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No mags
lead
Member Posts: 2,311 ✭✭✭
I've been looking at auctions lately and have come across an awful lot of pistols being offered with no mags.
How do so many pistols wind up out there with no mag? Are these from police confiscations, imports that just didn't send as many mags as pistols, forgetful gun owners that misplace stuff alot?
There seem to be a few sellers who have quite a few of them. I'm reluctant to bid until I'm sure I can find a mag for the gun. When it's a S&W, or a Ruger, I figure it'll be easy. But when it's some milsurp, I'm not so sure.
I'm not in the gun business, just one of your loyal customers. I never see this at my local shops, just wondering how so many pistols lose their mags.
How do so many pistols wind up out there with no mag? Are these from police confiscations, imports that just didn't send as many mags as pistols, forgetful gun owners that misplace stuff alot?
There seem to be a few sellers who have quite a few of them. I'm reluctant to bid until I'm sure I can find a mag for the gun. When it's a S&W, or a Ruger, I figure it'll be easy. But when it's some milsurp, I'm not so sure.
I'm not in the gun business, just one of your loyal customers. I never see this at my local shops, just wondering how so many pistols lose their mags.
Comments
Too old to live...too young to die...
part of it is the cya regarding states that have mag bans.
part of it is some seller have more than one of a model, or more than one gun that uses the same magazine. doesnt need the gun anymore, but the mags do him some good so he keeps them.
to my eyes, the biggest part is even simpler. most people dont take the time to factor the lack of magazine into their bidding strategy; so most people will pay the same price for a gun with and without a mag. the seller can rather readily sell the mag for whatever he can get for it and make a few extra bucks.
have you ever seen a dealer(whether at a shop or a show) who sells a gun without a mag and then, after the sale is made comes up with "you know, i just may have a mag for that gun here somewhere. hang on a minute..." and then miraculously manages to turn up the exact right magazine, for a price? ive caught that show before. ive even seen it turned around on the dealer. buyer negotiates the price down to reflect the missing mag or makes like he's going to walk and as if by divine intervention, the mag appears to make the gun whole and get the higher price for the dealer.
parts and accesories are just another facet of the calculations needed to determine whether the price is fair. doesnt take but a minute or two(in most cases) to find out what a magazine is going to cost to make the gun whole. my max bid would reflect that extra expense.
My guess is that dealers buy them from police auctions. Cops often just drop the mag on a confiscated pistol and toss it as they are far too busy to take 5 seconds to unload it.
Throwing a flag on that one. How could you possibly know that?
IMO the most likely explanation is the Seller is selling the magazines separately in order to make more money. Police trades often times has 3 magazines. When traded in I have seen quite a few that are sold with one mag and the seller sells the other two separately.
Cops often just drop the mag on a confiscated pistol and toss it as they are far too busy to take 5 seconds to unload it.That's an uneducated guess. For a list of reasons, magazines are going to be unloaded well before a firearm ever makes it's way into a police property room.
Police reports can't simply state that one XXXX brand/type/caliber firearm displaying serial XXXX with 'some ammo' was seized from the suspect. For evidentiary - and possibly sentencing - purposes the exact number of rounds of ammunition must be noted.
When placed in a property room the firearm, it's magazine and the number of rounds it contained must also be bagged so they can each be readily observed in court without cutting open that sealed bag. Being able to count rounds through magazine witness holes won't cut it when the standard is 'proven beyond a reasonable doubt'. All evidence must be clearly observable.
This is all Evidence Processing 101 level stuff.
quote:Originally posted by Doc
Cops often just drop the mag on a confiscated pistol and toss it as they are far too busy to take 5 seconds to unload it.That's an uneducated guess. For a list of reasons, magazines are going to be unloaded well before a firearm ever makes it's way into a police property room.
Police reports can't simply state that one XXXX brand/type/caliber firearm displaying serial XXXX with 'some ammo' was seized from the suspect. For evidentiary - and possibly sentencing - purposes the exact number of rounds of ammunition must be noted.
When placed in a property room the firearm, it's magazine and the number of rounds it contained must also be bagged so they can each be readily observed in court without cutting open that sealed bag. Being able to count rounds through magazine witness holes won't cut it when the standard is 'proven beyond a reasonable doubt'. All evidence must be clearly observable.
This is all Evidence Processing 101 level stuff.
EXACTLY!
I should add, one time I looked up mags for a gun I was interested in that a seller had advertised with no mag. I expected to find his name on there selling the mags separately, but his name never came up. The police sales make the most sense i guess.
Thanks again.