Gun show story..........

from yestrady morning (Sunday) guy comes to the show ,wants to know if I can "fix" his Ruger, got it out to give to a member of the family and it was "broke, all jammed up" bought it 35 years ago, and NEVER fired it.......




yessir, a BRAND NEW in the box & shipper 200th year RST-4 in the 13-977xx range, the shipping grease from the factory had coaglated, frooze it up tighter than a ...........
Told him to soak in kerosene overnight and spray it down, he wanted nothing to do with it, told him it was worth a LOT more than he paid for it, but he thanked me anyway for getting it "open" and said he would be tickled to "double his money........" so here it is :wink:

At least you tried to tell him it's value BEFORE he offered it to you for 'double what he paid" 30+ years ago!
VERY NICE!
Terry T

Oh I told him it was worth a bunch MORE than that, he said the family member really did not want the gun anyway, I gave him 3 times what the gun shop offered him, they told him "it was broke".....hhhmmm, go figure, they're out there.............. :roll:

It's just that kinda of shop that we all gotta spear the word on. That kinda of ethics being known would see their doors close quickly.

I just love your adventures---when a rugerguy can't get excited over that kinda deal----well time to sell off and start collecting old marbles--which I do :lol: whata find and buy---gotta be ever on the point------

americal, on any give gun show weekend, you' dbe surprised just how many folks will come to me and "ask" for advice,they get some price values or quotes on guns either for value or trade in and I try and help them best we can,well for the most part, , many of them come back or go over to others I know will take care of them, its not just Rugers we like, been doing smiths and Colts for a LONG time now,just cannot afford to be dabbling in many of them these days...yikes .scary, but if I take them for to one of the bigger shows, like OGCA we can get them about the best , top dollar to be had.......works for us, and its a win, win situation all around...they will NOT get them prices at ANY gun shop that we can even 'think' of and I know a LOT of them.......just like Rugers you gotta find the folks who "collect" that stuff...the good, nice mint stuff sells,GOOD guns sell themselves...........and one mans junk is another mans gold............but I still "mainstream" with the regular, everyday guy, the shooter, user, blue collar guys, far MORE of them out there, than true "collectors"....just look around you and "see" what actually sells (moves) and what just sits there, no matter what the price, till you about have to "give it away......"
Americal you take care of momma, get her back up and out of the house, like to see you guys come up here sometime, be my guests at one of these OGCA shows, you'd go BONKERS.................and whatever , don;t LOSE any of those marbles :roll:

rugerguy, it's called ethics and morals; something all too lacking in the world today and that includes those who deal in guns. Thumb's up!

Had they broke the $100.00 retail yet in 76?

oh no well below that, I believe it wasn't until early in the 1980's the RST broke the $100 'retail" mark.........
this one, the receipt total was in the $60 range.........
so it would be quite 'easy" to tell anyone they could "get their money back...." old folks get duped into that concept far too often...or someone tells their wife, "honey I only paid so & so for it..." so the old man dies and the his buddy or the neighbor gives her HIS money back.......yes, your husband was my best friend and he always told me I could have that old "luger' from the war....and this at the funeral home!! :shock:
When my wife ran the gun shop, sell a gun,, often a guy would ask for a "duplcate" receipt to show his wife he paid 'LESS" for any given gun.....duh
Yep, wanna pull the wool over HER eyes, and later on just who got "screwed" out of what they were actually worth..........
so guys, TELL her what its worth, don't HIDE that kind of stuff from her, if you don't trust her, then what the hell are you even doing there??
and update their values over the years!! :roll:

Hey Rugerguy, that is the exact plan all my friends have when I go to the BIG GUNSHOW IN THE SKY.....if I told Mrs Radical what I paid for some of my treasures she would send me to the SHOW.....so the thing about updating the values how do we take into account the NEW WORLD VALUES......seems some stuff has gone flat or maybe even down a little bit....I may need to live to about 150 to see some of my stuff sell for what I paid :lol: :lol: :lol: heck I don't bother keeping track of what I pay just so I can't get bummed if I sell it for less some day......funny thing is I have a 50K car that is now worth 15K on a good day so if I sell a gun for 100 less than I paid it really isn't that big of a deal.....because I have surely got a few that I bought right that make up for it....always remember this gun collecting thing is a HOBBY and if you are in it to make money than it is a business.....JMO....YMMV....RR.

I was thinking they were still 67.50 then. My last year working in a gunshop was 79 and I couldn't recall if it was then or after I left and started sailing.

I have some good stories of widows coming to the shop and finding out how true their friends and nieghbors were in what they offerd them for guns.

Anyway, great job of "fixing" his problem. You must of even offered to throw away all those boxes for him.

Oh no we never throw away boxes, I used to pick gun boxes out of the trash at the local National Guard armory back in the mid 1960s...I was doing 'boxes;' LONG before it became fashionable............
Radical you "missed" my point, has NOTHING to do with any "business", the fact is that far too many families ( heirs,the wife or the children) get "screwed" out of the value/worth that the guns actually are, at the time the estate is settled...if the friends and neighbors don;t do it, then the lawyers do........................gotta update to current values, wether they are up OR down, and adjust accordingly................some people with NO heirs, the state gets it, if nothing is spelled out....pay heed folks.............

Excellent point rugerguy. I update list every six months. One is on the hard drive and a hard copy in the safe. Wife and son know the locations. Insurance company gets a update annually.