Pawn Shop Circuit: Extremes

Something told me to go visit Kenny after work today. The bell clanged announcing my arrival at his pawn shop, and he came up from the back. "Xavier, I've got one I think you will want!" he exclaimed. I inquired, and learned he had received a gold plated Desert Eagle in hock. I felt a lump in my throat, along with the taste of my 12:00 salad with blue cheese dressing. My head bobbed a bit as my cricoid struggled to keep the blue cheese down, and I politely told Kenny that I did not think I could afford such a fine weapon.

Not too much had changed under the glass at Kenny's. The Llama 1911 style pistol was still there, as well as a Beretta 92FS and a beat up Taurus clone of it. Kenny had a couple of Ruger centerfire semi-autos as well. Nothing really interesting. I began to scan the rifle and shotgun rack when a little .22 rifle caught my eye.

A few years back I had purchased a Norinco copy of John Moses Browning's .22 caliber auto rifle. I had cost me $129 new at a gun show. I had shot a couple of the Browning 22 Autos, and I had liked them. They shouldered well, and were a light, accurate .22 rifle.Although I liked the way the Brownings felt, and though the Norinco felt the same, the Norinco 22 was roughly crafted, and it was never reliable. After a year of trying to force reliability into a stubborn commie copy, I traded it off for another gun.

The large hang tag on Kenny's .22 rifle sang a siren's call to me...... $129. I asked to see it, and was surprised to find it to be a Grade 1 Browning. Although made in Japan in 1980, not Belgium, it was never the less a nice rifle. While I was checking it to see if it had a cartridge in the chamber, Kenny asked me what it was. "An old timey twenty-two," I told him.

"Think it's worth much?" he asked.

"Oh, it's worth what it's priced at, I reckon," I replied as I broke out my wallet.