Looking in Mag Bins - Pawn Shops/LGS

[SVT28]

How often do you ask to look in the spare mag bins when visiting your local gun stores/pawn shops? The reason why I ask is because I got 2 Smith and Wesson Model 39/639 mags yesterday at the pawn store for 10 bucks out the door.

They were at the bottom with no love so I made the claim that "without knowing if they will even work" this is a chance at $10.

I giggled while I walked out. Does anyone else have any "spare bin" success stories? I sure would like to find 10mm 3rd gen mags, or 4040pd/4513TSW 6 rounders...

-SVT28

 

[gmborkovic]

You scored a nice find in the bin.

 

[GaryS]

There is only one store I visit that has a mag bin. They are a high volume dealer and take a lot of police guns in trade.

I've scored 457, 3913, and a few 6906 magazines there. I think I even got a couple of 3904 mags as well.

Anytime I get up there, I spend anywhere from 15-30 minutes digging and sorting. It's got so I can spot a 3rd Gen magazine at the bottom of the pile.

 

[Jaymo]

I've scored 5906, 6906, and 4506 mags by digging through the spare mags bins at my LGS.

 

[N4KVE]

Our company has 8 LGS in Florida, all with air conditioned ranges. At gun shows we have 80 tables. We accumulate many extra mags, mostly from people who purchase used guns, & only get 1, or 2 mags, even if the gun was traded in with 5. While we tell retail customers we don't have used mags for sale, we allow other vendors to look through our collection & purchase them. We have hundreds, & before every show several vendors can be found looking through our totes full of loose mags. Haven't found one for my 3913 yet. LOL. GARY

 

[jughed440]

Gun shows make for great magazine hunting grounds. The last show had a dealer unloading these new old stock mags ($20 each, not bad..i was hoping he had 10xx mags to unload also. Not.

 

[SVT28]

Nice stories guys, I'm going to have to dig more often. Especially at gun shows!

Look at those mags in the original packaging too, mmm mmm

-SVT28

 

[GaryS]

Gun shows too!

Last year I picked up two 3913 magazines for $20.00/each. The vendor told me he didn't know what they fit. Too bad for him, good deal for me.

Nice stories guys, I'm going to have to dig more often. Especially at gun shows!

Look at those mags in the original packaging too, mmm mmm

-SVT28

 

[Comrad]

When I bought my Walther PPK/S .22 it only came with one magazine. I half jokingly said to the guy, what no second mag? He pulled out a box of junk and started rummaging through it and pulled out a brand new mag and threw it in for nothing. Made me a happy customer.

 

[ColbyBruce]

I know these aren't S&W mags and are mostly all 10 rounders, but they only cost me $10.00 each. I took them to Glock, Inc. and exchanged them for new hi-cap mags.

A CZ 527 mag for a .222 Remington rifle, got with the Glock mags for $20.00.

A Glock 23 orange training mag I got for $8.00. I use it in my Glock 32.

S&W 6906 mags I got for $10.00 each and used them in my S&W 469.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Pretty common around Pa. in the late 80s early 90s......... lots of Colt, Smith, Sig and Beretta mags........1994 Assault weapons ban..... put a big hurt on collecting hi-caps......but single stack mags...... 4506,39 and 3913s were not uncommon.......

3913 mags were great......common response."don't know what that's to, it for a Smith but won't work in a 39!"

What I learned was that when guns with 2,3,4 or more mags and holsters were traded...... if there was no box..... gun with one mag went into the case... extra mags and holsters went their separate ways.

If you knew to ask.... the Big Box-O-mags would be pulled out and it was a treasure hunt......mags were added to the deal or added at $5-10/mag..... the real find was "other" mags you could use......LGS saw it as found income cus those magazines could sit for years..... mags $5-15.

Once picked up two Wilson Combat mags for the Officers model...... 7rd and an extended 8rd.....all but brand new for $20 IIRC......

Another time found a PC 12 and two 15 round mags /w spacers for a PC Shorty 9... ME..."Hey these mags belong with the gun I'm buying!" LGS didn' t want to lose the sale.... added the 3 mags to the deal...no charge.

The best thou were a Police Supply house and a LGS..... the PSH had a "bunch"of lightly used Beretta 92 Compact M (single stack 92 9mm) the LGS had 7 or 8 new mag in the blister packs..... 92M's were and still are pretty uncommon (I have 2) ... every time I stopped at the PSH I buy 2 mags for $15 (over maybe 3 years I was the only market they had for those mags) the LGS sold me the "new' mags for $15 apiece over 6 months....they had the magazines but no 92-Ms to sell

The 92-M has a cult following......... today those "used" mags are selling for $60-80 apiece.


Same with holsters..... over the years I've scored several "as new" Milt Spark Summer Specials...... LOL IWB is an acquired taste... most won't take the time...their loss... my good fortune !!!!

Internet and E-bay has changed this a lot!!!!!!

 

[Arik]

The bin/box of mags sits on the counter at my lgs for everyone to dig through. Same with holsters and other odds and ends

 

[BAM-BAM]

LOL up until a few years ago most LGS also had a "Big box-o-grips" ...... factory wood for $5-20 bucks........................

 

[BAM-BAM]

The bin/box of mags sits on the counter at my lgs for everyone to dig through. Same with holsters and other odds and ends

LOL.......Collecting/accumulating was a heck of a lot easier in the late 70s till about 1994,....... 94-2004 were rough years for hi-caps guns and magazines (Glock mags for $80 and up)..... was still OK till about 2008......since then for me it's been more luck than anything else........

My mantra the last 8 years has been; "Glad I bought that ___years ago!"


D---- moving into my "old fart";curmudgeon years............ TTSH I need some advice.........

 

[TTSH]

D---- moving into my "old fart", curmudgeon years............ TTSH I need some advice.........

I'm just sitting back in my favorite chair minding my own business and listening to you two "youngsters" reminiscing about the good old days! Kinda makes me chuckle.

Just wait until you are as old as I am with a mere 5 good years left before I'm not sure what. Then you'll really have lots of time and motivation to reminisce and tell stories about those good old days of overflowing bargain magazine and grip bins galore.

For the record, I never saw those days. They must have occurred during my 25-year deep sleep. All I see now are seriously overpriced S&W grips... ... and the only "bargain magazine bin" I've stuck my nose in lately was a complete flop... 'cause at my advanced age, early onset senility and with my failing eyesight THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME TO ME.

 

[BAM-BAM]

I'm just sitting back in my favorite chair minding my own business and listening to you two "youngsters" reminiscing about the good old days! Kinda makes me chuckle.

Just wait until you are as old as I am with a mere 5 good years left before I'm not sure what. Then you'll really have lots of time and motivation to reminisce and tell stories about those good old days of overflowing bargain magazine and grip bins galore.

For the record, I never saw those days. They must have occurred during my 25-year deep sleep. All I see now are seriously overpriced S&W grips... ... and the only "bargain magazine bin" I've stuck my nose in lately was a complete flop... 'cause at my advanced age, early onset senility and with my failing eyesight THEY ALL LOOK THE SAME TO ME.

There's advice ...... then there's...............gloating ..... TTSH you're enjoying this a bit too much............................................

 

[sparkeyu]

about a year ago found a smith 10mm mag at a lgs for 10 bucks, went back a couple weeks later and found another, dont think that will happen again anytime soon

 

[Valmet]

Colby- your orange Glock 23 mag is a rare beast. I'd say you did extremely well!

 

[hkcavalier]

In my neck it always seems to be AWB type mags (10rnders).

 

[millerj7]

At a local small show just this last Sunday, I found 2 SIG P220 mags in pkg for $20 ea. I was happy, but then underneath was a Colt NM Mk III (38 Spl W/C) for another $20...ecstatic!

 

[Ruber]

A CZ 527 mag for a .222 Remington rifle, got with the Glock mags for $20.00.

]

I've had my best luck at gun shows with old CZ's and Brno's. I swooped up a Brno 612 22wmr 10 round mag for $20. The guy with the booth threw in the 5 round one for me showing the difference between that and the HK300 22 WMR mags.

Other than that I picked up some SW59 mags from a used mag box at the LGS. Not a huge bargai, $20-30 for the pair.

 

[Aussie Collector]

The mag bins is one I never go past at gun shows.
These Model 41 mags with the shiny pins on the left cost between $10~ $35ea. all bought one at a time.

Discounted as they only hold 5 rounds.

 

[3rdgenZen]

I picked up 2 8 round mags from the mag bin at a LGS yesterday, but I am not sure what they are for. I thought maybe a 3904/06? I have one pictured here with a mag from my 3913, it is longer than the 3913 mag and will not fit it. They both appeared to be brand new, the orange followers have zero dirt or marks on them.

Any idea what model these are from?

 

[Big Shrek]

I got pretty good at searching out oddball mags,
since dang near every pistol I have is an oddball

Take the Stoeger Luger that I recently sold...
very distinctive mags...but even marked mags might not work right at first...
due to an oddity of their construction!!
If you stick a mag in and it gets stuck, Do Not Fear!
Just push a dowel in, tap the mag out, and prepare to repair!!

Found out that you have to stick them into a vise,
and squeeze 'em front to back until you hear a loud CLICK...(sounds like you just broke it)
which is actually the two halves snapping properly into place...
and THEN it'll slide right into the magwell

Don't get me started on Calico rotary mags, either

Speaking of which, anyone got some spare Star M205 (Ultrastar) .40S&W mags??

 

[TTSH]

I'll admit that I've been on a bit of a magazine kick lately, as least partly inspired by this thread (although it started for me back in late-August). I've picked up 13 assorted magazines since then. Can't claim to have found any super-bargains, but I think I did pretty well overall. I only silly overpaid for one, but nobody's perfect.

This is what happens sometimes when I run out of gun buying money. I refocus and start buying up parts and magazines instead. It's a slightly cheaper way of feeding my addiction.

That said, I am not a huge magazine guy in terms of numbers. 2 or 3 magazines per gun are usually plenty for me. In rare instances I will go up to 4 or 5 per gun, but only if I feel the magazines are an unusually good buy and/or headed for extinction in the marketplace. My recently-acquired early production 4506 (No Dash) came with 8 total magazines but not all OEM. I got 3 vintage originals, one yellow follower, one current production S&W and 3 aftermarkets... quite a variety!

The big auction site has been good to me and so has the one specializing in firearms. The classifieds and gun shows have also been good sources. Magazine bargain bins? Not so much!!!

Hi-Caps in MA must be pre-bans, so that adds a degree of complexity, rarity and cost to the mix. But it's important that I stay out of jail. At my advanced age and with only 5 good years left, I don't need that kind of trouble.

 

[Isis1200L]

Cool thread, SVT28. I love digging for treasure in the "discards and take-offs" boxes in the shops I frequent. Mags. Grips. Holsters.
The best recent find, an Anschutz Examplar 10 round mag.
$29.99. They go for $80.00 plus bucks elsewhere, if you can find them online.
My boyfriend actually spotted two of them, and didn't pick them up, since he could not waste $60 bucks if they didn't fit.
We were back in the same shop more than a month later, and there was one left. I took a chance for the $29.99.
It fits perfectly.

 

[GaryS]

I went to a small "club" gun show this morning. By small, I mean I was in and out in 20 minutes.

There was one FFL with used magazines in a boxes, sorted by brand. He also had some 2nd and 3rd Gen guns, but the prices were way north of what I thought they were worth. He had something tagged as a 459/4590 for $1200.00. He also had a 4516-2 tagged at almost $800.00. But I digress.

In the magazine bin there were four magazines tagged 1076. Two had white followers, two had yellow followers. The first where $50.00 each, the second $45.00 each. Since run of the mill 3rd gen magazines were tagged about $35.00, I'm guessing that he was at the high end of the market. Keep in mind that I don't have much interest in the 10mm 3rd Gens, so I'm not up to date on prices.

 

[Slokett454]

I've had some good luck on GB picking up mags for decent prices. I was able to find a few factory CS-9 magazines once for $10/per. I immediately bought all that were available, and emailed the seller to see if he had any other 3rd gen mags he wanted to sell

 

[GunsandGars]

I went to a small "club" gun show this morning. By small, I mean I was in and out in 20 minutes.

There was one FFL with used magazines in a boxes, sorted by brand. He also had some 2nd and 3rd Gen guns, but the prices were way north of what I thought they were worth. He had something tagged as a 459/4590 for $1200.00. He also had a 4516-2 tagged at almost $800.00. But I digress.

In the magazine bin there were four magazines tagged 1076. Two had white followers, two had yellow followers. The first where $50.00 each, the second $45.00 each. Since run of the mill 3rd gen magazines were tagged about $35.00, I'm guessing that he was at the high end of the market. Keep in mind that I don't have much interest in the 10mm 3rd Gens, so I'm not up to date on prices.

Not high end of the market at all for 10xx mags. Lately they're bringing 80-100.00 on GB and eBay. Wish I would have been there!!

 

[GaryS]

From what I've seen prices on both auction sites are inflated. I've got some good deals right here on the forum, in gun stores, and even gun shows.

Maybe because they are pretty rare 10xx magazines are different, but I've seen 3913 mags on eBay at close to $70.00.

Not high end of the market at all for 10xx mags. Lately they're bringing 80-100.00 on GB and eBay. Wish I would have been there!!