Just wanted to make everyone jealous. My wife works at a gas station. And every time someone comes in to pay w silver she calls me. Well over 3 years that silver has bought me a Ruger PC carbine. And the quality was so good bought one of there AR-15s. Read everyone's love for Ruger so I took the plunge. And I'm loving it!
Gas station rifles
- Thread starter Meeks36
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MosinT53Hunter
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How much silver are we talking about? Just curious...
If1HitU
Member
Congratulations!
It was 3 rolls of quarters, 20 half dollars, a few war nickels, and a bunch of silver dollars. Sold most on CL. And some to a dealer. Just to clarify I bought AR on w my own cash money. Wish she would bring home that much silver.
bannockburn
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Meeks36
Nice buy with your silver treasure! My brother in law just got one of those Ruger PCCs (the one with the shrouded barrel), and I was very impressed by the overall build quality of it.
Nice buy with your silver treasure! My brother in law just got one of those Ruger PCCs (the one with the shrouded barrel), and I was very impressed by the overall build quality of it.
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bikerdoc
Moderator In Memoriam
Good on you.
I have an older P C 9. I love it. Under 150 yds it makes me look good. Plus I have 2 C Z nines so the same ammo, and I got plenty.
I have an older P C 9. I love it. Under 150 yds it makes me look good. Plus I have 2 C Z nines so the same ammo, and I got plenty.
Dave DeLaurant
Member
Silver eh? I bought a Garand with my family silver hoard. Before you think that is cool, get the full (fool) story:
My mom did bookkeeping at a local high school for several years, and among other things worked at the register for the cafeteria. She'd exchange any silver coins taken for face value while she was adding up the daily receipts. After she died I found a 30-06 ammo can about 1/3 full of silver quarters and dimes (plus a few half-dollars and wartime nickels). I converted this silver to cash just as the market peaked at around $30/oz -- 1/3 of a 30-06 ammo can brought about $4K. I bought a running 1974 Plymouth Valiant in 2011 with a very clean body with $3K, spending the rest on bills. So far, so good.
Then I retired and after a couple months and several unplanned expenses I found that I didn't have the spare cash to do a proper rebuild on the Valiant's V8 and steering. Over the succeeding years I kept hoping but my bank account just barely stayed balanced and the car sat in the driveway. Then I tried to recoup most of my original investment by putting the car up for sale at $2.5K, then $2K and $1.5K -- the local vintage car market wasn't biting. Last year I finally listed the car with an Internet Mopar group. Two months of so-so interest but no one coming around for a look, then finally, a dedicated Mopar collector from Australia(!) says he'll be through my area in two months and offers $900 unseen. Up to that point my highest offer was $230 from a local scrap dealer, and since by this stage (almost seven years) my pride had long departed over this car, I took it. The collector stopped by in May 2018 and the car was picked up for shipment the following month. I get periodic photos from Melbourne showing how the restoration process is going -- the car's in good hands now and I've learned to avoid cars and stick to firearms. In a way the car still cost him $3K, given the almost $2K he paid for shipping.
About two months after I sold the car I encountered the husband of one of my former supervisors at a gun shop. Jim was getting too infirm to shoot and had a couple of M1 Garands he wanted evaluated. His rather cherry IH was complete enough for the donation he had in mind to a local museum, but the second rifle, a Springfield with Blue Sky import marks, some minor issues and a beater stock, would go up for sale. I asked to look at it and decided it was exactly what I wanted in a Garand: no pitting, mismatched parkerizing, and a stock and barrel I could easily upgrade. There was a sound, good looking shooter under that POS stock. He quoted $750 to me. I replaced the stock with a new piece of walnut I bought through SARCO and now could probably get $1200 or more for it on the local market, not that I'd sell.
In summary, I turned $3K of silver into a $1.2K rifle. I comfort myself by saying the rifle is worth $3K to me.
I should probably work for the DOD or GAO with those bargaining skills.
My mom did bookkeeping at a local high school for several years, and among other things worked at the register for the cafeteria. She'd exchange any silver coins taken for face value while she was adding up the daily receipts. After she died I found a 30-06 ammo can about 1/3 full of silver quarters and dimes (plus a few half-dollars and wartime nickels). I converted this silver to cash just as the market peaked at around $30/oz -- 1/3 of a 30-06 ammo can brought about $4K. I bought a running 1974 Plymouth Valiant in 2011 with a very clean body with $3K, spending the rest on bills. So far, so good.
Then I retired and after a couple months and several unplanned expenses I found that I didn't have the spare cash to do a proper rebuild on the Valiant's V8 and steering. Over the succeeding years I kept hoping but my bank account just barely stayed balanced and the car sat in the driveway. Then I tried to recoup most of my original investment by putting the car up for sale at $2.5K, then $2K and $1.5K -- the local vintage car market wasn't biting. Last year I finally listed the car with an Internet Mopar group. Two months of so-so interest but no one coming around for a look, then finally, a dedicated Mopar collector from Australia(!) says he'll be through my area in two months and offers $900 unseen. Up to that point my highest offer was $230 from a local scrap dealer, and since by this stage (almost seven years) my pride had long departed over this car, I took it. The collector stopped by in May 2018 and the car was picked up for shipment the following month. I get periodic photos from Melbourne showing how the restoration process is going -- the car's in good hands now and I've learned to avoid cars and stick to firearms. In a way the car still cost him $3K, given the almost $2K he paid for shipping.
About two months after I sold the car I encountered the husband of one of my former supervisors at a gun shop. Jim was getting too infirm to shoot and had a couple of M1 Garands he wanted evaluated. His rather cherry IH was complete enough for the donation he had in mind to a local museum, but the second rifle, a Springfield with Blue Sky import marks, some minor issues and a beater stock, would go up for sale. I asked to look at it and decided it was exactly what I wanted in a Garand: no pitting, mismatched parkerizing, and a stock and barrel I could easily upgrade. There was a sound, good looking shooter under that POS stock. He quoted $750 to me. I replaced the stock with a new piece of walnut I bought through SARCO and now could probably get $1200 or more for it on the local market, not that I'd sell.
In summary, I turned $3K of silver into a $1.2K rifle. I comfort myself by saying the rifle is worth $3K to me.
I should probably work for the DOD or GAO with those bargaining skills.
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Steel Horse Rider
Member
Maybe the lesson is that you should not have bought the Plymouth, but two Garands.
I thought the Valiant originally had a slant 6? Did they put a 318 in them in the later models?
I thought the Valiant originally had a slant 6? Did they put a 318 in them in the later models?
Dave DeLaurant
Member
Amen to that! As my grandpa was fond of saying, too soon we get old, too late smart.
My first car was a 1964 Valiant 2-door with a slant six -- I loved that car. One fan belt and enough room under the hood to practically sit inside next to the engine while working on it. Dad rebuilt the engine in the front yard -- stripped it down to the cylinder heads and had a guy come over and rebore it while it was still in the car. Eventually I had to junk it due to the cumulative effects of a crash: back when it was my sister's car, she was the middle car in a 3-car pileup -- the other two were towed away, the Valiant drove home leaking coolant. I ran it for about five years after that, but the radiator was shot and the chassis was crooked. We were a Mopar family until electronic ignition came along, and usually at least 10 years behind the current model year.
In 1974 Plymouth offered both the slant-6 or V8 in the Valiant. Mine had a 318. I think the V8 may have been added to the model in the late 60's to boost police sales.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plymouth_Valiant
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