I went to a gun shop this morning after calling and asking about prices (Indoor Range in SE TX). I get there and all the prices are higher than the lady quoted me on the phone- her son is showing me price tags that are exactly 10% higher than what she told me. 7.62x39 Saiga she said $399. I said I'm on my way. I get there, they're suddenly $439. Then the son starts in with this bullshit that's been going around the gun forums, that the ATF is going to ban Saiga shotguns. I tell him nicely that that is a misunderstanding of the current stance on the ATF, and that the recently released paper by the ATF has been misinterpreted by a few paranoid individuals as "They're about to be banned!" What excludes the Saiga is the lack of pistol grip, among a few other tiny distinctions that keep it legal (the Russians have this down pat): shop owners have been using this fear to jack the price of a Saiga 12 gage from the usual $599 to $999, $1099, and more- sickening. He protests, and points to his computer, and I tell him I am aware of the ATF paper in question,what it means,a nd that it's unfortunate that a few unscrupulous gun shop owners are using that fear to gouge people.
Kid blanched.
I then asked him how many he had in stock, and of course, since he couldn't bullshit me, he told me they had none. Fucker. So I asked about the Draco under glass- now it's $479.00. I got my shit and walked out- and I'm not playing sour grapes, but I had carried $1100 with me in full expectation of spending it all there, as I had hoped to buy a Saiga for $400, a Draco for $400, and a revolver for whatever was left- I figured the man that owns it would make a deal with cash on the counter, like he has in the past.
I just got a call from a gun shop that is a few miles further away, nice old man owns it, and he tells me that his supplier is out of stock on the Saiga rifles, but when he can get them, they'll be $300 (his cost) and my cost will be +10% of that.
$330.
I told him put me down for 3 at that price. I can pay deposit if necessary.
And I filed a report with the BBB on that crooked shop for bait-and-switch. :icon_twis
So later, a guy I met through the AK forums calls me. "Hey, I thought I remembered you saying you wanted a Draco AK pistol?" I said yes, he knew it, as he had a sweet one, a Draco that was accurate as hell. He shoots as his house, and he was hitting steel at 200 yards with ease with that little AK. So I said, "Yeah, I want one, why?" He was in a $$ bind, and needed to raise cash- did I want it before he pawned it? The gun, a 30 round mag, and a $100 75 round drum magazine. Hell yes. I got it for $440, less than I'd have paid at that shop ($479 +25 fee +$39 tax = $543, and that doesn't count the $100 drum mag), and after I sell the drum mag in the forums for $90 or so, I'll have a $350 Draco with about 300 rounds through it- it looks brand new.
I applied pine tar in the hot sun, let it soak in, and shellac'ed the wood right after I got it. I changed the cheap black plastic grip for a Russian bakelite grip I had off another AK. I also made the rear sling loop- Dracos don't come with one for the rear- and so that will help take the place of the butt stock, by using tension on the sling around your upper arm, it steadies the gun much like a butt stock would. I may put a muzzle brake like on my AK74, and I want some 20 round mags, as they won't hang so low, and make the gun more portable. :icon_twis
Got some replacement grips from Czechoslovakia coming in the mail too, for under $40- black bakelite. So I can store these wooden ones; they're loose, and I know they're not the original grips, but I don't want to break them.
