TGO David

Honestly, guys, I think we're going to be really lucky if we don't see regulation of bump-fire stocks followed by the complete prohibition of full-auto weapons within the next 10 years. The government might not engage in outright confiscation, but they might easily prohibit any future transfer of them as Class III items and let them "die on the vine" as their owners pass away. Trusts might protect them for one additional generation of owners past that. Once the original owners or executors of trusts pass away, they'd be subject to forfeiture or become illegally-possessed items. I'd love to be wrong about this, but I can easily see where Trump or some other politician cede ground and enact "feel good" legislation to obliterate the already regulated possession of actual assault rifles.

Guys, Mac and I spoke earlier and we agreed to unlock this thread. We all need a place to voice our thoughts, concerns, and angst as we process this event and work through it as a nation. My only request is that we try to steer clear of the conspiracy theories and keep "Occam's Razor" in mind. If you're not familiar, Occam's Razor is the idea that when presented with an array of possible solutions or answers, the most simple one is statistically going to be the correct one. If we can please allow the conspiracy theorist websites to corner the market on far-fetched ideas, and stick to discussing more plausible things, and not turn against each other due to stated or perceived political beliefs, then this thread can continue. It's not us against each other here.

ActiveJunky is a great way to save on things from Cabelas. Thanks for sharing this for the folks interested in an RMR!

You're doing exactly what so many others are doing and, frankly, it surprises me given what I have perceived as being your level of intelligence via so many of your other writings. What I mean by "exactly what so many others are doing" is confusing, perhaps willfully, the difference between the assurance you have that the government won't forcibly deprive you of your right to free speech (the First Amendment) and the assumption that you are guaranteed the same protection from your employer and customers if you choose to exercise your freedom of speech on their time. I agree that these morons should have the right to express themselves without fear of reprisal from our government. That is guaranteed to them and is what you signed up to defend when you took your oath. BUT when these players choose do so on their employer's (the NFL and the team owners) time, and on their customers' (the fans) time... then those other parties get a say in things. The employer can choose to terminate their employment if their actions were counter to the company's ethics and values, and the customer can choose to do business elsewhere. I'm pretty sure you know this and agree with it as well. But for some reason, you chose to make the other connection.

A couple of ancillary observations... The post above should be fairly timeless and be relevant 3, 6, or even 15 years from now, but these comments are particular to the current time: AK-47/74 pattern rifles seem to be an exception to the slump in pricing and sales, especially if they were manufactured in Russia. These rifles are actually rising in cost. The past few years have seen AK and AR-15 pattern rifles completely trade places in terms of marketability and cost. Ten years ago, you would have been laughed out of town if you tried to sell an AK for more than a comparably equipped AR. These days, you can buy an AR that you'd actually want to shoot for less than $600 and that sort of money only gets you into a decent AK. Glock 19s tend to still do well on the secondary market because everyone needs one even if they don't really want one. The advent of the Generation 5 Glock 19 doesn't seem to have softened the resale value of the previous generations too much as the Gen5 hasn't had a chance to prove itself and Glock is notorious for having to fix problems with the first few batches of any new generation. The caveat to that, of course, is that modified Glocks don't always sell very quickly unless the seller prices them reasonably and in accordance to what has been done to them. Stippling and custom finishes (like Cerakote) are very polarizing and might only suit the personal taste of the seller. Revolvers, 1911s, and so-called "Brown Rifles" (hunting bolt actions, shotguns, etc.) seem to be fairly immune to the pricing slump since they were never really in the same level of demand as the tacti-cool stuff and consequently, the market was never flooded with a surplus of them. Collector guns are almost always immune to market fluctuation, which is why they are collector guns. When the rest of the firearms market is racing toward the bottom, there's an advantage to being priced at the top - especially if you can command it. Don't expect to see collectibles selling at bargain prices unless someone is really hurting for money and doesn't have a savvy friend to save them from making a hasty mistake.

How to Sell Your Guns When the Market is Slow September 24, 2017 This is an article that I have been tempted to write on several occasions now, but each time I questioned whether the timing was right or if the message would be welcomed and so I postponed. Recently, however, there have been quite a few threads and individual comments made about the difficulties of selling firearms during a "slow market" so I think the time is right. But First, Some History... I do not want to dwell too much on this particular point, but I do believe that it is salient to pause for a moment and observe the current political climate as it has directly influenced the state of firearms sales across the nation. Up until the last US Presidential Election in November of 2016, the firearms industry was booming because people were afraid of both who was then currently, and who might have been next, occupants of the White House. Fear of scarcity or outright prohibition of a thing absolutely drives up demand for that thing, and subsequently the cost of that thing. During the Obama Administration, we lived under the constant specter of another weapons ban and we saw supplies of certain firearms and ammunition all but dry up. What was left to be found almost always had a high price tag assigned to it. When Donald J. Trump was elected, gun owners and prospective gun owners all sighed an enormous collective sigh of relief and practically overnight the firearms industry was dumped on its head. The fear was gone. The incentive to buy was gone. Warehouses of ammunition and firearms that had been rushed to production ahead of what could have been a Hillary Clinton White House were suddenly quiet and stagnant. And so, the firearms industry did what any industry does in cases like this: It suffered. It cut costs. I dumped products at prices that were unheard of a month before. The fire sale began, and it persists to this day. Why Should You Care About Any of That? The reasons any of that is important to you are these: That tactical rifle you bought a few years ago and paid nearly $2,000 for is probably being sold new today for less than half that price. That handgun you bought last year is probably anywhere from $50-75 cheaper this year, brand new, and probably comes with twice as many extra magazines straight from the manufacturer. Today, retailers are competing against you in your role as the Seller for the same sales you are trying to make. They are able to offer brand new merchandise today for prices that would have been reasonable for you to ask for a gently used item this time last year. To snare a buyer on the secondary market in this economy, you have to distinguish yourself and what you are selling in some way that makes it more appealing to the person debating between your gun and that brand new one in the store. So, How Do You Sell in a Slow Market? I have been paying very close attention to this for the past few months and these are my observations. They are not the gospel, but they seem to be holding up under their own merit so far. As with anything, there may be exceptions to any or all of these, and if that works in your favor then I am going to be very thrilled for you. Do your research. Check the retail pricing and availability of whatever you are trying to sell. Mark your price accordingly. Understand that if you are priced too close to retail for a new item, most folks will go buy the new item instead. Also, check and see if a new version or model of whatever you are selling has just been or soon will be released. Prices on old versions almost always go down when a new version is out or is imminent. Eat The Extras. Those expensive night sights that you put on your handgun? Consider eating the cost of those. Point that out as an incentive to buy your handgun rather than the one in the store that doesn't have them. The same goes for tossing in a few extra magazines if you have them, or other small accessories. Obviously, there is a limit to how much you should be willing to eat of the cost of an item, but even then be willing to discount whatever you are adding to the "package price" so that it is compelling to a shopper. Break Up The Package. If you don't want to eat the cost of too many extras, or if the price of your package offering seems to be turning shoppers away, consider breaking apart the package and offering the core item at a cheaper price and then liquidate the accessories separately. This is expecially helpful if you have non-regulated accessories that could be sold on social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc) that do not allow gun sales but do not prohibit accessories. Bigger audiences can mean quicker sales on those types of things. Understand The Impact of Modifications. This is going to hurt some feelings, but it has to be said. Modified guns are harder to sell. Think twice before you take a soldering iron (or pay someone else) to your Glock's frame to stipple it. The same goes for custom paint jobs or hydro-dipped graphics. Beauty is often in the eye of the beholder (YOU) in those things, and other people may not care for them at all. Don't be surprised if your stippled Glock with skulls and crossbones hydro dipped graphics doesn't sell quickly, or at all. Take Good Pictures. The addage that a picture is worth a thousand words is no more true than in advertising. People tend to want to see what they are buying. Take pictures of it and post them here or link to them elsewhere in your post. Ads without photos tend to be overlooked. Invest Some Time. If you post an advertisement, come back to it once a week and bump it back to the top of the "new items" search by replying to the thread. Reduce the price a little after a week or two, if you can. Be willing to engage with prospective buyers and answer questions. Entertain counter offers if you can. It takes a little time but it keeps your advertisement in front of eyeballs and that's what matters. Pull It Today and Sell It Later. Real estate brokers know that if a house has been on the market for too long, it goes "cold" and people stop looking at it. The buyers can see how long a house has been listed and assume something must be wrong with it if more than a reasonable amount of time has passed. Take a cue from that and de-list your items after a while if they don't sell. Come back later and list them again. I hope this helps you all in some way. The current environment is a buyer's market and biased against the seller, both at the retail level and on the used market. Gun stores are going out of business and folding up left and right. So are manufacturers. The ones who are surviving are relying on things other than gun sales to keep money and buyers coming through the doors. Now is the right time to buy firearms and ammo cheap and stack them deep. The political climate is guaranteed to shift again and when it does we will all find it hard to believe that we had it this good (as buyers) in days past. Above all, be patient. If you can afford not to sell a firearm right now, you might want to sit on it for another three years and see what happens with the next Presidential election. Trump has been GREAT for gun owners, but terrible for gun sellers. We might not be so lucky in the years ahead.

Welcome to TGO, RScott. Stay safe!

I'll try to do better the next time I go and put some in the ole juice pump.

Thanks! I love them. I have several of his holsters now and they are hands-down the most comfortable I've ever used.

You're going to need to shrink your photo down.

Really glad to see some photos! Let's keep this thread going!

I have seriously begun to question how many of you TGO regulars actually go to the range and shoot your guns, and how many of you just buy them to let them sit at your house. Or worse yet, how many of you just come here to talk about politics because politics and guns see to be inextricably linked to one another. So, let's have some fun related to guns. The next time you are at the range, take a photo of what you're shooting and what your targets look like. It doesn't matter what distance. You don't even have to disclose it. If you want to stand right in front of it and pull the trigger for the tightest group possible, that's fine and you don't have to tell a soul. At least you're out shooting! To start us off: This was a recent outing with one of my old faithfuls. This M&P 40 was produced in 2005 and is one of the earliest production runs of the reborn M&P line from Smith and Wesson. I have owned it since it was new and it has about 10,000 rounds on it now. It has attended six combative pistol classes and has never failed me. Not a single time. Never a failure to feed, fire or eject. I have put a seemingly endless combination of sights on it over the years but it currently wears Ameriglo Hackathorn sights. I haven't even replaced the recoil spring on it yet. No sign that I need to, either. This grouping was shot at about 15 yards and is two magazine's worth (30 rounds) of 40SW.

Added another fantastic piece of leather from TT Gunleather . This is a Mike's Special from TT Gunleather, made for my CZ P-07.

I wouldn't doubt that at all. They clearly knew the layout of the building.

Thank you. Just bear in mind there is zero way to make everyone else do this.

In cases like that, you should always reply to your own ad and mention that there is a new lower price so that the thread rises back to the top. As for somehow seeing a history of the prices, there's nothing in the software that does that. It's up to you as the author of your own ad to decide whether you want to include the original price and the marked-down price or not. Honestly, this is no different than a lot of places. Craigslist, EBay, etc. all show the current price rather than a history unless the author of the ad includes that information in their listing.

This certainly helps you guys none, @Steelharp, but maybe offers some consolation: https://williamsonsource.com/franklin-jewelry-heist-photos-released/ The news story above is an account of a jewelry store robbery here in Williamson County where the thieves cut a hole in the roof, climbed down into the store, and then spent hours cutting through the wall into the vault to make off with a score of expensive items. Whatever security this store had in place, it didn't cover what these folks pulled off! HOURS spent inside.

You can see how many people have viewed a thread (in this case, a classified post) by looking at the forum's listing of topics. Next to the subject is a field that shows many many people have viewed it. However, it does not track recurring visits from the same person if they are a registered member of TGO. Each person gets one "view" of a thread no matter how many times they come back into that thread. What you are asking about is more consistent with an elaborate classifieds ads system and not something that the forum's native software does. We tried a more elaborate system in the past and the majority of people simply did not prefer it. That's not to say that I am not going to continue searching for ways to make the Trading Post ads better, but I am going to continue to weigh additional features against what is possible to deliver to our members in the format that they prefer. Hope that makes sense.

Hey man. Good to see you here. The non-threaded barrel model like I posted is about $420 right now, shipped, most places.

Yep.

Ain't that the way it always works, though? One way of looking at this positively is that you have a Glock 19 now and everyone ought to have one of them. Now it's just a matter of saving up your pennies for that M&P M2.0 Compact to add to the collection.

Nice build! While there are undoubtedly cases where you get what you pay for, I think this will prove to you that there are also cases where a little money goes a long way. Somewhere between 800 and 1000 meters, to be exact. I look forward to hearing how it does!

Yeah, there's no doubt at all of the Glock's simplicity when you want to take it apart to the individual pieces. The M&P fails that on the extractor roll-pin alone.

Huh? I mean, yeah, if you absolutely want to remove the firing pin safety for some reason? Otherwise, it's very easy to remove the striker assembly by just turning the slide over and depressing the FPS.