Pawn Shop Circuit: A Twin Commander
I drove back to Neil's after work today, to see what there was to see. Imagine my surprise and chagrin when he had a Colt Combat Commander in electroless nickel behind the glass. 
The grips on this example were the original Colt logo Pachmayr grips. It was entirely original.
A few weeks ago, I horse traded for an electroless nickel Combat Commander at a gun show. The seller had wanted $675, but I traded him a Kahr K40 and $200 for it. Once I had purchased it, I realized the ejection port had been flared, so the pistol was ripe for customization. Still, I felt queasy working the pistol over.
Neil, as usual, simply wanted to liquidate collateral that had secured a profitable loan. Neil had the pistol tagged at $475. I looked it over. I field stripped it. It did not take me long to make up my mind. I gave Neil fifty bucks and told him to put it on lay away for me.
The grips on this example were the original Colt logo Pachmayr grips. It was entirely original. A few weeks ago, I horse traded for an electroless nickel Combat Commander at a gun show. The seller had wanted $675, but I traded him a Kahr K40 and $200 for it. Once I had purchased it, I realized the ejection port had been flared, so the pistol was ripe for customization. Still, I felt queasy working the pistol over.
Neil, as usual, simply wanted to liquidate collateral that had secured a profitable loan. Neil had the pistol tagged at $475. I looked it over. I field stripped it. It did not take me long to make up my mind. I gave Neil fifty bucks and told him to put it on lay away for me.
Labels: Pawn Shop Circuit
posted by Xavier at 6:25 PM
6 Comments:
You are just tooooo lucky.
Syd
Xavier,
I notice that you often time (nearly every day sometimes) seem to put guns on lay away. For those of us who don't frequent - or rather, purchase from - pawn shops could you please explain what is meant by this?
Lay away where I am from means you put some money down on an item to secure it until your next paycheck arrives. You usually have a couple of weeks to pay it off and are required to make periodic payments. Its a form of credit.
Is that what you are doing with all your purchases? Do you really pay off each and every one of these guns within a week or so, or are you allowed to put something up on lay away at a pawn shop for a longer, extended period of time?
What both Neil and Dave require is 10% down. afterwards, they give either three months or six months of regular installments to pay it off. There is no interest. The gun goes back in their safe in the meantime.
Thus, it only makes sense to use lay away if funds may tighten after the purchase. From what they tell me, I'm a small time lay awayer. Some guys have five or six guns on lay away at once. I only do one, maybe two if I'm feeling froggy. I just want it out too soon I guess.
TWO of them? I need to find some better pawnshops and gunshows. I've been hoping to find a Colt or Springer very similar to those for awhile. . . oddly, not for me, but still.
Congrats.
The local pawnshop also does lay-away, and it is what Xavier speaks of. Usually he wants 10% down, and you pay as you go on terms specific to the amount and the item. It may be one month, it may be six months. If you default, he keeps the money and the item.
A guy like Xavier, who is a regular customer, is going to get treated better, and get better terms. The owner knows that he has the item sold when Xavier puts his deposit down, based upon his past history. So, he might allow Xavier to have longer terms or smaller payments than he would a walk-in guy, or allow Xavier to miss a payment (with communication) that he would default another person on.
I bought Sugar Cats little 20 gauge shotgun for $10 down and $5 a month. I paid it off a lot quicker than that, and could have bought it outright. But I didn't need it "right now" and the Pawn Shop guy was just glad to see it was going to move finally.
Xavier has good relations with the local shops, because he is in a lot, they know what he likes, and he never fails to buy when he sees what he likes. I imagine, if he needed to, he would get excellent terms on a loan!
Hmm,
We've got one pawn shop with a good gun selection - in very anti gun Arlington, VA - I stop by every couple of months, but have never purchased anything there.
Maybe I should start
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