Your Greatest Pawn Shop find

Got 2 "Best Pawn Shop finds"

Sig P-228 for $300. It had 1- x10 round mag and was filthy. Took it to shoot and had several fail to feeds right off the bat. Took it home and gave it a bath and went and got a new 15 round mag....never another issue- that was Feb-2012. It's been the best handgun I have ever had.






2nd one is a Beretta 92. Longer story- I bought a Taurus p738 as a feel good pocket toy back when I was recovering from a bad bout with cancer. A new gun....but it would not shoot over 2 or 3 rounds without a malfunction. I sent it to Taurus #1. It eventually came back and I took it out to shoot- same problem....just would not cycle most ammo. Sent it back to Tauurus #2 time- same issue...I even bought different ammo- it would not function. #3 trip back to Taurus- and they finally fixed it- I took it out loaded up both mags- and they both ran without issue. I assumed it was fixed. I cleaned it and took it to the pawn shop and swapped it on a Beretta 92....supposedly it was bought new but never fired. And the guy brought it back and traded it on a smaller gun. I traded and I believe??? I gave about $200 dif? Best trade I have even done.....the Beretta has been flawless.
Looked for a pic- don't have one. It's locked in the safe with the grandson's name on it. He played with a 92 airsoft gun..and when I showed him the real thing- he wanted it. He is my only grandson- actually the only male in the family that can carry on the family name. He is 15 now. Hope I can hang around long enough to see him grown and with a family.

Most used guns in gun shops and most used guns in pawn shops are usually low round count, almost NIB, safe queens. That's why they ended up back on the shelf. The owners decided they either needed the money or traded them for something else. You don't have to be a gunsmith to figure it out. An eyeball test will tell you a lot. If you do have some knowledge you can see through the filth and grime and find a few real gems like those described above. What I said mostly applies to handguns. It's been my experience that long guns need a little closer inspection.

In the past I've asked the store if either they or I could hand cycle a few rounds through the magazine to check for feeding/extraction/ejection issues. I've never been refused but more times than not it's the store employee that does the function check. Fine with me. I just want to see if it has any obvious issues. I've discovered a problem or two that way.