Where Do Y'all Get These Bargain-Basement Guns?

[LFC]

Okay, I'll confess to feeling like a dummy, but after combing Deer Creek's catalog, Dixie Gun Works, DNR Sports, Track of the Wolf, Midsouth Shooter's Supply, and Northern Rifleman--as well as the classified ads on this site and in the local paper, a few pawnshops, and one regional NMLRA event, I still have yet to lay eyes on one of the sub-$150 used muzzleloaders that everybody else on this site seems to have bought. As I wouldn't mind springing for a functional and safe-to-shoot"beater" gun that I wouldn't mind too much were it stolen, dented, etc., I've had my eye out for such things, and I keep reading accounts of folks who've bought them from pawnshops that regard them as a waste of space and let them go for 80 bucks--but I'm finding nothing of the kind. Am I just hitting the wrong pawnshops, or does somebody else out there have other advice?

 

[LFC]

I write the foregoing, by the way, mindful that there are different niches for muzzleloading guns, and that there is real value to be had in newer, better-maintained, and more-expensive guns. That said, the thought of adding to the collection so that the nice gun in the safe at home has a homely sister that can bang around in the trunk of the car just in case is not an unwelcome one.

 

[smokehouseman]

One method I've used that has been rather productive in finding used firearms is by calling in on a local radio program that you can buy and sell "stuff". I think there are a lot of folks out there who have firearms that they've had for a long time and find that they're no longer interested and are more than happy to part with them. Give it a try............worked for me. :thumbsup:

 

[rudy parnell]

I've been going to Hillsville,Virginia to the Antique Traders Show....they have it every year in the Spring and Fall of the year. There are miles of booths and hundreds of Gun,Knife,and Bows for sale. I've bought one caplock for a reasonable price of $150.00. I am looking for a flinter either rifle or smoothboore....they ain't got any worth the money to me....many are real beat up but all start out at $700 and go up to $7000. My guess is you're going to have to buy new and start with a kit but it's going to cost.

 

[longfowler]

I guess I'm lucky (or unlucky) to live 5 mins from a gun shop. I have to drive by every day on the way home from work, and sometimes the car pulls in all by itself. I just picked up a $65.00 cva hawken that looks ok and shoots great! It's the 3rd one down in the photo:[url] http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r82/possum1027/5guns.jpg[/url]
I say find a good local gunshop and buddy up to the owner, eventualy he may toss you a bone like this one. that's how I've bought most everthing I own, not one gun in that photo cost me more than $200.00!

 

[ameling]

It's all a matter of time, place, and availability of the funds at the right moment.

The great bargain buys are remembered because they are so rare. And you have to search a looooong time to find them.

As to the used gun shops and pawn shops, how large/active is the muzzleloading crowd in your area? The larger the group of interested people, the harder it is to get a great deal - just too many people chasing the same thing. If there are no active clubs, shooting ranges, or hunting groups in your area, then the "demand" is less and any used muzzleloader gets priced lower and lower just to move it on.

The rest is just time, patience, and following all the leads.

There's a household auction coming up on the 29th that has an "18th Century musket replica" listed. What is it really? Who knows! It could be anything from an early import jukar kentucky rifle on up to a dixie Brow Bess. You just don't know until you show up to see.

But this auction is in an area that has a pretty active club, and a lot of other people interested in muzzleloaders. So there probably will be several people there to ... compete ... for it in the bidding. The only way to know is to spend the time/fuel to show up and see.

The best deals I've gotten over the years have been at events - rendezvous or trade fair. Many years ago, I picked up a NW Trade Gun with a rifled barrel on Sunday afternoon at a rendezvous. It had sat on the guys blanket with a price of $175, along with several other guns, all weekend. I talked/traded with him just after noon. And then several of my friends were upset, because I got to it before they could. (They couldn't read the price tag and had never asked.) Now I have a "list" of people I need to call FIRST if I ever want to part with it. And then I picked up a Brown Bess (Dixie) on Sunday afternoon at an indoor trade fair. It sat there at a big trader's table all weekend for $195. Nobody wanted to touch it because all the brass had been engraved with ancient Mandarin Chinese characters. Well, that price was less than just the kit parts, and I figured I could file them off or replace the brass. I still haven't done that. It's now my "prize" captured from Chinese pirates while sailing in the Tea Trade. An easy fit into the right sailor's persona. And then there was that Sile Sharps 1874 Business Rifle with 200 rounds of BP loaded cartridges ...

So, the "great deals" just take a lot of time and patience to find - and how much "competition" there is out there. You find the same thing with blacksmithing equipment, and most any items.

Just my humble ramblings to share.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[bucktales]

Sometimes you can find a guy who "upgraded" to shooting IL's and couldn't be bothered with a sidelock. That's how I ended up with my recent $50 Renegade.

 

[ss1]

Ask everyone and everyplace you go. " do you happen to have a old ML. I am looking for one" Most of time it will be "NO" Sooner or later the answer will be "yes". Wish I had thought of doing this in my younger days.

 

[mrbortlein]

Comus,
You might have luck on E-bay. Because E-bay won't allow people to sell whole guns, most sellers part out the gun. If you find a part listed, look for the link for other items buy that seller. Or just ask them if they have all of the parts. Most are willing to combine shipping and the only tricky part is watching multiple auctions ending at the same time. Or if you can't get them from one seller, most parts are able to be fitted together. My first rife was a parts rifle: barrel and lock from my father-in-law gifts, stock e-bay $40, tennons and pinplates Dixie gun works $10. So you can get a nice stock like this one;[url] http://cgi.ebay.com/CVA-50-Bl...ryZ73979QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]
Then just get a barrel (of the same brand would be better) and you are on your way. Good luck
mrbortlein

 

[mbw907]

Well, not trying to add salt to a wound, but I, too, have a collection of traditional muzzleloaders that have all cost less than 200 bucks each. I go to the pawn shops and let my search become public. Several of the pawn brokers have told me that they don't deal in them because there is no demand for them. And others took it as a business proposition and took in a few just to try the market. I look at least a couple times a week. I also look in the trader papers as well as yard sales. I've bought beaters and beauties. They are all treasures to me. :thumbsup:

 

[DickS]

Sometimes they turn up. A couple of weeks ago I dropped by an outdoor store with a gun section, and there was a .54 CVA rifle in the bargain rack for $125 Canadian. Didn't buy it - didn't need it or want it, but it wasn't in bad shape, would have been a good hunting rifle.

 

[Robert an saa fan]

Comus - all good suggestions you received so far. Have seen some good deals on classifieds here; check back frequently. Also, you might try an ad here in the "Firearms Wanted" category; suggest in ad you state up front that you want a bargain.

My other suggestion is GUN SHOWS.

You can get deals fairly regularly... a lot probably depends on where you live, how big shows are, how often, etc.

Some of my Gun Show examples:

Last weekend:

2nd Generation Colt 1851 Navy revolver with factory bare brass backstrap and triggerguard (not silver plated as most were), exc. condition. $300.

Last month:

CVA .50 Mountain Rifle with exc. USA marked barrel and great dark wood. $200.

Uberti .44 Remington revolver, exc. $100.

A few years ago:

Uberti .53 Santa Fe Hawken, exc. condition. $150.

There are lots more examples, but you get the idea... try some gun shows if ya got 'em. Did not see your location in your profile; where you at?

:hatsoff:

 

[Slamfire]

I've yet to see any reproduction marked more than $150 at either of the Knoxville gun shows. Originals, now are a different story. :surrender:

 

[boar]

That a stock for a Mt rifle. Dilly

 

[trent/OH]

If you concentrate your search at places that know muzzleloading and what the guns should fetch, you'll be a long time finding a bargain.Find the places where people won't necessarily know what a ML is worth, and keep going there, or leave a card with your wants at small gunshops. (That's how I got my Krag at a great price, only took about 3 weeks of letting the shop owners look for me).
My latest find was a ML pistol which was being carried around at a small weekly show here in SW Ohio (P.S.: we don't have any idea where you live)
It's a flintlock ML target pistol, unfired, for 1/4 of what it sells for new. At the same show last Saturday I passed on 2 CVA Hawkens in used condition for $75, and $85. If you happen to live close to me I could tell you where the show is located.
The BEST deal I ever saw? A member of my club near Green Bay about 1987 was wearing his duds at our clubs annual gun show (our annual fundraiser) and out of the blue John Q. Public asked if he'd like to buy a muzzleloader. For $100 he got an original Maryland Committee of Safety musket.

 

[Rebel]

It sure is,but it is most likely from one of the Made in Spain ones. The made in USA's had a 4 screw patchbox.

 

[bwhoffman]

classifieds on this forum tonite have a couple of good deals. check em out!
Rebel had/has a nice cva mt rifle I heard tell of for a good $$$.
A guy just has to keep his senses working and check these things out!

there have been some real good buys off of this forum!

 

[hornetk4]

I have found that keeping an eye on the antique stores can be a good sorce for bp guns . I bought a nice 45 cal underhammer rifle for 125.00 at one a couple years ago . Mostly you'll find cva's and the like but once in a while you can find some better quality guns but more often than not they wont be that cheap. You just have to be out there looking to find the deals.

 

[JEB/Ms]

Due to the diminishing popularity of muzzleloaders here since cartridge rifles were allowed during primative weapons season bargains abound in our pawn shops. The best buy that I personally have gotten was when I dropped a rammer down the barrel of a little CVA and found it to be still loaded. When I told the owner of the shop that he had a loaded gun on his rack he asked me, "How do you unload one of those things?". I told him to sell it to me and let me worry about it.He looked at the tag,found it in his computer and said "I've got $25 in it, give me $26 and get it outta here."
Keep looking!
JEB/Ms

 

[2172]

In June I visited a local pawn shop and got a T/C Hawken in .50 for $125.00. In another pawn shop, there were 4 'traditional' muzzleloaders...3 T/C Hawkens and one CVA ...all in .50, each price tagged at $195.00...one pawn shop owner told me he would no longer take any muzzleloader in, in-line or traditional, as there just was no demand for them...I bet the shop with the 4 @ $195 could have been bargained down to $150 or so.
The one I paid $125 for had a hidden defect...the breech plug was loose, but $85 and a trip to T/C via the US mail has given me an almost new rifle...blued, polished...Hank