Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Gun Show Mistake?

I need some feedback from the Campfire experts here.

We had a great gunshow in Kalispell this weekend and my Dad's checkbook caught on fire. What I didn't know was, Dad then sneaked back and bought ANOTHER toy, a Winchester M1903 in 22 auto. I've just gotten it out of the solvent tank.

At first look, it looks pretty cherry, and Dad is indulging himself in all the iron he lusted after as a kid in depression western Nebraska. That's fine by me, it's his money, and I know my cousins will give these guns a good home in Nebraska when Dad is gone.

He showed me, "Ain't it nice?" "Oh, Dad, look close at the receiver flats. It's been buffed and reblued. And look at these screws on the forend, they've been hacked." Et cetera. The deeper I got into the rifle, the madder he got. Cracked stock at the tang, safety detent was a BRAD, as in nail, et cetera.

Out of the tank, I've gotten the rust and crud scrubbed off (with brass and plastic brushes) and the only thing left is to take everything back to the house and clean the barrel for real, hopefully it won't shred cleaning patches. I can fix everything, and at this point, plan on fixing or replacing all the butchered screws because this ain't no "original collector cherry" with any "value" to lose.

And no, Dad didn't get a business card or put the seller's name in his check register. He's 86, so won't recognize the guy again, either. I'm going to ask the bank to send a copy of the check back to Dad so I can ID the seller.

So my question is, did Dad get ripped off? He paid $600 for it, I would have gone no more than 400 at first look -- and now that I'm inside, no more than 300 tops. Thanks in advance for advice and suggestions.

You said at the beginning, it's his money. What's 200-300 hundred anyway??

Hopefully you can get back nice, best you can for him.

I agree. If it makes him happy, 200-300 is a pittance.

I wouldn't even tell him that you think it's not worth what he paid.

I would, however, tell others to be wary of that vendor if you ever find out his name.

Fix it up without mentioning it and make him happy.

He bought it.
Did seller hide things?
Did your dad see em?

No way to know.

Refinish the gun is about the only thing ya can do.




Slumlord
Midsouth has your .300 savage ammo in.
Dude at desk told me outta the blue on my way out the door
Forgot to call ya.

Spaced out ....
Went and got a limbsaver pad for the 220 earlier today.

I always figured a gun show was a buyer beware situation. I'd get the rifle running for him and let him enjoy it. I hope one of my sons does the same thing for me one day because I would love to be in the same situation when I'm 86.

I'd just tell him there's one for sale on Guns International for $750 right now.

Now, the description for that one is:

"Rare Winchester Model 1903 in the rare .22 auto cartridge.
Wood is excellent and barrel is 95% blue.
Receiver has turned brown.
Bore is good.
Second year production. Manufactured in 1904. "

But it would still be true, if not detailed.

Of course you could buy that one and give it to him, Would he know?

Unless he spent the rent money, why would you wanna yell at him about it?

Life is too short.

Go on Gunbroker, find one in great shape. and buy it for him.

Then, give it to him and let him be amazed at the incredible restoration work you did.

Clean it up, Fix it up, and buy him a couple of boxes of ammo for it.

https://www.ammunitiontogo.com/prod...ter-automatic-aguila-45gr-lead-nose-ammo


Life is short and he's your dad. Wish I could do something like that for mine, but he's been gone for a long time.


Jerry

Ya' know, I have two dear friends dying of cancer under age 60 and 55. I will be 58 come December. I told my wife, p huck it, I am going to have whatever I can afford and bought this a week or so ago. Went into a dermatologist today and had seven spots zapped...

If the guy has earned an ass chewing, then by all means...

Guys know wrong from right and still continuously screw people over by being shady.

My opinion is they need to at least be shot straight.

Fix it up, be happy he got something he wanted. Leave it at that.

An 86 year old went into a gun show and got took? No way!

Clean it, give it back and dont say a word. All you can do is make him worry about getting senile. Gun shows are known for being thieves bazaars

B*I*N*G*O

You are fortunate that you have your father and fortunate that you can do that for him.

I used to show off what good deals I got at gun shows. Online the gloat response I wanted was "There are no deals like that in this state".

But by about age 65 I realized my great bizsense was just screwing over weaker individuals.


Here is a morality test:
Would you offer a widow $20 for her Colt peacemaker?

Well here it is Dad, It looks like I was wrong, it turned out to be a pretty nice gun after all..........Enjoy.



Let's go shoot it.

That's a winner. Good luck.

As usual, some good advice.

Last name Harvey, perhaps?

Hey Storm, YOU didn't sell my Dad that gun, did you?

Seriously. if 600 is too high a price based on kinky salesmanship and not the actual market honestly arrived at, I can't help him if you guys can't.

I would never gloss over anything with my old man. We have never, ever given each other even the tiniest bit of ego-massaging or shaded truth to make the other feel better. I guess you could say our relationship is pretty, um, honest. And there's hell to pay when one or the other isn't.

We've already discussed the "new acquisitions," had our post-mortem after-action analysis, one clear win, one tie, and one stone loser.

As things are, I know for a fact that most of Dad's assets are going elsewhere, to my cousins, as I'm just a "step." He actually said I'm "not family." Nonetheless, if he's going to indulge, my position is, I''d rather he do it wisely. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the bore isn't a wreck, it's soaking in Patch-Out right now.

And by the way, indulgences can be good. Three years ago, Dad dented his Accord SUV. He then, without saying a word that he'd creased the car, zoomed off to Spokane and traded it in on an Audi A8. It just was in the garage and when I went down to get some tools, there it was.

Less than a year later, he wanted to SELL the Audi with only 5000 miles on the clock. Then he realized he'd take a 30,000 bath on a perfectly good car. THEN he bought a Mercedes 295 or something SUV. And THAT is a hot rig, too. This was a special order car, right? Waited two months to get it.

We took the Merc to Cody in October, had a fantastic high-speed road trip. Then two weeks later the Merc is gone, back to the dealer in Missoula. Still have the Audi, and last weekend Dad's top speed was 109. Mine was 98.

But, how much of a hosing did he take on the 1903?