HW 55 for $400.00

[Tdubya]

Found in local pawn shop. In very good condition. Is this a good price?

[RedFeather]

First, go to the American Vintage Airgun forum, they love those things and will be able to tell you all about it - ID'ing, what to look for with certain guns, etc.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/405945/

Second, $400 in a pawn shop is pretty flexible.  Don't let on that you really want it (especially if it's worth more).  They have better noses than sharks.  At $400 I would start offering $200.  I would not give $400.  Pawn shop prices are almost always asking prices.  They don't really expect to sell it for that.  Consider that they may have all of $100 (probably less) in it.  And ask for a test.  Bring some pellets and a thick paperback book.  Put the book on the floor and shoot it from about an inch away.  They can't kick about something like that if they are serious about selling and it will tell you if the gun is sick or not.

Good luck.  And, if you don't buy it, tell Lizzie where it is.  I'm surprised she didn't find it first.  ;-)

[lizzie]

Good luck.  And, if you don't buy it, tell Lizzie where it is.  I'm surprised she didn't find it first.  ;-)

I think I've started a trend, lol.

[lizzie]

Found in local pawn shop. In very good condition. Is this a good price?

My rule of thumb is this (with anything old/and or used)- it's worth what you're willing to pay for it. In a market of specialty items, the niche is small, and the buyer is typically a little eccentric. I buy things first with the intent of keeping them. I buy them second if the price is great compared to what I would be willing to spend.  When I bought the FWB, it was purely an instinct buy. I came across it, it looked and felt like quality, and it was German-made. I considered the price for about two minutes, then bought it. I don't regret it one single bit. With the other two recent German acquisitions, I must admit that I bought both of them because they were a great price compared to what I was willing to spend, and I was taking a chance because I didn't know what I was getting. So, to sum it up, it's worth 400 dollars if you want it bad enough to spend the money, regardless of your ability to recoup your investment.

[Tdubya]

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I'd say pawn shops tend to try to sell their stuff for at least 4 times what they paid for it, depending on the type of merchandise. I know they have prices higher than retail on a lot of their powder burners. 
I left the shop saying I'd stop by again sometime to see what he had. He had a few other nice ones - including a TX200 and an R7. 

[amb5500c]

Where is this pawn shop with all the cool guns? None of the ones around here have any AGs.
Richard

[lizzie]

Where is this pawn shop with all the cool guns? None of the ones around here have any AGs.
Richard

You have to scope them out and find the ones where the owners/managers know NOTHING about air guns. It's not hard to do in this part of the country.

[amb5500c]

[/quote]

 It's not hard to do in this part of the country.
[/quote]

But nobody seems to want to share just what part of the country all the treasure is buried in. LOL.
Richard

[lizzie]

 It's not hard to do in this part of the country.
[/quote]

But nobody seems to want to share just what part of the country all the treasure is buried in. LOL.
Richard
[/quote]

Oops- sorry- I'm in Texas. Air guns don't seem to be a big deal in Texas. AR15's do.

[Tdubya]

The pawn shop is in little ol' Jefferson City, MO. The owner seemed to know his airguns.
I did get a deal on a RWS 48 (200 bucks) at a gun show. The seller didn't know anything about it.   
 

[lizzie]

The pawn shop is in little ol' Jefferson City, MO. The owner seemed to know his airguns.
I did get a deal on a RWS 48 (200 bucks) at a gun show. The seller didn't know anything about it.  


 

That's what I'm talking about.

[Lee G.]

T dub, a pawn shop owner i remodeled for told me he tried to make 3 times what he had in an item.

If it wasnt so hot, i would run up from the Lake and take a look, lol

[lizzie]

T dub, a pawn shop owner i remodeled for told me he tried to make 3 times what he had in an item.

We have two local pawn shops here, but I usually go to the nearest large city to pawn shop browse. In the two local ones, one of them is run by a cranky old guy who I would swear tries to sell his stuff for a 10x profit. He offers his pawn customers dirt, but tries to sell their items for "brand-new" prices. The other local one is much more reasonable, both with the customers who pawn stuff and the customers who buy stuff. Unfortunately, he rarely has air guns of any kind.