monotonous_iterancy
Member
- Joined
- May 27, 2012
- Messages
- 915
Today I was seriously considering going down to my lgs to buy something he's had for years. An unissued, unfired, still packed in cosmoline M44 Mosin Nagant for $250. I want something that will appreciate in value, and has a monstrous blast, complete with a fireball that doubles as a flame thrower. I wanted my neighbors from all around to think I was shooting a cannon on the weekends, and to that end, I needed the Mosin, the gun of choice for bears when teeth just aren't enough.
So I drove down there, fully expecting them to have it on the rack as they always have, yet to my dismay, the Mosin was gone. So was the M38, the M91/59. So I ask, hoping to learn something that might assuage my horror,
"Do you have any Mausers?"
Nope. They were gone too, the two Yugos, the 98/22, the vz-24, and the Spanish .308. All gone. Every surplus gun had been bought.
The old guy behind the counter told me something that has been playing back in my head all day,
"We've had guns here for 30 years, and they're gone. That's why if you want something, you've got to get it now. By the time you're old, they'll be worth 2, 3, maybe 4 times what you paid for them."
I thanked him and walked out, angry at myself for letting it slip away. But I still had plenty of excess want and regret, so I drove 20 minutes to the next gun store I knew of. They had 4 battered Type 53s all priced at $189. There was also a 6.5 Carcano at $365. I mulled over my options.
Long story short, I asked to see a Springfield 1903. It was made in 1943 by Remington, and came with a sling and reproduction bayonet. $895.
When I held that gun, the wellsprings of patriotism rose within me. Forget about those poorly made commie guns, forget about the Mausers, the Carcanos and all that. This gun could have stormed Guadalcanal, it was quality, solid, and made in America for Americans. It would make a nice companion piece for the M1 Garand I'm getting.
So if you all will, talk me out of this gun, or tell me I'm getting a bad deal.
So I drove down there, fully expecting them to have it on the rack as they always have, yet to my dismay, the Mosin was gone. So was the M38, the M91/59. So I ask, hoping to learn something that might assuage my horror,
"Do you have any Mausers?"
Nope. They were gone too, the two Yugos, the 98/22, the vz-24, and the Spanish .308. All gone. Every surplus gun had been bought.
The old guy behind the counter told me something that has been playing back in my head all day,
"We've had guns here for 30 years, and they're gone. That's why if you want something, you've got to get it now. By the time you're old, they'll be worth 2, 3, maybe 4 times what you paid for them."
I thanked him and walked out, angry at myself for letting it slip away. But I still had plenty of excess want and regret, so I drove 20 minutes to the next gun store I knew of. They had 4 battered Type 53s all priced at $189. There was also a 6.5 Carcano at $365. I mulled over my options.
Long story short, I asked to see a Springfield 1903. It was made in 1943 by Remington, and came with a sling and reproduction bayonet. $895.
When I held that gun, the wellsprings of patriotism rose within me. Forget about those poorly made commie guns, forget about the Mausers, the Carcanos and all that. This gun could have stormed Guadalcanal, it was quality, solid, and made in America for Americans. It would make a nice companion piece for the M1 Garand I'm getting.
So if you all will, talk me out of this gun, or tell me I'm getting a bad deal.
