Pawn Shop Circuit: Pretty Stainless, Ugly Iron

I got a chance to stop by Dave's shop today. I had been a while since I last darkened Dave's door, and he still had the Ruger GP100 for $329. Not unexpectedly, Dave's selection of hunting rifles was thinning, as were his shotguns. The handgun case contained a couple of Glocks and other plastic guns to keep the Ruger company. I really could not tell if they were the same ones as last time. Dave did have a Remington 870 Express with a synthetic stock going for $99. I thought about it, and decided to wait on that one.

I traveled on over to Neil's pawn shop, and he greeted me with a big hello when I went inside. That's always an expensive sign. Under his glass, Neil had a new looking stainless steel Ruger Vaquero with ivory polymer grips. .Neil was asking $299 for the single action gun, not a bad price if that was your style.

The revolver that interested me, however, was an old Colt Police Positive Special. It had a four inch barrel, and the early checkered thumb piece and trigger. Unfortunately, the Police Positive had ugly plastic replacement grips, a null and void finish, a sloppy lock-up, and the kiss of death, a high price. Neil was wanting $275 for it.

I finished looking it over, and decided to let it sit in Neil's case for a while reminding him not to overprice old guns. At $150, I might have bought this revolver, just to tinker with, and explore the ancient Colt lockwork. For nearly three hundred, I expect a lot more, a whole lot more.