There are things in the world of firearms and Americana that never seem to change no matter who political party occupies The White House. One of those things is the normal ebb and flow of the national economy, the other is the old fashioned art of horse trading and deal making when it comes to firearms.
Over the last few years good deals seem to be harder and harder to come by based on elections and paranoia in general. Everyone remembers the .22LR scarcity of a few years ago and how the price of a brick of .22LR double and tripled in a short time span.
Now that cooler heads have prevailed and common sense has returned to the firearms world we can start to find great gun deals in less that traditional places again. I wanted to use this article to spotlight the fact there are still deals to be had like the one I stumbled onto that I am calling The Garage Sale Gun Deal
I’ve been doing a huge amount of yard work prepping to build my own 25 yard shooting range and during this endeavor I found I needed post hole diggers and a slew of yard and farm equipment. Since I really have a problem with paying full retail for anything I figured to drive around my neighborhood and look for garage sales.
I live in a fairly rural area so chances were good I would find something I was looking for anyway. Once I spent a few minutes looking around and not finding anything, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of what looked like a single shot shotgun.
I spoke to the older gentleman who’s house it was and asked what that gun was and if it was for sale. He told me that he was pretty sure it was an old break down 12 gauge shotgun that he use to shoot around his farm and that he wasn’t married to it and would let it go for the right price.
He retrieved it from the corner and checked to make sure it wasn’t loaded and handed it to me with the action open. What he through was a 12 gauge actually ended up being a 20 gauge Harrington & Richardson Pardner shotgun, and not really in bad shape.
20 Gauge will work just fine
A quick look over this very entry level and budget priced single shot top break shotgun combined with a dry fire or two I was ready to ask the question, “Well, How much you looking for it ?” I asked, waiting to hear some number that I was sure was going to be near 100% retail prices, as is the case 90% of the time.
As I handed it back to the gentleman he sorta looked at it and said ” Uhhhhhhh Well it’s just been sitting around and it’s a cheap gun anyway” and began to ramble and said “How’s 60 bucks sound?”, So now the negotiations had begun and I had to see if I could take a piece out of his offer. I told him I could do $50 since it was going to my nephews to I’m sure Uncle Rick would have to go buy some ammo to feed it.
The gentleman quickly responded with a “SOLD”, and after a few assurances that the gun was neither stolen nor was I a felon or other prohibited person we shook on the deal and I thought I had just scored a great deal on a shotgun for my two nephews to abuse.
He then told me to hang on a second while he found a grocery bag for the shells. Ammo ? did I hear that correctly ? apparently I did as the previous owner of the shotgun came back with a plastic grocery bag with four completely full boxes of 7 1/2 shot shells. Shotgun and four boxes of shells for $50.00 out the door. Lets see the specifications on what $50.00 got me at this Garage Sale Deal and my nephews no doubt will love to shoot.
Specifications
Manufacturer: Harrington & Richardson
Model: Pardner
Caliber: 20 Gauge
Barrel Length: 26″
Overall Length: 41″
Chamber: 3″
Length of Pull: 14″
Weight: 5-6 lbs Estimated
Price: $50.00
Nearly 41″ overall length isn’t terrible
Deals Are Out There
There are gun deals out there, most of the times they aren’t in plain sight and you have to do some investigative work and asking around to find them. The $50.00 shotgun and ammo is no doubt my best deal I’ve been on the receiving end of but there are deals out there to be had. Since this deal I’ve a renewed interest in the budget priced and used firearms market and what I’m finding locally is interesting.
Many of the local gun forums are flush with older scratched and worn firearms and accessories that still have years of use left in them at very compelling prices. This might be a combination of a recovering economy or the drop in gun demand and sales in the last 18 months. On the surface I have to wonder if this is yet another benefit of not having a Democrat in the Oval Office, but without hard data it’s just a WAG, or Wild Ass Guess.
Whats Your Best Deal ?
This has sparked a debate among a few of the writers here and friends of mine. What’s the best deal you’ve gotten on a used gun ? Trade or cash we are curious what deals you all have had. Post up a pic and tell us your story.
Rick Dembroski
