Don't know where to post this so I hope it's ok here.
I am a part time farmer and subscribe to the Louisiana and Mississippi market bulletins. This is a bi-weekly newspaper with mostly ag classifieds but they do have a guns section. Tuesday the Mississippi one came in. I didn't go and get the mail until around lunch. Opened it up and saw this:
Selling SKS collection. Two rifles in custom stocks but also includes original stocks, bayonets etc. Ammo also included. $850. Called right away and a very elderly gentleman says that they sold early that morning. I didn't ask any details because I didn't want to know.
Like George Carlin said...you can't have everything, where would you put it.
One of those "if I had a nickel for every time" deals, LOL.
That's how I ended up with my 1st Paratrooper. I was making my LGS rounds and one had a minty Tula SKS for $375, which at the time was about $25 bucks more than I thought it should be. Chinese were going for $200-$250 then. I him-hawd for a few hours after I saw it then decided to got back and get it...gone, all gone. I went straight back to another store I'd just been to and picked up a Para they had for $300. The guy that came in behind me was there for it too. PAX
Ain't it fun?
The good news is there were millions of Holy Grails made so there will be enough of them for all of us. The deals come and go, you win some you lose some... there will be more!
It's like a friend of mine used to say, "that once in a lifetime deal, it comes around about every 3 years"
The last real deal I got was December '19. SKS Paratrooper out of NC for $320. Then my 01 gave up the ghost and Covid crazy hit. PAX
I used to pass up para's because they were 20 bucks more than a milspec......
Hindsight I guess.