Model 19-3...for $300...How'd I do?

I got a 1966 vintage S&W Model 10 with a 5" barrel, easily 95%, from what could have been the same guy. It was a family heirloom that was in his possession and he wanted a Glock. I gave him a Glock, he gave me the revolver. I guess everybody was happy. I sure was! I can replace that Glock anytime I want. I may never see a 5" Model 10 (that I can afford) again.

Nothing personal. It's only business.
 
I came into a cased 25-2 that shows very little evidence of being fired much at all.

Grown man in his 40's listed it on a local gun trading website stating he needed a semi-auto rifle for ranch use, etc.....

I traded him a French Mas 49/46 with a few accessories and ammo that I had maybe $400 tied up in back then.

He was happy and I was happy. I still have a couple Mas 49/56 examples as they were cheap to buy back then........but I only have one 25-2.

Sometimes you just get lucky.
 
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I dunno guys and gals. Maybe its my age, but I really think that if we were being honest with ourselves, and really wanted to encourage and propagate the hobby and pass the interest on to the next generation, the answer is to educate 'em not screw 'em.

Yea, you paid what the kid was asking, the fact that he had no clue should not induce a prideful post. You screwed him plain and simple.

"If you want to feed for the day, give him a fish; if you want to feed for a lifetime, teach them to fish."

Again, maybe it is my mood and/or my age, but as a hobbyist, casual collector and part-time hoarder, I'm a bit embarrassed by this thread. And, not to go too overboard and since I'm likely to already be making enemies here......Shame on those who posted a "LIKE" to the OP.
 
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old bear said:
I like a deal as much as the next guy, but there is a major difference between a deal and taking advantage of someone. You sir crossed that line. I would not be able to sleep at night if I pulled a stunt like you are bragging about.
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mod34 said:
I dunno guys and gals. Maybe its my age, but I really think that if we were being honest with ourselves, and really wanted to encourage and propagate the hobby and pass the interest on to the next generation, the answer is to educate 'em not screw 'em.

Yea, you paid what the kid was asking, the fact that he had no clue should not induce a prideful post. You screwed him plain and simple.

"If you want to feed for the day, give him a fish; if you want to feed for a lifetime, teach them to fish."

Again, maybe it is my mood and/or my age, but as a hobbyist, casual collector and part-time hoarder, I'm a bit embarrassed by this thread. And, not to go too overboard and since I'm likely to already be making enemies here......Shame on those who posted a "LIKE" to the OP.
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old bear said:
AA+1 THANKS!!
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Let me be VERY VERY clear...I said the guy DID NOT appreciate what he had, NOT that he didnt KNOW what he had.

As we were in the gun shop he was on GunBroker LOOKING at 19-3 and their selling prices....he SIMPLY wanted $300 for a "better" gun.

Hence why I said he didnt appreciate what he had because he was willing to essentially dump a $700+ gun for a Glock....

Its certainly not like I lied to him saying "its a bad gun" or "its not worth anything"......This young guy simply didnt want the 19-3 and wanted to get something else.

At the end of the day he got the gun he wanted...and I got a gun I wanted.....Everyone went home happy.

Im not THAT horrible of a person dang.
 
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Wow! You get a good deal, post a thread about it, then get pilloried. :(



The seller wanted $300 and that's what he got, which was $75 more than the gun shop was going to give him.
 
Gun shop was a idiot or thought something was off. Only the money was mentioned so guy was trying to sell it not use it in trade.
Second, I had a shop and ran several loafers off that hung around hoping to short stroke me with dealings on used guns.
Third if " kid" is old enough to have handgun, he is old enough to be responsible for his actions. Good chance of questionable ownership here.
4th guys making righteous noises because they didn't get the deal. The most noise comes from them. Low Ballers. I make a point to take care of widows, old people and I don't deal with minors. An adult male needs to take care of himself. Got no sympathy for stupid. You do have a obligation not to buy what you believe to be stolen. The amount of guns I have bought a few ended up as stolen. I'm sure a few others were too but weren't in the system. Buy legal at reasonable price and you have no law problems. If legally bought the guy holding it will lose his money.
 
Anyone trying to sell a gun to a gun shop deserves what they get. "A fool and his money are soon parted."
 
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I did the same with a 1886 Winchester and a 1st gen SAA that walked into the shop while I was looking around. Guy wanted $1500.00 for both, the shop offered 1000.00 he walked out with me in tow. Asked how much, he said 1500.00, he followed me to the local bank and I bought a SAA and 1886 Win both about NRA Modern rating of 70%+, this was like 2004. On the flip side I know of a big shop here in CLT that screwed a widower out of about $20K ...paid .30Cent on the dollar.
 
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The local Cabelas in this area " specializes " in widows and senior citizens.
30 cents on the $1, no way, I'm not sure if they hit 10cents. I don't know anyone who works there to know what their business plan is, as far as percentage. The deal they have set up to buy and sell guns, no trade deals allows them to take a bite twice to boot. I don't know anyone who was treated right on selling Cabelas guns. With what they pay on high end, very sought after stuff, I can imagine what they pay for run of the mill stuff.
 
I don't have an issue with someone paying what someone asks for a gun. I've gotten some great buys at pawn shops because an owner didn't fully understand the value of what he had. No remorse on my part.

On the other hand, I am very careful about trying to cut a deal to buy a gun from someone who is talking to a store employee. Usually what I would do in those situations is ask the store owner if he was ok with me pursuing it if he chooses not to. I value the relationships I have with shop owners and get way more opportunities from them than I ever would from a walk in seller.

Robert
 
LGS at a range here had a 6" nickel 57 in excellent condition for sale for $750. I went to try to buy it and no surprise it was gone. One of my buddies a couple days later told me he was there when the seller came in and they gave him $450 for it because it was an "unusual" caliber.
 
If he is of low moral character for paying the guy what he asked for a gunafter he was offered less by a LGS, does that mean that every gun and pawn shop is run by people of low moral character, Most of them won't give you 50% of value and most more like 30. I bought a near perfect model 37 from a shop for $300 cash late last year. Wonder how much the original opwner got for it.
 
LPD256 said:
LGS at a range here had a 6" nickel 57 in excellent condition for sale for $750. I went to try to buy it and no surprise it was gone. One of my buddies a couple days later told me he was there when the seller came in and they gave him $450 for it because it was an "unusual" caliber.
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.

3 people converge on one gun, and only one knows what He is doingThe owner sold too low, the LGS flipped it, but could have gotten more, but the new owner knew a deal. Assuming good condition etc.
 
Xfuzz said:
The gun shop needs a new buyer.....
What dumb-butt would they let that gun walk
over $75 bucks.
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Gun stores are weird that way. A lot depends on what type of guns they specialize in. I sold an M14-4 in very good (not excellent) shape on consignment in a LGS. The first shop I took it to said it would only sell for $400 so I took it to another shop. The other shop just asked me how much I wanted. I said $750, they said OK and sold it for $750 a month later. I took home $645 and thought I did well.
 
I 100% agree with everything everyone has said. Had it been an older guy, widow/er...or someone who cared about the gun and just didnt know what they had.....Id have informed them.

This guy knew, at least, the value of what he had and wanted a price to simply get something else.

Reason I was 95% sure it wasnt stolen was because all trades in my state get run through a stolen firearm database before the deal is done......so if he was looking to trade it.....small chance it was stolen, especially cause in Florida they also take a fingerprint. Plus Florida has a public stolen firearms database....so I checked myself.

As for the shop......my guess is no one, at least right now, is looking for "collectibles".....Everyone wants the polymer wonder 9s and high cap magazines for them....so a revolver like this.....priced at a fair price of lets say $699 would likely sit for a while.

Either way, their loss is definitely my gain.
 
I often want to purchase tools outside the door of a pawn shop. Only problem with that my tool boxes and shelves are already loaded. If I can buy a $80 Dewalt 4 1/2" 11 amp grinder in a pawnshop for $30, what did the pawn shop give for it? I have Bostich, roofing, brad and framing nail guns and paid less than 1/2 price of new in pawn shops. I recently bought a large American made tap and die set for $40 in a pawnshop. I already had multiple taps in everything from 1-72 to over an inch. Short a few dies and fine threads. I can't buy very many small taps for $40

Point is if anybody is selling stuff at a pawnshop, the should know and be willing to accept that they are getting paid way below market value. Catching a guy leaving pawnshop and giving him what HE WANTED for it isn't screwing the guy.
 
Drm50 said:
The local Cabelas in this area " specializes " in widows and senior citizens.
30 cents on the $1, no way, I'm not sure if they hit 10cents. I don't know anyone who works there to know what their business plan is, as far as percentage. The deal they have set up to buy and sell guns, no trade deals allows them to take a bite twice to boot. I don't know anyone who was treated right on selling Cabelas guns. With what they pay on high end, very sought after stuff, I can imagine what they pay for run of the mill stuff.
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Six years ago I was needing cash fast to purchase (believe it or not) a cherry 19-3 with 6" barrel (to include box and original factory installed target grips) from a co-worker. I decided to part with a pre-WWII Heavy Duty with 5" barrel. It was in good condition, but it had been refinished sometime in the past. I took it to the Cabelas in Boise and I received $450.00 cash (I just looked at the receipt). My co-worker was asking $450 for the M19 so it worked out well.

A few days later I returned to Cabelas and noted that the Heavy Duty (pre-war but refinished) was priced for $750 (which I also noted for the sake of posterity). I didn't get angry about that. Cabelas is a business and needs to make a profit in order to survive. I could have sold it myself, but I needed the cash fast (my co-worker had others also interested in the Model 19-3) and I wanted the 19 more than I wanted to hold onto the HD. I still have the M19.

Incidentally, the HD sold not long afterwards. I presume somebody else was happy as well.

For those who are curious I purchased the Heavy Duty in 2008 from a local gun shop for $500. So yes I lost money on that gun, but I'm not a businessman. The occasional fifty dollar loss isn't going to break me.
 
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Man, idk why you would want something better than a model 19. They don't call them the combat magnum for nothing. You are a lucky man for getting a model 19 for 300. My generation thinking is a little messed up for sure.
 
Love threads that start out with "how did I do?"
First and foremost, Congrats OP! Very nice gun and a great deal you got.

The aforementioned question is usually a not so subtle lead in to some gloating. Gloat away!! You got a great deal.

If the question is legitimate and you have no idea how good the price was, you are no smarter than the seller and nobody got taken advantage of.
Much like teenage love, you both bumbled your way through it and both got what they wanted.
 
19-4, 6"

Hello all, seeing this thread I have a 19-4 never fired, box and papers wearing the stock wood? Being in kanada I was curious if being unfired is worth any more really? Also would it mean less up here compared to down there. The last little while I've been thinking of getting rid of all my smiths but the baloney up here and price variance gives me a lot of time for thought.
 
A true, NIB, older Model 19, with box and papers, is always going to command a higher price, even in Canada. Seeing as how Canada no longer allows the importation of handguns with barrels of less than 4.25 inches, a legal-to-own 4 inch barreled handgun might be worth even more.
 
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stansdds said:
A true, NIB, older Model 19, with box and papers, is always going to command a higher price, even in Canada. Seeing as how Canada no longer allows the importation of handguns with barrels of less than 4.25 inches, a legal-to-own 4 inch barreled handgun might be worth even more.
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Thank you for your input, this is a 6" barrel, we are a lot safer after the changes to 4" no longer legal, they thought they had me with their law changes and my 39 and 5906, but I fooled them and had brileys put in both, ya know the difference from prohib to restricted?
Less than a 1/4", all of my smiths have boxes,papers, and tools, they all have wood grips, I have a 29-2 6.5" about 95% with display box and tools with diamond cokes, will the cokes add much to the dirty harry gun value?
Take care my friend and thanx again.
 
I can't take advantage of someone just to make a good deal on a gun. I'm selling something more important to me than a gun when I do that. Save the argument that the seller should educate himself. His ignorance does not justify my greed.

A shop has to pay wholesale and sell at retail to stay in business. But offering 225 for 19-3 is pretty despicable. My favorite shop used to offer 75% of what they could get for a used gun. I thought that was reasonable.
 
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