the medium-weight barrel, and this gun in the case was not it.

I was at first thinking the gun I wanted was sold to someone else, but I was told that gun was still in the store. Then I was dreading I would have to go through another waiting period and 64 mile round trip to correct the error. (That would have made this purchase add up to over 250 miles!)

Ultimately, they confirmed by reviewing the camera footage from October that the Govt model was not the one I initially checked out and bought. They determined that somehow the tags on the guns were switched because the descriptions of these two guns in their system was so similar, so the wrong serial numbers were assigned to these two guns.

The 4473 was corrected, and as an apology they let me buy a full 20-boxcase of 9mm that was on sale and normally limited to 5 boxes per customer, plus they knocked off a bit more $$.

I took it home for a take down and cleaning, which it needed. Afterwards, it looks very good inside and out. Trigger pull averaged a pretty clean 2lb 11 oz. Not quite on the level of my Volquartsen kit in the Mk IV, but not bad IMHO.

View attachment 1240197

(Pre-cleaning pics showing the shellac on the bolt:)
View attachment 1240194View attachment 1240195
View attachment 1240196

I shot the gun today at the indoor range, putting 200 Rem 40 gr Golden Bullets through it. Perfect function, with the usual Ruger Mk series accuracy out to a yard or two beyond 15 yards. :thumbup:

I’m not in @NIGHTLORD40K’s Mk-series collecting class, but I sure do see why he likes these pistols.

Stay safe.
I’m sorry man! only because I lived in California once and know the issues. Those Ruger’s are literally a dime a Dozen for $250 all day long.

I will never complain about Seattle Guns again.

Serious Question, have you thought about leaving California? I’ve lived everywhere, and it’s a big country we got.
 
I'm glad that deal worked out for you. You being patient with the employees probably helped you out. I lived in California in the mid 70s while in the Air Force but the rules weren't near as strict back then. Also, I'm pretty sure I owned one of those guns back in the 80s but sold it. I've sold more guns than I ever should have.
 
Sounds like the full "Turner's Outdoorsman" experience. I used to pray they'd go out of business, but then I bought a gun from Bass Pro and discovered that it can always be worse.

As for moving out of California... Geographically, this might be the best place on Earth. I could spend multiple lifetimes here and still not have gotten enough of it. I've been all over the country, and lived in several European countries, and while they all have great things to offer, none compete for the whole package. Yeah, the big CA population centers come up with stupid laws and ridiculous taxes and make the rest of the state suffer for it. On the whole, though, the balance still is in favor of staying, at least from my perspective.

Or, put another way, I've already been to Seattle, @Mark_Mark. :neener:
 
That trigger has an overtravel screw built into it. You have to partially disassemble the gun to get to the screw, but once you get it adjusted properly, it's really nice.
 
Thanks guys. I’ll admit I was a bit louder than normal when first interacting with the manager who was trying to be sure this gun was not the right one, but I leveled off and went back to earth once they started researching the issues. It took a while, but they finally confirmed my version was correct. I even apologized to the clerk for getting a bit frustrated, he was all cool with it.

As for leaving? I would love to split tomorrow morning! But the kids are still in school, the wife has several more years to go, so it will be quite a while until I can even think about it.

As much as the gun laws here are clearly intended to limit gun ownership by making their acquisition and feeding as full of hassles as possible, this is about tenth on the list of my reasons for leaving. One through six are political stupidity reasons I wont post, then the absurd cost of living, overcrowding and quality of life rank ahead.

Stay safe.
 
Thanks guys. I’ll admit I was a bit louder than normal when first interacting with the manager who was trying to be sure this gun was not the right one, but I leveled off and went back to earth once they started researching the issues. It took a while, but they finally confirmed my version was correct. I even apologized to the clerk for getting a bit frustrated, he was all cool with it.

As for leaving? I would love to split tomorrow morning! But the kids are still in school, the wife has several more years to go, so it will be quite a while until I can even think about it.

As much as the gun laws here are clearly intended to limit gun ownership by making their acquisition and feeding as full of hassles as possible, this is about tenth on the list of my reasons for leaving. One through six are political stupidity reasons I wont post, then the absurd cost of living, overcrowding and quality of life rank ahead.

Stay safe.
When you do leave… your house sale will be retirement $,$$$,$$$! same boat! Kids & Wife‘s career

Gun Shop Cool…. 😎 i
 
You pay for a background check that say's you are good to go and they STILL make you wait 10 day's? I heard some place had a 30 day wait. Absurd.
The thing that gets me is that we have to do it for every gun purchase. I have a safe full of guns, a state-issued CCW, and normally walk around with a 10mm semi-auto on my hip, but if I want to buy a single-shot .22 rifle, I still have to go through a background check and a waiting period.
 
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The thing that gets me is that we have to do it for every gun purchase. I have a safe full of guns, a sate-issued CCW, and normally walk around with a 10mm semi-auto on my hip, but if I want to buy a single-shot .22 rifle, I still have to go through a background check and a waiting period.
We have to bundle gun here in Washington. So instead of buying 1 gun + $18 fee. We do 2-3-4-5 guns + $18 fee
 
Sounds like the full "Turner's Outdoorsman" experience. I used to pray they'd go out of business, but then I bought a gun from Bass Pro and discovered that it can always be worse.

As for moving out of California... Geographically, this might be the best place on Earth. I could spend multiple lifetimes here and still not have gotten enough of it. I've been all over the country, and lived in several European countries, and while they all have great things to offer, none compete for the whole package. Yeah, the big CA population centers come up with stupid laws and ridiculous taxes and make the rest of the state suffer for it. On the whole, though, the balance still is in favor of staying, at least from my perspective.

Or, put another way, I've already been to Seattle, @Mark_Mark. :neener:
Definitely some beautiful areas in Calif. I fished the streams in Kyburz, near Lake Tahoe for trout. Yosemite, Redwoods, Carmel, etc.
 
Thanks guys. I’ll admit I was a bit louder than normal when first interacting with the manager who was trying to be sure this gun was not the right one, but I leveled off and went back to earth once they started researching the issues. It took a while, but they finally confirmed my version was correct. I even apologized to the clerk for getting a bit frustrated, he was all cool with it.

As for leaving? I would love to split tomorrow morning! But the kids are still in school, the wife has several more years to go, so it will be quite a while until I can even think about it.

As much as the gun laws here are clearly intended to limit gun ownership by making their acquisition and feeding as full of hassles as possible, this is about tenth on the list of my reasons for leaving. One through six are political stupidity reasons I wont post, then the absurd cost of living, overcrowding and quality of life rank ahead.

Stay safe.
Gun I just bought at a shop was reported stolen in 1982! PD picking it up at the gun shop. 😡 was a steal too!
 
We have to bundle gun here in Washington. So instead of buying 1 gun + $18 fee. We do 2-3-4-5 guns + $18 fee
We can do the multiple guns on one form thing, too. And also add an ammo purchase to a gun purchase to avoid the $1 fee they tack on for ammo purchases. 🙄

The state fees for a gun purchase add up to close to $40, so it pays to bundle if you can.

Like I said, they know they can’t ban guns outright so instead its death by 1,000 cuts.

Stay safe.
 
The thing that gets me is that we have to do it for every gun purchase. I have a safe full of guns, a state-issued CCW, and normally walk around with a 10mm semi-auto on my hip, but if I want to buy a single-shot .22 rifle, I still have to go through a background check and a waiting period.
Indeed. I bet I have my own filing cabinet of DROS records at DOJ, yet they still make us jump through the hoops.

You pay for a background check that say's you are good to go and they STILL make you wait 10 day's? I heard some place had a 30 day wait. Absurd.
Ya. I firmly believe it is more about making gun buying a hassle than anything else.

Stay safe
 
Congrats Riomouse! Glad you were able to work things out.

I moved to and left CA 4 different times for jobs there. 26 years of my adult life were spent in CA. Each time I moved back there were new levels of hoops to jump through regarding guns and the purchase of them. Also new laws on carrying and transporting them. New fees (taxes) and paperwork.
If you’ve ever seen the movie “Brazil” you might see how California bureaucrats operate…only it isn’t humorous.
I do not miss it at all.
 
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