It wasn't that long ago (to me) that many stores would have closeout sales on firearms after hunting season. I've bought a number of closeout firearms at Walmart as well over the years but don't remember any stock reduction sales.
Wow, this is a dusty old thread from over a decade ago! Almost 13 years!
I got to take another stroll down memory lane re-reading it.
To GLASSMAN's 2009 point, I did notice that "SPECIAL SIX" in 9mm and remember thinking at the time that they might have been talking about the scarce 9mm SERVICE SIX.