No guns in pawn shops!

[Red Label]

I read here all the time about some of you guys that find great deals on shotguns in pawn shops. In the last several years I have found that most of the pawn shops in my area no longer sell guns! The last one I was in said he just didn't want the hassle anymore.

Is the government making it so hard to sell a gun that soon we will no longer have anywhere to buy one or is the criminal element that can sometimes be a problem at pawn shops just making it too tough for the owners to make a good legal sale?

How are things in your area? Personally I enjoy older used shotguns. New ones just don't hold any interest for me. I am always searching for a nice old Winchester but it's getting tough when there are no outlets close by to just stop in and look!:banghead:

 

[Ash]

Well, there are several good ones that I know about, but most of the pawn shops I know about charge an arm and two legs for their wares. I know of one that has a MAS 36 for $399, another shop about 30 miles away has two Remington 710's for $499 each, another shop has a Channel Lock socket set that cost $60 new at Sam's Club for $199, a shop in Hattiesburg, MS, has a Yugo SKS with folding stock and after-market magazine for $599.

In this neck of the woods, pawn shops have become lousy places to buy firearms. There are a few, as I said, that are good places. Most are not, though. My point? Well, ours might have guns (there are more with guns than without) but they might as well not have any for their insane prices. Sure, they can price them however they want, free enterprise and all, but the prices have become so high that it's just a waste of time even to step into most shops around here.

Ash

 

[alsaqr]

"In the last several years I have found that most of the pawn shops in my area no longer sell guns! The last one I was in said he just didn't want the hassle anymore."

Many of the Lawton, OK pawn shops still sell guns but their prices are out of this world because this is a rip-off the GIs at Ft. Sill town. There is no dedicated gun dealer in Lawton. Got to go to Duncan to find a shop that sells new guns. One of the two dealers there is a Browning dealer. Regardless of what you want him to order he tries to sell you a Browning. Had Ruger No.1 in .22 Hornet on order for a year and he never got it in. Finally went to the local Wal-Mart and ordered the same gun for $157.00 less.

Having said all that, i did find a beautiful J.P Sauer and Sohn sidelock double shotgun with badly pitted barrels at a very good price. It was in a Lawton pawn shop. Bought some 12 gauge barrels in the white. A friend made tubes from them and installed them in the machine shop he owns.

 

[David N]

Try the classifieds

I don't know about IN. but where I live there are no laws against the private sale of a gun.

Maybe you could run an ad in the local paper under the "Items Wanted" or "Wanted to Buy" column.

The local radio station here also has a "Trading Post" every week where they broadcast things people have for sale for free. Maybe your station would announce what you're looking for.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

We actually have a good pawn shop here---Sol's Downtown-----nice selection of NIB EBR's---Glocks---Sig's----at decent prices. Bunch of the older stuff too.

 

[Polishrifleman]

They still carry them around here and offer decent prices. One thing I noticed over in Spokane is that one shop I frequent was starting to ship most of their guns into their Idaho store. I don't know if it was regulatory issues with the city, county or state, or that they just got more for the guns in Idaho. I should have asked more questions I guess.

 

[Deer Hunter]

In "University Pawn" shop here in College Station, TX, they have a WALL of shotguns. I saw what looked like a winchester made for some catelog company going for 80 dollars. 12 gauge pump. They had a bunch of old shotguns (side by sides, etc). Their milsurp stuff was bubba'd beyond belief, though.

 

[sm]

New crop of "pawn shop" come to be it seems.
Politically Correct.
No guns at all, nothing firearm related.
No tools, guitars, nothing "heathens and riff-raff" might steal and want to "fence".
Instead they do have-
Jewelry, Coins , coins sets, Silverware, Crystal, computers, software, video games,...

Not legal signs for No CCW on the door.

Two been armed robbed already...

 

[karrick]

I'm in Southern IN and we have guns at most of the pawn shops in my area. Most of the times they are all overpriced IMHO. But you're still able to find the occasional deal. Just today, I found a Moss 500 with slug and shot ported barrels like new for 160 out the door. It fits nicely in my gun cabinet ready and waiting for deer season.

 

[rcmodel]

The one pawn shop that carries guns here caters to the K.U. college crowd.

All the gun prices are absurd, because Joe Collage comes in and sees a gun he wants, he plunks down daddies credit card and doesn't care what they sell for in the real world.

The last time I did a walk-through, they had a CZ-52 for $350, a Ruger #1 with someones name scratched in the stock for $1,000, a rusty Benneli M-1 for $1,750, and a case full of used up Star's & Tauri for $400 on up.

The owner keeps all the good stuff he gets, like 870's, old Winchesters & Colts, and S&W's in the back room, and all his buddies get first crack at them. Only if none of his friends want them do they finally see the light of day out front, at terribly inflated prices.

Then the KU students buy them at twice what they are worth.


rcmodel

 

[KBintheSLC]

We have lots of pawn shops with lots of guns here in UT. However, they are hardly less in price than a new variant. I don't buy guns there. Most local gun shops have a great selection of used guns. I go there instead of the pawn shops.

 

[sm]

All the Pawn Shops and Owners I grew up with and knew are dead and gone.
Mom & Pop Gun shops too.

Still in the small towns there are some Pawn Shops, and Mom & Pop Gun Stores, and some deals can be had. We just meet some folks, of like kind.
Classifieds, provide some great buys.

Now there a few gunsmiths, still around, mostly private, don't advertise, as they have enough of the work they want to do for their customers.
These are the folks I hang with, and the customers. Tight knit bunch, like kind.
We "network".

So for instance a Mom & Pop Pawn or Gun Store, or Gunsmith gets a phone, gets wind of a fella that has to have a HK, and is getting into 3 Gun and needs a Shotgun for 3 Gun. Fella comes in/inquires wants, prices, and his wallet a bit thin.
We get wind, as he needs money.

He has LNIB 1100 in 20 gauge, his HS graduation gift.
Toss $150 down cash.
"Just a little 20 bore, ain't good for nothing, why it ain't even got a 3" chamber, just that short 2 3/4" one.

He mentions he has a "antiquated revolver". Something a Uncle left him.
He brings it out.
"Got blue wore off here and there, only takes six shots in a puny .38spl caliber"
Toss down another $150 and leave with a Colt Detective Special, and a 1100 in 20 bore, with the box and everything.

Fella needs money, needs a HK, and needs that Benelli, and we just being hospitable is all...

 

[evbutler462]

Pawn shops are treasure troves. The pawn shops know that knowledgeable people will not pay the tag price. I really enjoy trolling pawn shops. If you find what you want, offer 50% of the tag price. The shop has less than that in the gun but it gives you the best strating point. I never go over 60% of the tag price unless I want it mighty bad. You save money; the shop still makes an arm and a leg.

I have bought dozens of guns at pawn shops. Usually at 50-60% of the tag. Listen up!! The shop expects you to haggle the price. Only an idiot will pay the tag price on a used gun in a pawn shop. Once the owner/manager gets to know you he will save some of the better buys for you. They make their money from people that are desperate for cash. They do a good service to the community. They hang a price tag that no one in their right mind will pay.

I go by all the pawn shops in this area at least once a month. I never pay over 50% of the tag, usually less, for a used gun. The shop owners enjoy the haggle as well as I do. I tell them to check their code and tell me their bottom dollar. If I like their price, I buy. If not, I walk. I don't walk much because merchandise in the rack is not making money and volume is what keeps the doors open.

If the gun I have been watching has been in the rack for 3 months, I offer to pay the amount pawned +$20.00. These guys know who is a serious bargainer and who is just killing time. I appreciate most of the pawnbrokers that I have come across in my 50+ years of visiting them in several states in which I have lived. I never could have built my collection without pawn shop trolling and good haggling skills.

 

[Red Label]

See, evbutler, thats the way it ought to be. If I could just find a pawn/gun shop to enjoy my lunch time in. Its the thrill of the chase, the haggle etc. My problem is, there are no more places to go. Sure I'd like to find a gun to add to my collection but the fun that is in the hunt can only be had if there is someplace to look and there isn't!!!

There is one more pawn shop that is within driving distance that I may need to try. Wish me luck

 

[evbutler462]

YES, it is fun. Even if I don't buy anything. I started the hobby when I Iwas a cop checking pawn tickets. I saw that the shops had almost nothing in the guns compared to the tag price. That is how I bought my collection. Some of these guns are estate purchases or were pawned by the heirs for next to nothing. I bought a Nikko Golden Eagle for $125.00. The shop had looked at it too long and sold it to me for what they had in it. Miroku O/U for less than $300.00. SKBs for less than $200.00. An excellent condition Browning A5 20 gauge for $75.00. I could list all afternoon the deals I have found just for the few minutes it takes to haggle. These guns can't be eaten and they aren't making any money in the rack.

A shopper that just walks in and looks at the tag and walks back out disgusted is missing out on one of life's great pleasures. Ask for the owner/manager first of all when you see what you like. You will be amazed at the deals you can get. With all respect to the shopper that pays the tag price, you should learn the art of haggling. You will save a lot of money. I have a friend in the retail gun business, one of the largest dealers in this area. He has an employee stalking the pawn shops frequently. He buys most of his used guns from these shops.

Try it. You will like it. Sure, there are some stubborn pawnbrokers that won't budge and that have inventory that has been around a long while. They are few and far between. Volume is the secret of a good pawn shop. Don't be bashful to offer 50% of the tag. That is your best starting point.

 

[sarge83]

We have two local pawn shops that have firearms. One marks everything outrageously high. He might mark a nothing special Norinco SKS for $600, when you ask to see it he goes into his pitch and says he wants to sell it and will knock off $100 or $125. He had an Inland M1 Carbine in there last year with a $1500 price tag. I asked to look at it and he explains that other people are selling these are really high prices but if I bought it today he would go $800 for me. Have never bought anything there.

The other shop will haggle. In some cases the prices are really high, in others the price is really a good. Once I got a pre-64 Winnie 30/30 lever gun in excellent condition for $210 out the door. Sometimes a gun will be marked at fair market value. I have bought several guns from one salesman in particular and he works with me on the price. You just have to do your homework and know the relative value of the gun you want or you will get burned.

 

[Big Az Al]

Pawn shops are fun once you know who and what

Most of the pawn shops here are very good places to shop, also I do work for most of the ones I really like from time to time.

The shops that would not haggle have gone away, the ones that do you can have fun with.

One shop that I will make what for my purposes are reasonable offers, and laugh with them, but after the firearm has been on the shelf for many months, I make my offer by showing the cash in hand, they may hem and haw, tell me I am raping them, but cash in hand talks very loud, with out even whispering!

 

[evbutler462]

Big Al;

Pawn shop trolling is as much fun as collecting guns because you get to handle a lot of them and, many times, take them home with you at a fantastic price. Never, but never, think that the hang tag means anything. It is just wishful thinking on the shop's part for fools that don't know better.

I have a lot of free time and I spend lots of it buying, trading, and haggling with pawnbrokers for guns and other things I need. It doesn't take long to know which shops will be around ten years from now. Nothing makes my day like hitting the pawn shops and hanging out.

One thing I have yet to figure out is how the dealers on gunbroker ever sell a new gun. Most of them are listed at MSRP and you have to pay shipping and a FFL fee. Most local dealers sell their new guns at less than MSRP and you have no shipping to pay. The local dealer that I buy new guns from is a privately owned shop and their guns are discounted to compete with the big boxes. You can handle them and take them home the same day.