Was in my LGS yesterday picking something up. Did my usual scan of the used racks. Not one thing made the money in my pocket twitch, let alone “jump”, as the wife likes to say.

Very nearly the same applies to the racks of new ones behind the counter. On the counter there was a little rack with an M1A SOCOM, an S&W folding carbine, and a blued Mini-14 I did drool on the SOCOM a little, but that stubby barrel scares me….

I find very little that interests me at the LGS any more

On Monday I'm making my yearly trek to Mid-South Guns in Wagram NC. I have no intentions of buying anything, but in that treasure-trove one never knows...

You guys live in heavily populated areas compared to SD and have to compete harder for used gems or atleast interesting pre-owned stuff. I am not saying it just lays around out there for me either but with less buyers you have a better chance to score nice stuff . mb

LGS is growing, but still not many Left Hand wares. Whittaker's was the closest place with likelihood of having more than one or two Left Hand rifles... And you know how that goes...

Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time

That is the best gun shop I’ve ever been in!

Agreed. It's about 2.5 hours from me and I try to go a time or two each year. Got a friend down from NY that wants to go so we're going. The town makes Mayberry look like NYC and I'm pretty sure the town whore is still a virgin, but Mid-South has a mind-blowing inventory. Only place I've personally been in that could rival it is Kittery Trading Post in Maine.

Gun shops replaced Toys R Us with plastic toy junk. Not a fan. Steel and Walnut for this cracker.

I always find cool stuff. Sometimes even at a great deal. Still a lot of "wood/blued" rifles around this neck of the woods.


Here are a few 22lr's that were on a small portion of one of the walls^^^^

I traded this same rifle for a handgun that I thought I couldn’t live without and kicked myself ever since. One Day I walked in and looked at the used rack and lo and behold this one’s on the rack barely shot with very close serial numbers to my original so I paid $350 for it. Both were 30-06s and I still haven’t made up my mind whether to keep as is or build something. I was down to one 06 which is plenty for me so it’ll probably be a new build.

I know the shop you go to, or the one close to your house. I've bought stuff there. Nice out of the way honey hole. I've scored on reloading stuff there too.

You are correct BSA. I actually know the old boy that owned it and he sold it because of the recoil as some of those ADLs were pretty light and this one’s no exception.

Agreed. They have some amazing stuff on their racks. I spend an hour or better everytime I am in that part of the country wandering thru their store.

I was in the Guns Unlimited store in Omaha yesterday. Same thing. Nothing really jumped out to me. I did take a second look at a Henery 44 mag lever action but at $920 it was an easy pass. They only had Hornady bullets on the shelves and I picked up some 60 grain soft points in .223. The powder was all IMR and Hogden. They didn't have any prices on the powder and I was afraid to ask. No H or IMR 4895.

kwg

Buddy of mine owns a local gun shop. If I’m looking for something specific, I’ll tell him to call me if he gets something in on trade or consignment.

I stopped into a shop in central Maine today. Shockingly very few new or used firearms. Most all of what they had was new with the exception of a couple of Axis and Americans. A better supply of shotguns, mostly 12 ga. Small and large pistol primers and some powder.

Overall disappointing.

It's one of those places that has to be seen to be believed.

Nice one, love the older 700’s! The actions run slick as a greased wiener.
“B” serial number??

I have never seen so many P64's and old made Kimbers in one spot..

It's nice to have buddies that own, or run the LGS. But it can get expensive!!!!

Things have been pretty dull in the used/consignment stuff at the lgs lately here.

I stopped at my LGS last week to check if they could order one of the new ultimate J frames. While I was waiting I walked past the used rack and spotted a clean 10/22 with a decent scope for 20 year ago pricing. It wasn’t what I was there for but sometimes you have to jump on deals and with all these kids a guy can’t have too many 22s!

Check out the M1A Scouts, much less muzzle blast.

I don't even pay attention to anything new on the shelves, all I look for is the used stuff. There are still a few good deals here and there, but it has been slow the last few months.

I was in the gun store (outside of Scheels) today in Sioux Falls. I walked speedily past the rifle/shotgun racks. Seems the market is on cheap plastic junk or at least cheap what I consider junk.
There’s a good shop in Rapid City that I often go to when I’m in Rapid. Their racks are junk too, unless you ask to see the basement. Nice stuff down there. I envy the guys that find a treasure in a pawn shop. I’ve not been so lucky.

Yeah, he evidently bought a whole collection of Oregon Kimbers a few years back. Had 20 to 25 about two years ago, maybe half that last year. Had some real oddballs i.e. .25-20, .17 K-Hornet, etc.

I found a M70 WinLight in 270Win yesterday. I'll clean it up, mount a scope and assuming it shoots well it'll go to my cousin's kid when he graduates high-school this spring.

I had a 700 ADL in 30.06 - it was the most uncomfortable rifle I have ever shot. It was much worse than my Model 70 in .338 or 375 H&H Mauser.

Haven't been there in about 100yrs. Do they still have basically all the Double barrels in Dixie?

For sure. I probably have pictures of them. They were nice.

Love that place in Wagram

Never heard of the place in Wagram.

What is the name and address please?

I’d like to visit there one weekend.

I think M1A SOCOM is a neat little rifle. It does produce a neat little fire ball, as the sun goes down. With the ammo can 7.62x51 ammunition, muzzle rise seems very minimal. I think it is pretty handy to carry with the 10 round magazines.

The used racks can be hit or miss. Though, I have found enough "deals" in the past few months to eliminate my discretionary funds. AR types, the used & abused, and the newer predominantly plastic types, are usually the majority in the racks. Sometimes I find a jewel of interest, to me anyways.

Mid South Guns

Wagram, North Carolina

Address: 24461 Main St, Wagram, NC 28396
Hours:
Closed ⋅ Opens 9 AM Tue
Phone: (910) 369-2370

Spent about 2 hours turning tags at Mid-South today. They had more than ever, absolutely mind-blowing, but I left with my wallet intact. Talking with Phil (owner), he said he has 300+ guns in the back that he just bought that he doesn't have room to show and is going to Wilmington and then Baltimore to look at more collections...

I keep finding things lately even though theres not much on the used racks. The other day it was a pre 64 in pretty good shape in 270. Time before it was a nice rem 582 and a ruger American 22 lr with a walnut stock. And trip before that it was a new seeking element 28 nosler on clearance along with a proof elevation 20" 308. That was an expensive day.

Between orders and finds I've spent too much lately. I've had to sell several other rifles I wasn't using much to make room in my safes. I think I'm going to sell another one of my new vanguard 223s and my 700 sps 260 and then take a break and just do some loading and shooting. It seems like these cold winter months find me buying and trading around too much.

Bb

I concur this one and the first one have the most violent recoil of anything I have shot. The young man that sighted it in for the old guy with 180s said he has nightmares from it 😂😂 I just laughed and said I understand.

The yearly trips to Kittery Trading Post when I was a kid were so magical. The first tin of something other than Crosman pellets - RWS Super Points bought with paper route money and conserved all year long, used only for real "hunting". First centerfire rifle bought with my own part-time, high school job money - a Ruger semi-auto .44 that jammed on every other shot. The gun racks seemed miles long. Anyone remember the old sign on the roof of the building that had a big target graphic in it which someone had shot an arrow from the parking lot? It was there for years in the 80's. Haven't been there in many years, time for a road trip!

I agree. I stay away until I'm ready to spend money.

Sounds like a vacation spot.

I'll be making my yearly trek to Shedhorn in Ennis Mt. next month and if Varmintguy hasn't been there lately, I'm thinking I could probably pick up something I can use.
Sometimes they have some good prices

Yeah, I know about them. At my age, a standard model is more my speed since I’m not likely to be toting it around the hinterlands. Even an 18” is pretty dang loud, as I discovered about 1970. Not likely to ever own any now; .223 is more my speed…..

I had a pretty good run early-late 2023 - Picked up I believe 4 that I kept a couple I flipped that damn near paid for the four I kept.

Passed up a Rem 760 Carbine 30-06 in pretty good condition a week ago for around 600.

Haven't been seeing much else at all lately.

I need to make that trip to Ennis soon. It's not too far from me.

Bb

Thanks.

They close at 2:00 on Saturdays.

Well, in this state, where I live in now, used rack could be a place you could get yourself into some trouble. Especially if you are married. It may be cheaper going there, than the LGS though. I could go back a year, and show what I've snagged off the used rack, but lets just go back 6 months:

6 months ago:
Ruger #1 25-06:


5 months ago:
Winchester model 70 classic compact 243 win:


4 months ago:
Tactical Innovations Elite 22S. Stainless 10/22 clone:



3 months ago:
Winchester model 52 sporter:


Last month:
Sako AII 243 winchester:


CZ 457 American 22lr:


This month:
Winchester model 320:


All good stuff I saw on the used rack, and took home with me. I rarely buy anything new. I guess one of the rifles shown was not used, but it is now... ha ha ... You guys not seeing anything good on the used rack, need to go elsewhere. Broaden your horizons..... Just sayin...

You won’t find cool stuff like this anywhere else…

Used rack is where it's at. It's all the stuff in the past that I couldn't afford to try and experience then that holds my curiosity today.kinda includes boats and women too..mb

Who has the best used section within 500 miles of Idaho. I'd like to take a little road trip one weekend.

We really don't have a good old school gun store around idaho falls that I can think of. Most have rather small used sections and really cowbell people on trades. They're always content making 10% on new guns but don't want to touch used unless they can make 50%.

I used to like to go to gallensons in SLC. I've been going there since I was a kid to get reloading supplies. Even they don't have much of a used gun selection though. Used to be a few old school shops in Boise like this little dive I believe was called Shapells or something like that.

Bb

The used gun shops up here do better business than the new ones.

I did a 440+ mile round trip last Saturday and stopped at 4 shops. The LGS I had the highest hopes on was pretty bare with not a lot of new or used anything. The second shop had 200 rifles with a grand total of one 270. A Browning X Bolt with a hang tag of $1300. Very few used and what they had were 308s or 6.5s in Tikka, Bergara, Savage or Ruger

The third shop had a very slim selection but did have a used Tikka T3X and Bergara B14 chambered in 270. $999 each. They also had a new Howa 1500 for $550. The last shop had a grand total of 15 firearms with zero 270s. Their only used rifles were a REM 7400 and a Ruger American Predator

Right now the best shop that I have been to in the last month is located 50 miles north of me on the Maine/Canada border. Not sure how much more I can expand my horizons.

All was not lost as I was able to look at a few scopes I am interested in and I spent time with my son

Is Franklin Gun Shop in Franklin Tn still open. It's the most impressive I've ever been in; pricey, but damnation they had lots of guns.