Why Gun Shops Suck

I've a spare G-27. Or two. One has fewer than 200 rounds down the pipe and I've tried swapping it for a G-21 once before, left with a bad taste in my mouth, and dumbass me tried it again.

G-27 with 7 spare magazines. Original box with the expanded test rounds still in their little manila envelope. Cleaning gear, etc. Just as it came from the factory. Standing behind the jerkwad I was dickering with was a tray of Glock magazines, the crappier looking ones going for $15 a throw, the new ones $30.

Bear in mind that this was a USED G-21 I had my eye on. Too many 40 calibers and not enough 45's for those wishing to know why I'd want yet another G-21. Besides, I want a swamp gun. Something like my Mossberg. If it falls overboard then who cares. Well, who cares too much. A reliable platform that I am familiar with but could part with should the parting get good.

Let's say the shop could sell each of my 7 spares for $20 apiece. Brand spanking new, mind you, but benefit of the doubt and all that jazz. That's $140. Inside the used firearms counter, there's a G-26, shabbier by far than my 27, and they are asking $450 for it.

The used G-21 had a sticker proclaiming it could be had for $500.

So the deal from their perspective was as follows: My 27, the extra 7 mags, and $250. The cash PLUS the mags means a cool $390. The gun would have immediately gone in the case for at least $450.

Which means...

I would have been laying out $840 for a used Glock 21. That they most likely paid less than $400 for, TOPS.

A $440 windfall is a decent deal?

I'm not saying that my gun and the spares would have been an even swap, hell, they're in business so why not throw in another $100 or thereabouts to make it a deal both parties should have been pleased with.

I carry a gun because I refuse to be a victim.

ANYWHERE.

While in Sioux City, I posed a hypothetical to the guy at the Scheels gun counter. Same deal. An almost NIB G-27, 7 spare mags, for a used G-21. The man said he couldn't let me walk away with a newer 21 as an even-steven swap, but I could have an older 2nd generation that looked good to very good without any cash changing hands. The magazines would have more than made up the $50 difference between the price of the guns.

Of course I couldn't even think of doing the deal because my G-27's were lawyered up back in Florida. It DID embolden me to try the local yokels once again, but never again.

Oh, and sorry for all the math. For those of you in Rio Linda, don't try this at home and just take my word that it was a BAD DEAL.