[socrates1fan]

or perhaps it is time for people to stop buying luxury crap and start working more for food and shelter.
Farmers market anyone?

[3aidlillahi]

Durham, NC? That's where I'm at. There are actually five National Jewelry and Pawn shops in Durham, but all of them are in the northern part of the city which is near Duke and NC Central. I'm in the southern part.

Big differences between the two. Ghettos and shootings up north while the south is doing very well. It's called the Triangle as a shortname for the Research Triangle due to having one of the highest PhD per capita ratios in the US (world?). So plenty of money flowing through this area.

As I ride my bike to school and back, I notice constantly the number and types of cars. It doesn't seem like $4/gas is even phasing most people here, despite having a decent transit system in Durham and Chapel Hill and between the two cities. Most vehicles are SUV's or trucks. I'd say at least 80-90% are within the past few years and 50-60% are Lexus, Mercedes, BMW, etc. Luckily for me as a biker, they are absolute sweethearts on the road, which is atypical for an SUV driver, I guess. It seems like they'd rather hit another car than even come within 2 feet of touching me. I feel lucky compared to some of the stuff I've read from other bikers/scooterers on PO.com

I have my final this Monday so I'm busy right now. I'll try to make it up "north" to one of these pawn shops sometime this week and see what kind of deals I can get. I've never really been. Any general prices I should be looking for for this research trip for guns, gold jewelry, etc?

[PrairieMule]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('RedStateGreen', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('eXpat', 'M')aybe is time to get some cheap tools, gold and guns?

[Aaron]

Sounds like Diamond's Guns, Germs & Steel...

guns, gold & jewelry

A rather disturbing lexicon for our modern world ehhh?

We are left wondering if future anthropologists will reach conclusions about what happened here, similar to Diamond's speculations about the ascendancy of European culture.

Your dog wants ascendancy.

[TheDude]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('3aidlillahi', 'I')t's called the Triangle as a shortname for the Research Triangle due to having one of the highest PhD per capita ratios in the US (world?).

[3aidlillahi]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'M')aybe one of them could get your old account to work again!

[Byron100]

They have this weekly flea market thing here in Atlanta that anybody can rent a spot for $10 a day...sounds like the perfect format for desperate sellers of goods and bargain-hunters to do business. I'll make a point to go down there sometime to see how it's playing out.

Never really cared for pawnshops that much...what is it about those people that give you such uncomfortable stares when you walk into those places? Lighten up a bit, you just might do a bit more business...LOL.

Interestingly enough, there's 2 pawn shops within walking distance of me (yes, I do live in a good neighborhood, Atlanta is just weird about its zoning ). One of them is a general goods seller...tools, etc. The other one is 100% guns. Lots and and lots of guns, for good prices (I think so, at least, I'm not an expert by any means). That guy oughta be doing good biz in the months and years ahead, huh? Or maybe not, if people can't afford to eat, I guess they can't afford guns either...LOL.

[bobaloo]

Went garage sale'ing today, best day we ever had.

Got a REAL Squeezo, the all cast metal one with all the different screens, like I've wanted for years, and a whole juice-making outfit to go with it, for $10.

Got a beautiful Italian 1950's accordion in the original suitcase carrier, works great with a little tweaking, for $30 as a gift for my daughter.

Bought 2 pairs of high quality boots that fit perfectly for $2 each.

Lots of tools, garage sales everywhere and folks just looking to sell stuff, not overpriced like has often been the case.

If you have a few bucks this summer is going to be a great time to pick up some deals on tools.

[Troyboy1208]

when TSHTF the pawn owners will be using those guns to keep back the zombie hordes. Reminds me of the pawn shop guy in the new Dawn of The Dead movie.

[Cloud9]

I cruise the local pawn shops looking for discarded WWII heirlooms. For several years I had been looking at a no 4 Enfield amalgamation that someone had crudely cobbled into a sporter. The top of the receiver had been ground off. The side of the receiver had been drilled and taped and a Williams scope mount had been screwed on. The stock had come off a Jungle Carbine. The barrel had been turned down and the whole thing had been topped off by a cheap Tasco scope. The scope was canted off to one side of the action and the stock had been painted with polyurethane. This was a typical pawn shop beater.

When the owner of the pawn shop reduced the price to that of a parts rifle, I finally bought it.

I had some Pakistani ammo that had been made back in the sixties. I was going to the range to zero my hog rifle so I brought the old Enfield along. Here in lies the surprise: A sixty year old rifle with forty year old ammunition shot dime sixe groups at fifty yards!

[dunewalker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', ' ')Here in lies the surprise: A sixty year old rifle with forty year old ammunition shot dime size groups at fifty yards!

[RdSnt]

Enfield barrels were made with good steel and could then handle the heat stressing without warping. They made great sniper rifles.
A more modern rifle, and my all time favourite, is the Belguin FNC1A1, with an almost indestructible barrel.
http://www.milsurps.com/showthread.php?p=18001

[Jotapay]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'I') cruise the local pawn shops looking for discarded WWII heirlooms.