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Well, not exactly accidental, but not planned. I regularly see a friend of mine who is a former co-worker. We shared an interest in guns and have stayed in touch post retirement. He took an early out, retired several years ahead of me but gave up some of his annuity. I kept at it a couple of years beyond eligibility. But that was going on 11 years ago. Anyway, when we were working, this guy had plenty of money. Not married, bought a little, crummy house many years ago that was paid off long in the past. Didn't have any expensive habits except for one. Guns. He'd go to the gun show with hundreds of dollars in his pocket, nearly always come home with something. In fact, if he hadn't seen anything he liked, he'd go back in and buy something he didn't really fancy because he didn't want to go home empty-handed.

These days, my friend is gun poor. He has lots of guns but not much money. And we all know how money keeps getting less valuable. It takes more and more money to buy the same stuff. Now when he needs money, he lets go of a gun or two. Not long ago, we'd been talking about .357's. I went by his place recently and he hauled out a couple, asked me if I wanted them. They were:

P4181095.JPG

The upper one is a Smith & Wesson Model 66-4. The lower one is a Smith & Wesson Model 60-9, both .357's. I wasn't all that keen on either of these and I'll say why. For a start, I like a .357 in the heavy N frame. Another reason, I took one look at those rubber grips on the 66 and thought, "Some dumb-bell changed the grips and threw away the original wooden stocks." Yet another reason, .357 Magnum is way too much cartridge for that Model 60. Yes, I know you can shoot .38 Special in it if you don't mind partially coking up your chambers. I told him price was a determining factor as to whether I was interested in buying them; he said you can have them for the same prices I paid in 1995. So we made a deal.

I was wrong about the grips on the 66. Those are Uncle Mike's and they are original to the gun. The 66 came in the original box with the label on the end, the S&W SKU number for this gun is 102712, which was a limited run for a distributor and the code for the grips is shown as SGT, which I believe stands for synthetic grip. So I felt lots better about the 66 after I discovered this information.

My friend may be low on money but in the past he spent it on something that he could (for the time being, anyway) cash in. Those people who spent their dough at the casino, or on liquor and racy women, well, they don't have anything to cash in. My wife read me an article out of the newspaper recently about how if an emergency costing $500 came up, nearly half of Americans couldn't cover it. Sad.
 
I am odd I guess the more people panic buy the more I tighten what I have and seldom ever sell anything.
A guy I bought some from over the years and used to horse trade wants to buy back what he sold seeing this new ballot measure.
I think I only have two items I don't need as I have others that do the same and are better at what they do.
But when I do buy its for a specific purpose. I will admit though when I look I have way more $$$$ then I thought I would. A big hit ammo, its not cheap seldom even drops and is always on the slow steady rise. I think I only have two on my too buy list. But have yet to find what I want a decent price.
 
I am odd I guess the more people panic buy the more I tighten what I have and seldom ever sell anything.
A guy I bought some from over the years and used to horse trade wants to buy back what he sold seeing this new ballot measure.
I think I only have two items I don't need as I have others that do the same and are better at what they do.
But when I do buy its for a specific purpose. I will admit though when I look I have way more $$$$ then I thought I would. A big hit ammo, its not cheap seldom even drops and is always on the slow steady rise. I think I only have two on my too buy list. But have yet to find what I want a decent price.

I don't need to buy anything. I want to. If things went south tomorrow me and mine will be ok! ;)
 
Saw this posted somewhere here years ago in one of those "what's your next gun" threads.

"I need... no wait a second, I'm not married anymore, I want..."

Nice pistols Gmerkt. Aside from small size for conceal-ability, I'd rather shoot a box of magnum loads through the one on top with those comfy rubber grips.
 
Actually for the next chapter, post evil black gun hysteria and crackdowns, I need a lever action 45-70 to go with my SAA 45 LC...

Also need a .357 or .44 magnum revolver for daily carry, should semi-autos be banned...

I'm a looking....
 
Reminds me of the World's Shortest Fairy Tale:
View attachment 451902

I did it backwards, or as I like to say- the right way. I got married a bit later than most. I never spent money on fast cars, loose women, or bad habits, but spent most of my 20s buying more guns, surplus ammo, and reloading gear than I needed.

Now I've got a wife and a houseful of kids I couldn't imagine living without. I've still got more guns than I need and have the need for more mostly out of my system. Best of both worlds, in my estimation. I can't afford to buy much for gun stuff anymore, but don't really care.

When my wife and I were first married she said that one of her friends asked her if she was going to make me get rid of my guns, as if it was a realistic and reasonable thing. She replied why in the world would she do that?
 

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