Turned down a Norinco for $50 today...It was hard!

[30-30man]

A friend of mine who is not into military surplus pulled up in my yard with a numbers matching Norinco SKS without the bayonet.  He wanted to know if it was worth $50. He was trying to sell it for his sister and neither had any idea what it was worth. It seems he still remembered them being $75 back in the early 80's.  I just couldn't take advantage of him.  Don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but I have changed my ways.  Several years ago I would have jumped on it.  I showed him what it was worth and told told him if he wanted to sell it, he was better off taking it to a gun show to get what it was really worth.  I know I did the right thing , but boy was it hard.  I wonder how many of you have ever had a deal like this and let it go with some education to the other party?

[torpedoman]

sometimes you just get the feeling your being tested don't you. You did good.

[Victor3]

 Couple of weeks ago an older gentleman I work with was asking me what airgun he should buy to shoot pigeons that were crapping on his cars. Said he had an old airgun, but it "shot weak", and he wanted to dump it and get "something powerful" for under $200.

 I gave him some advice on new airguns, and asked him what the one he had was. He described an uncommon fancy-stocked HW 35 he'd brought from England in the 70's.

 Being an airgun nut I bit my tongue for a moment, but had to tell him that his "old clunker" was worth at least $600.

[Oldtimer]

I bought one of those SKS's back in the late 80's for $90 on sale.  It has served me well though the years.  I figure that the rifle is worth at least what I paid for it, even without considering inflation.  You did well.  A good night's sleep with a clean conscience is worth a lot more than having to gulp down sleeping pills to try to escape a guilty one.

[rio grande]

30-30man, you sure did good. I admire you. I don't know what I would've done, I hope I would have done like you.
I got mad at a store because they offered me so little on a trade-in, told 'em they were rip-offs. Then I got to thinking - how proud I've been in the past when I got something real cheap and sold it for a lot. I realized I wasn't any better than that store owner I got mad at.
A reasonable profit is OK, to take advantage of somebodys ignorance - that's wrong.

[ironglow]

  You did the right thing..your good name and Christian testimony is worth far more than any SKS..

[Avyctes]

You did an awesome job in a difficult situation.  Unless you're made of money, anyone would drool at the opportunity to get a nice rifle for next to nothing.  A few years ago a friend of mine I work with told me a buddy of his was wanting to sell a mauser.  I asked him to describe the markings, and after hearing it was a G33/40, I had to tell him I didn't have enough money to buy his buddy's rifle as it could command at least a grand without even trying.  He blinked hard several times.  Before he could get home to warn his buddy of the value of his gun, his friend had sold it to a pawn shop owner who rooked him coming and going for $75 or $100.  My co-worker went by the store, it was gone, the owner had already put it in his own collection.  I'm glad I'm not the one that ripped that guy off, and I'm glad you are made of sterner stuff as well.

[SHOOTALL]

you were a Good Friend ! have a good sleep tonight ! you earned it !

[teamnelson]

Worked with a lady whose father committed suicide, using a Redhawk. Dad was a collector, hunter and shooting enthusiast, and it was left to her to dispose of the collection. She had the Redhawk smelted - can't say as I blame her. She offered me the rest of his collection with the comment that she had no interest in making a dime on it. I bought one piece, paid her fair market value for it, and gave her suggested prices on the rest. In retrospect I wish I had had the presence of mind to offer to sell the collection for her as I found out later she let alot of it go to a pawn shop for pennies on the dollar.

Times are tough, lots of folks selling these days it seems, so these temptations are going to crop up more and more.

[ironglow]

  I know of one funeral home operator who has gotten his FFL. He did not used to have an FFL but he really is a kind hearted person and saw what was happening to some folks, especially widows and he decided to help. He buys almost none of the guns for himself, but knows some dealers who are honest and offers them to the dealers at a fair price. He had to have the FFL just to accept & market the guns...especially the handguns..

[swordfish]

A buddy gave me a SKS. It looked like crap with rust and beaten wood stock. I spent some time refinishing the stock and got all the rust off the metal. It ended up only having flash rust. I was told it was left in the back of a pick-up in the rain. It was Russian matching #'s. When I finished with it 2 weeks later it was SWEET. Couldn't tell there was ever anything wrong with it. Stock looked better than original when done.
I didn't feel right about keeping it so I stopped by his place and showed him what I had done. About 1/2 way through refinishing it, I realized it was Russian w/matching #'s I knew I had to give it back to him. Just wouldn't feel right keeping it. I could see he was bumming that he gave it away. Made me smile on the inside knowing I was going to give it back to him. When he tried to hand it back to me I said "it's yours brother, just let me shoot it some time."

Karma is a good thing. You did right.

[1911crazy]

Being a good friend I would of gave him $100 for it with the option of buying it back if i ever wanted to sell it.

My very first norinco sks was only $59 and it came with a free 1440rd case of ammo.  This was at dealer cost with the free case being a promo to get them selling when they were first offered here.

[30-30man]

He decided to clean it up and shoot it.  He didn't need the money and I would have given him $1000 for it if he did.  His father passed away and left he and his sister with over 18 guns.  He was trying to thin the collection as he already had many himself.  He thought a Chinese gun was worthless.  We are still laughing at the whole thing.  Everytime he comes to my place to shoot, I ask him if he has anymore $50 guns to sell.  The nicest gun he was given was a fully auto Thompson that is a pre-war ranch model.  He is in the process of having the license and tax tags etc. transfered.  I wondered if he would take $50 for that, but I don't need it.

[1911crazy]

I knew if he shot it he would keep it.

Its funny most don't want to an sks nor are interested in getting one until they shoot it.  Then its where can i get one?  Or can you get me one?  Or I gotta get one of those sks's for sure.

I have no clue as to why some still don't even own an sks now

[jmayton]

It's good to know that dignity and honor still reside in the human soul.  Often times it's in short supply.  I had a discussion with a friend of mine over this same issue and he argued that if someone doesn't know what they have, then they deserve to be taken advantage of.  Honestly, we're not that good of friends anymore.  Way to go man!

[brianscott12]

30-30man, we can all only aspire to have a friend like you. Good job.