Do any of y’all checkout pawn shops for firearms? I haven’t in a long time but did a web search for local ones that sell guns and came up with two that look impressive. Nothing I really need, but has that ever stopped any of us??

Been years ago, but yeah. I used to find pretty good deals at pawn shops. Last one I bought was a U.S. made single shot .410 shotgun.

At the pawn shops around here, the used guns are pretty well used, and the prices are about double what they should be.

Yep, bad prices are what I’m expecting too.

$115 for a post 1964 Winchester 94, as NIB Colt Detective Special 3" barrel $300, Winchester 270 model 70 XTR with scope $300. All from same pawn shop, they sell everything online now.

I traveled a lot on my job and I always checked out gun shops and pawn shops.
Here is one of my better finds which is a 44 Hand Ejector 2nd Model with a 3 3/4 inch barrel. I paid $240 in 1984 at a Pawn Shop in El Paso. It has a target sight added and the barrel was cut back from 6 inches and reblued. Notice the sight screw head is pinned by another screw. I have never fired it.

Nice pieces!

Pawn shops can be a good place to find firearms. It depends on the individual(s) running them. Some sell guns that looked as if they'd been dragged behind a truck for more than the new one. In the late 1990s I was lucky enough to find one of the good ones.

A few years back, I found my S&W 657 revolver in a pawn shop for $400. I wish I could post pictures, as it is a gorgeous hunk of stainless steel .41 mag.

Around here the pawn shops almost always have the lower quality handguns. I’ve seen some good shotguns (like a nice older marine magnum) but they’ve always wanted waaaay too much.

I frequent the shops for certain used tools, but I haven’t bought a gun from one since the early 90s.

I'm always poking around pawn shops looking for good deals on firearms. I've bought more than a few .22 rifles in great shape for $100 or less out the door.

Years back I took home a Browning hi-power from the pawn shop I worked at for the $125.00 that we had into it.

Pawn shops around here used to be worth checking out back in the 90s but have since gone downhill. Now they mostly sell things closer to retail prices.

Always!
Two good finds:
Ruger GP100 Stainless 4 inch - Looked unfired. $350
NIB, still in plastic wrap P225 - Unfired $300 IIRC.

And the pawn shops often have good deals on "deer rifles".

Most of the shops around here used to be pawn and gun shops. Lots of those have shut down or focused more on the guns or the pawn. My best score from a regular pawn shop would be my Inglis HiPower.

I buy most of my guns from a particular pawn shop where the owner has a good reputation in the community, so he tends to have some nice things come through. He also talks on price. A few examples.

Pristine Arisaka - $280
Finn Mosin - $130
Smith Pre lock Mod 60 snub - $400
Re-chambered 1936 Win 70 - $675
SigPro 2022, in box with mags - $280
Tikka T3 Hunter with Leupold - $500

He also does transfers for $25, so when I order a gun, it comes in through him.

I haven't been by in a while; need to pay Mike a visit...

M38 Mosin carbine for $70 about 2 years ago.

Back when I was actively adding to my milsurp rifle accumulation collection, I would peruse the local pawn shops. I found a couple good deals over the years, including a K98k Mauser and a M91 Mosin-Nagant.

But they mostly had deer rifles and shotguns.

Lately, with the rise of firearm forums, Gunbroker, Armslist, etc., the selection at pawn shops has gone downhill. And with information on collectible firearms widely available on the Web nowadays, the chances are greatly diminished that you will find a good deal where the pawn shop doesn't know what they have.

I've used one of my local pawn shops as my FFL for the past several years. Nearly all of the guns he sells are through Gunbroker, where he can get a better sale price and reach a wider group of buyers.

I found a little hole in the wall gun shop the other day. If was loaded with third gen Smiths and.......Ruger P-Series pistols! P86, P89, P90, etc.

I know the Ruger's weren't all that popular in the day, but I still think they are neat guns.

Pawn shops are like gun shows, you have to sort through a lot of chaff to find the wheat, but you won't find anything if you don't go looking.

The FFL that I use for incoming transfers and outgoing shipments is a little, grungy, one-man pawn shop.

I found a nice S&W Model 65 for a fair price. It was in good shape to begin with, and now that SigWally performed his magic on it, it is a treasure. A joy to shoot. In slow fire, I am far more accurate and consistent with this than with any other handgun.