I posted about a month ago that I had agreed to take on the job of selling some guns for a lady in my church whose husband recently died.
http://smith-wessonforum.com/lounge/...-tomorrow.html

I took her the money today for the last of the guns. I got rid of them a whole lot quicker and easier than I thought I would, and got at least as much money for them as I had figured, and in several cases, a good bit more.

I am pleased, she was pleased, and I think her daughter is pleased. I don't think either of them thought the guns were worth nearly as much as they brought.

In total, there were about 26 guns, and I got about $6600 for them. Keep in mind that there were several very ratty, barrel shot out military rifles. A couple of old Spanish Mausers with some pieces missing, things like sights, a Mosin Nagant, some kind of French military rifle I never quite figured out, and just about all the guns had rust on them. The rust varied from just a little flecking to severe. There were two or three pieces in good shape, one of which was the 92 Winchester pictured in the other thread, and a FN Mauser Sporter with a Weaver K4 scope that was sharp.

I mentioned that I called a friend to look at the guns with me and help me figure out what to ask for them. He wound up buying about ten of them. He gave a lot more for several pieces than I would have, but he was/is more knowledgeable about US Military weapons than I am. I was glad to have his help, and was surprised that he bought as many as he did. He is like me, an old guy who likes to fiddle with old guns. His thing is military guns, particularly Garands and Carbines.

I learned a lot about human nature, and in fact my faith in mankind, especially the kind of man that likes to fool with old guns, was somewhat bolstered. I had three different people who, after we struck a deal, gave me more money to give to Lola. At least one of them, I think, is a member of this forum from Georgia. One guy who bought a couple of military rifles, asked after he had paid me, "what are you getting out of this deal?" Nothing but satisfaction and having a lot of fun, I told him. He peeled off another $50 Bill and said it was for my gas and time. I told him I would give it to Lola. He said that whatever I wanted to do was fine.

I came out of the deal in fine shape. I got two guns out of the collection. One is a Model 28-2 I am going to write about in another thread. The other is a Stevens 311 16 gauge shotgun. It was extremely ratty looking. It had a lot of surface rust, the action was very sluggish on opening, and an old slip-on recoil pad had literally melted and stuck to the buttstock. One fellow who bought some of the rattier military guns offered fifty bucks for it. I told him I would keep it and give her that much for it myself, and he seemed relieved. I spent all day one day last week stripping and refinishing the wood, cleaning up the metal, and getting the action un-gummed. It turned out looking pretty doggone good, much better than I would have thought. It took a heap of scrubbing the stock with acetone and 0000 steel wool to get it there, though. Today when I took Lola the last of the money, I told her I wanted to buy it for $150. She said, "No, I'm going to give it to you for what you have done for me." I told her that I hadn't intended to charge her anything, and that I had really enjoyed the experience. "Don't consider it payment, then," she said. "Consider it a gift from me to you."

I have to admit, I wasn't hard to convince.

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Georgia On My Mind

Good on you, buddy. Thanks for the update, and I'm glad things turned out well for everyone.

Regards,

Dave

Way to go. You did a very good deed and you recieved something for it, nothing wrong with that. Do you know how many people are out there that would have taken advantage of her.
Thanks for the update.

Good job, sir.

You, sir, are a true Gentleman. As a fellow enthusiast, I thank you for taking care of your friend's wife and not taking advantage of her.

It pains me to read accounts of someone buying an item from a widow for pennies on the dollar, and gushing about how she had no idea what it was worth. Every time I read a story like that I wonder if that is how my wife will be treated when I am gone.

If the old man had a dieing wish, he was probably hoping someone would help his wife through the most painful and challenging time in her life. You stepped up and did what you could without demanding anything in return.

Thanks, man.

I expected you'd do well. I'm glad to hear it all worked out like it did.

Well done....

Good job..

I'm proud of you, but not at all surprised!

God bless you!!!

Tom

Thanks for the update.

You did good.

My Grandma would be proud.She was from S.Ga.

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Dum vivo cano

Talk about restoring one's faith in mankind....I see so many posts on so many different forums, from guys bragging about swooping in and either buying up a bunch of guns at a fraction of their value, or going to give an estimate of a group of guns worth, and seriously undervaluing them so they can "flip them quick for a good profit" it makes me sick.

I gotta admit, when you first posted about being asked to go help her, the cynic in me thought.." I swear I'll drive down there and whoop him with a corn stalk if he even thinks it"!! Then I remembered who was posting it and knew the lady couldn't have a better person to come lend a hand. Your postings from the 3 or 4 forums we both frequent gave me confidence that the outcome would be more than fair, and by golly you didnt let me down.

I am proud to see there are still men of honor and moral fiber left, and I pray that it rubs off on some other folks I have to deal with daily. Good on you RL!! One day I wanna buy you a cup of coffee and waste an hour or so chatting.

Adam

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Nothing to see here,move along

Great read and inspiring stuff when so much of what we hear today is bad news.

My hat's off to you, redlevel. America needs more good people like you, my friend.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ..."ERIN GO BRAGH"

What a nice story!!!
WIN-WIN all around. Thanks for the update on the upside of human nature too.

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Dum vivimus Vivamas

Outstanding, and very well done.

This is a good deed for sure and should be a wake up call for us to inventory and document our acquistions for our heirs.

Thank you for the heartening report. I could tell from your original description of the situation that you were the right guy to undertake this effort, but I am really pleased to find that so many other people went out of their way to pay fair prices (or even somewhat disadvantageous prices from the buyer's point of view) to help out a woman whose life had changed so suddenly.

Good on all of you.

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David Wilson

Aloha,

Happy to see the right thing done.

Slightly OT My Wife and my FFL guy are telling me to Reduce my "toy"
collection to make it easy for her when I go.

The Wife has a good idea what I paid for most of my guns and defineately Hers.

Also told her that When it comes time to sell my guns and she has doubts because some one low balls it, I told her to raise the price to where the guy will choke and then tell him it must be worth at least that much if he's willing to cheat her....... She'd do it too

Good job sir. My dad had a similar experience about 25 years ago, but it involved an older gentlemans entire estate. Very overwhelming, house, property, car, guns, antique engineering equipment, and a collection of opera recordings so large it was donated to the music department of a local college.

I was younger, and unfamiliar with some of the guns at the time, but I recall a NM Garand, a Springfield .22, sporterized '03, and two LC Smith shotguns.

I'm in the process of documenting my accumulation of toys now. I just would like to have a list...don't plan on wifey needing it anytime soon!

Thank you for what you did for the lady sir.

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I hope I copied that right

That was a great deed you did for a woman who could have gotten ripped off very badly. Glad there are people like you.

Just like gold, guns will always be worth something. I won’t say you should invest in guns instead of savings, but they do say to “diversify”…

Bravo. You have honor, you have earned respect, and you have helped the less fortunate. Few things in life will make you feel better inside than that.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

As some friends from Down Under say.....Good On You Mate!

When my father died my sister got his guns, not a lot, but a few beautiful ones. She had no clue how much they were worth so sold them to the jerk (known to be a jerk from a much earlier time) next door. He said they were worth $200. Even 20 years ago a German made PPK was worth more. I did not hear about it quick enough to stop/fix it.

While I wish it was not so, I think there a fewer great folks like you in the world that we need.

Great to see a follow-up on these sort of happenings. Not only did you do parents proud, you also did well by her husband.

Thanks.

B2

I already knew you were a good Man but nice ending to a great story.
Looking forward to Highway Patrolman thread

Thankfully she had you instead of going onto a pawn shop or something, I am sure you got her 3-4 times what she would have offered.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

Always do that which is right. This will satisfy some and amaze the rest. - Mark Twain

Members like you exemplify the fine character found on this forum.

Bekeart

Well, thanks for all this approbation. Let me tell you about the super deal I got on the Highway Patrolman and see if you feel the same way.

Lola had told me there were only long guns. When I first looked at them, they were all wrapped up in old bed sheets. I started getting them three or four at the time, taking them to my home, cleaning them up and advertising them.

About a week after I first saw the guns, and after I had called in my friend to help sort them, I got a call. It was Bill, my friend. He was at Lola's house getting a bunch of scattered loose ammo he had bought. "We found another bunch of guns," he told me. "There are three handguns wrapped in another old sheet. A 1911A1, some kind of S&W 9mm semi-auto, and a big S&W .357 revolver." I thought he was joking with me. I had mentioned wanting a Model 28 earlier. He started reading off the barrel, "Says 'Highway Patrolman' on the barrel." I really thought he was fooling with me then.

Anyhow, turned out it was a 28-2, P&R. When I got there, I saw that it had flecks of surface rust on the sideplate and barrel, and a little more serious rust on the butt around the serial #. I checked the cylinder, noticing that it didn't want to open. I thumb-cocked the action, and it was almost bound up. I cycled it double-action twice and stopped, fearing that I was going to do damage. The thing is, I don't believe the gun had been fired since it left the factory, but it had never seen a drop of oil, either. I knew, or at least believed, that a thorough detail cleaning would fix just about anything that was wrong with it.

I told Lola that I really wanted the gun for my colletion. I told her that in the condition it was in, a pawn shop or dealer would give her maybe $150. (I can hear him now: "Lady, this old gun is so rusted up I can't even pull the trigger. I'll give you $100.") She immediately said for me to take it for that. I said, "No ma'm, I will give you $250 for it, because I can work on it some and make it a $400-$450 gun, or take it to a gunsmith and pay him $150 to do the same thing."

So I got a pretty nice HP out of the deal for $250. She would have taken $100. I made it clear to her that I was paying wholesale, and that the gun cleaned up and slicked up a little would bring more. She realized that I was spending at least an hour or more on practically each of the guns, just getting them presentable.

I took it apart and got it functioning pretty good, but I am either going to have to do more myself, or take it to a 'smith. The cylinder still doesn't open to my satisfaction, and I don't know exactly what I need to do to that front side plate screw to remedy. this.

Interestingly, I believe the satin finish came through the 25-30 years of neglect a whole lot better than a bright blue finish would have. The rust didn't leave pits the way rust on the bright finished guns seems to. There were even flecks of rust inside the side plate, and the action was bone dry. Usually, I expect to find the action on neglected guns gummed up, but this one had never seen a drop of oil.

Bill bought the 1911A1, which was pitted worse than the 28. I sold the Sigma for her for $250, which I thought was pretty good, considering the deals S&W has been running on new ones.

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Georgia On My Mind

RE: The sale of widows guns.

Sir: Please let me give you a cyber space firm hand shake and a tip of my Stetson. Job well done.

Red-you did completely fine by her in every step of this transaction, if she decides to give you a gun in appreciation that is her decision. You paid a fiar price for that 28 given the condition it was in. If she takes it to a smith and pays the $150 and sells it for $400 she is in exactly the same place.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

Folks, you're just confused! This is the Smith & Wesson Forum and this is the way members conduct business, help others, and offer prayers when needed.

It is what we do and what we are. Gun owners are a better class of people and S&W Forum members are the best gun owners.

Now carry on with pride.

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S&WHF 366

been waiting on this post for a while! kudos to you friend.

I've seen several that are not even close. We have many who are just touched in special ways. A few who have more money then brains (young man who brought an AR-50, M14, AK-47, AR-15, etc.... to the range last weekend) and some who have it all together, good people no question.

100% agreement here. I think part of that comes from the classic, robust, ultra reliability that is a Smith and Wesson. Doesn’t just throw lead down range but allows you to place it where you want it. While it’s no doubt fun to do it from time to time it’s not what motivates folks here.
This like Rangefinderforum is one of the great places on the net. Kind of makes up for some of the trash out there, at least to me.

B2

I just joined this forum and I must say it was great to read about what you did to help the widow.

If you are like the others who post on this forum, I definitely made the right decision to come here. It's obviously a great place.

To B2: I recognize you from the Rangefinder Forum, which is also a great place. What a small world it is!

Cheers,

Ellen

I'm proud of you, Sir. That lady is fortunate to have you as a friend. I think many of us have experienced this in the circles of friends and acquaintances we have. People know we are "gun people" and they come to us with questions. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear stories like this. The media would have us believe we are all a bunch of hicks who would take advantage of each other. There are certainly those types out there, but I think they are in the minority.
Enjoy your HP, my friend. You did right by this lady, you are a Gentleman.
Jim

Good job, Red. I'm going through the same process right now for a friend of mine who passed away suddenly. He had always told his wife to come to me for help if such a thing came to pass. The hardest part for me is identifying all the little accessories and parts he had squirreled away everywhere.

Thank you, sir.

You did right by the widow. Congratulations. Another fine member of this Forum. I did about the same thing only in reverse. My good buddy passed away 8 years ago. Left some nice firearms to his daughter who knew nothing about guns. I had a good friend that had a gun shop in his garage, took him 6 guns & he sold them & I gave all the money to the daughter. I still am in touch with the daughter by Email.

Kudos to you. Job well done.