I was at my local Cabela’s to pick up some last minute hunting items and also check out the reloading supplies (no primers, but I picked up some bullets). On my way out I always like to stop into the Gun Library to see what’s there.

Today had something interesting.

There was an STI race gun. Used, of course. It was a 2011. Not exactly sure what model as there was nothing stamped on the left side of the slide and the right side had only the STI logo. Totally decked out as a gaming/race gun: chambered in .38 Super, C-More sight, big old mag well, big old mag release, compensator, awesome trigger. It was tricked out to the gills, ready for IPSC open competition.

For only $999.

Consider that the MSRP of a race gun from STI can run at least $3000 or more, that basic STI 2011’s are $2000 or more, that $1000 for a used tricked out race gun seemed like the deal of the century.

I didn’t have a lot of time so I just saw it in the showcase, looked at it for a few seconds, then had to pay for my stuff and get home. But it nagged me all the way home:

1. Wow, that seems like a great deal.

2. Wow, that deal seems so great, it’s almost too good to be true. I mean, if they’re selling it for $1000 used, how much did they buy it for? There’s got to be a catch.

I got home and was emailing foo.c about it. I couldn’t stand it any more and went back to Cabela’s. But even on the drive I had second thoughts, bad enough that I pulled over and called foo.c to talk about it. I figured it was worth giving it a fair shake to see what it was about.

I got back there and looked at it. Asked the guy to take it out of the case so I could fondle it. Yeah, trigger was sweet. It was evident it was a very used gun. Looked down the barrel and you could see the wear. Sales guy said that his boss was able to shoot it and said “it was a tack driver” (whatever that means in this context). I asked how he was able to shoot the gun and apparently the seller was a regular customer and boss and customer went out shooting before the sale and boss was able to try out the gun. So I had as much information as I could get. I needed an opinion. I called Karl. We spoke for about 10 minutes. There’s no question that, on the surface, it’s a bargain deal. The reality is if it’s going to be a .38 Super race gun I must reload for it. Or I could get it rebarreled in 9mm. Karl made some generous and helpful offers, but bottom line was while the tag might say $1000 the gun was likely to need some work and who knows what the cost would be. Plus if I had to reload well… while reloading is happening, it would push up the need to buy a progressive press, which I wasn’t prepared just yet to buy.

While I was on the phone, the gun was placed into the back office and salesguy helped someone else. The issue that someone else had was rather time consuming, but that was good because it gave me a lot of time to think while saleguy was helping him. I noticed a couple guys in the back office that weren’t in Cabela’s employee shirts but seemed to be “relevant” to the office. They were fondling the gun so I went over and joked about not getting too attached to the gun I was about to buy. Talked with one guy that said he’d love a rig like that for shooting hogs (awesome) and then another guy said something that I didn’t quite catch. But it was something that led me to believe there was something wrong with the gun… not that they were selling a brick, but that the gun had some problem that was repaired or fixed or rebuilt or something… something that gave me the impression as to why the price was so low (not just the fact it’s an old gun with a lot of wear). The way the conversation in the small group was going I didn’t get exactly what he said, but the vibe was enough.

So while I waited for the salesguy to come back to help me, I kept hearing this voice in my head saying “don’t do it”. Ever since I laid eyes on the gun it kept smelling of “too good to be true” and there just kept a nagging bit in me. I think the only reason I cared to entertain it was because it appeared to be a great deal.

Maybe it is.

But I passed it up.

I’m sure the gun is OK. I’m sure it shoots fine for what it is. If dropping $1000+ wouldn’t be something that made me cringe, I’d buy it. Of course, if I could toss around $1000 without flinching then I’d also be able to just afford a brand new STI without flinching.

I have to also consider other things, like wanting to buy a progressive reloading press. Spend $1000 on a gun? or on a press? The press then lets me reload a lot, which means I can shoot a lot, which means I can get better. Hrm… I think that route is better.

Furthermore, I haven’t even been able to start competition shooting! There’s always been something confounding it. It feels strange going straight to an open gun, but the only reason I was considering it was purely because it looked like a once-in-a-lifetime deal. I didn’t feel like I “deserved” such a gun at this stage of things.

So well… at least as of this afternoon there’s (still) a used STI race gun sitting at Cabela’s (tho it’s not on their Gun Library website yet for some reason). I feel OK in my decision to walk away from it. I may kick myself because on paper it looks like a great deal, but I just had that feeling that in the long run the deal would have turned out to not be so hot. Besides, I think there are better ways for me to spend my money right now.