Years ago, I was talking to a long-time gun collector who would come into the most amazing stuff and I asked him how he found these deals. He said something that has stuck in my mind as very wise and very true; he said “When you’ve been in this business long enough, you don’t have to go looking for good deals..the good deals come looking for you.”
SNSTIW, minding my own business and getting ready for class. I had walked into the room a bit early, the teacher not being there yet, flopped my bag on the desk, took off my coat, was pulling my books outta the bag, and as I sat down a voice two rows behind me said….
“Anyone wanna buy some guns?”
Now, I realize how absurd that sounds but, hand to Crom, that’s what happened. What happened next was my head reactively spinning around as I said “Me!” and so did three other guys. I talked over them and basically browbeat my way into a conversation with the potential gun seller. He had an AR and a ‘custom’ Glock he wanted to sell. Tip: when someone says they have a ‘custom’ Glock (or especially a ‘Custom’ AR) what they really mean is they kitchen-tabled a bunch of mods into their guns. I don’t care how talented an amateur gun-plumber you are, you are not as skilled and experienced in assembling an AR as the guys at Stag/Bushmaster/Noveske/Ruger/etc. who have the tools and experience and do it for a living. (Although you’re probably more skilled than the drunken monkeys at Century). So. I took a pass on the custom longslide threaded Glock .40 and went hard for this:
Operators gonna operate….
A Rock River Arms Operator…for when operators need to operate operationally. Nice gun except for the funky half cheese-grater/half smooth forend. But the flip up sights, side swivels, and really surprisingly nice 2-stage trigger are quite pleasant. And its got box-n-docs. And….no paperwork. A lovely free-range AR to go in the bunker.
My AR leveling up skills seem to be improving. I’ll pull a Palmetto outta storage and what I sell it for will cover what I put out for this guy. It’ll be a net of zero dollars, but a severe upgrade in quality and features.
In the meantime I discovered that virtually every guy in the class was a gun guy.
“Ewww – Gunz Iz Bad !!!”
Lol, if that classroom was somewhere in Montana, not a big surprise.
On the occasions where I meet a fellow firearm enthusiast my wife likes to bring up the quote, “Did we just become best friends?”
It’s nice to just find like minded people. I work in tech on the east coast. Most people that talk about guns are talking about banning them or being afraid of them. When i hear someone say anything positive about guns, I always take note. Even if I don’t say anything, I know who they are and they may be a resource later.
LMI! 🙂
Over the decades, I’ve been fortunate to come across some super deals just like that. A casual comment, boast, a bumper sticker… the start of a conversation, then friends.
Along the way, I garnered a nice collection. Well, until that unfortunate boating accident on the way to my BOL.
Very nice…
Very nice! Sounds very similar to how I got my first AK back in the 90s.
Nice! CZ, have you ever or currently working with any good full polymer lowers? Or anyone else on here. Been tinkering with some successes with companies. Just wondering.
As soon as they are out or pre-order and a regular in-stock item, I’ll be ordering one of the WWSD2020 rifles from Brownells.
The KE Arms rifle?
The ForgottenWeapons/InRangeTV collaborative rifle project…WWSD2020….that is being sold through Brownells. KE is making the lowers which are, as I understand it, improved versions of the old Cav Arms lowers.
I cut my first poly lower on a James Morgan 80% AR308 lower constantly scared I was cutting too much. After repeated trigger group fitting I found a need for anti-walk pins.
Final product was a standard LPK with buffer/stock I had laying around mated to a Pro-Fab 20″ upper. Shot good groups out to 600 yds at Talledgea so upgrades are now in order.
Maybe one day… [west coast whingeing]
Hey guys, N95 masks are the new hi-cap mags and shooty-things-with-the-sight-that-goes-up….
They are sold out everywhere, going for a HUGE premium on ebay, and if you want some, you better either pay up, or get creative with sourcing.
If you don’t have masks I’d be checking old school neighborhood hardware stores, auto paint suppliers, equipment rental houses, walmart’s paint department, and other less common places, maybe even beauty supply houses. If you have accounts with industrial suppliers, you might check there too. If you have woodworker friends you might want to hit them up. If you need them for your business, lock up your stock. On the WuFlu press call last week, CDC wants people to be thrifty with masks now in case they’re needed later- meaning there won’t be increasing supply later. Hong Kong news says they’ve got one month supply left, other news says WHO has one month left. Most of them are made in China, so they’ll be offline for some time.
What was still available locally here was half face respirator kits, and replacement cartridge filters. They were not cheap although they are also not extortionate. They are likely better than an old hankie.
nick
Or you can get out the four cases you put away for the Swine Flu scare.
only four? I’m feeling pretty good now, but I’m not selling the ones I bought to flip. (well, I’m selling enough to pay for all the others.)
CDC expects to run out nationally if this continues and worsens.
Our local surplus auction had some this week. They sold about 20 cases, 10 boxes of 20, for around $360 each. With tax and fees that’s more like $450. It’s a lot less than the $780 people are getting on ebay, but not low enough to flip them yourself unless the price goes a lot higher.
Prices probably will go higher unless massive new stocks come on the market.
nick
With my rough count of your gun stash churning to upgrade seems like the most prudent course of action. I would rather have 3-4x BCM/ Colt/ etc than 6 Anderson/ PSA.
Well..yes and no. It would be nice to keep it all zero-sum and turn a dozen ‘entry level’-tier AR’s into a dozen mid- to high-tier carbines. But, at the same time, those PSA’s are sitting there quietly waiting for the next Panic Buy Episode so I can sell them that at sphincter-bruising prices. If I convert them into higher end AR’s now, then I don’t have anything to sell later. It’s a tricky balance. I think what I’m going to wind up doing for now is sell one PSA to pay for the higher-end gun, and then order in another cheap PSA to keep a little ‘buffer’ of cheap AR’s for the next panic.
This is true. My perspective was about preparation. I think survivalists over emphasize having lots of guns at the expense of having good shit that works with the right accessories to use it optimally. Making profit from a panic is another angle.
If it were me I would have MY core stash then a few PSAs to sell for 4x what you paid.