Good morning.
Hey, how can I help you?
I've got a little something I think you'd be interested in.
What have we got?
A lovely 1800s rifle.
See what we got here.
OK.
Have you had this checked out by anybody?
Nope.
Done a little internet research.
That's all I've done.
I have no idea.
So I thought maybe you could help me out.
Yeah, it's sort of--
it's in a weird category.
It definitely looks Colt-ish.
[laughter]
CHARLES: I'm here today to sell an antique rifle
I got from one of my students.
I'm a defensive firearms instructor.
And I came to the shop today because a student of mine
had a family member who passed with a large collection
of firearms.
And I'm helping to sell them.
I'm not too sure about the origins of the rifle itself.
But I'm believing around a five-figure number
for the price.
So how much do you want for it?
Well, a similar Colt I've seen go for $10,000.
I don't think that, because I don't think it's a Colt.
But I know a guy who knows a guy.
That's excellent.
I'll be right back.
All right.
I'm more than happy to have an expert look at the rifle
and tell me what it actually is, and to give me its worth.
Hey, Rick.
- Hey, Alex. - How are you doing?
Oh, pretty good.
- Hey, I'm Alex. - Charles.
Nice to meet you, Charles.
Here is the Colt-ish rifle.
Wow.
Colt-ish.
Yeah.
That's right.
Let me see this thing.
Some scroll work.
So you know what I think this is?
This is a Springfield Arms Company's
attempt at a revolving rifle.
Didn't Colt have all the patents on that?
That's the very issue.
There's a guy named James Warner,
and he ran Springfield Arms Company.
And in 1849, he released this gun.
And it infringed, actually, on the Colt patents.
But regardless, they didn't make many because it
wasn't the best design.
RICK: OK.
When you have a rifle, your hand's
in front of the chambers.
And the issue becomes if there is any chain firing, meaning
that if the explosion in this chamber
somehow carries over to the second chamber or the third,
which could happen, your hand is an immediate target
for those rounds coming out.
So it actually wasn't a very popular rifle to begin with.
But because it was stopped in the first year of production,
they're tremendously rare.
I mean, tremendously.
I've never picked one up before.
Never had one in my hand.
OK.
So this is Springfield Armory?
The armory that supplied the United
States government forever?
ALEX: Correct.
RICK: So did you fire this?
I would like to fire it.
Can I check it out a little closer to see if--
Please.
--it would be an option?
All right.
So the first thing I want to do is check the bore.
And I have this little handy light up fishing lure.
It's actually quite nice.
I don't see any major issues with it.
So from a bore standpoint, I think we could fire it.
The other thing we really need to check--
the indexing.
So the indexing we know is an issue.
But if you spin it quickly, it does get all the way over.
All right.
I think in theory it would be safe to fire.
If we could fire it, you would know a lot more
about the mechanics of the gun.
RICK: If I do buy this off you, I
can get more money off it if I can actually say yes, it fires.
I have fired it.
Can we go to the range?
I mean, could meet us there tomorrow?
Absolutely.
RICK: All right.
So we're going to shoot this thing.
ALEX: All right.
[bleep] get you for real.
[gunshot]
[laughter]
What do you think it would sell for?
I mean, they're never on the market.
ALEX: It's a $20,000 gun.
OK.
Well, thanks, man.
ALEX: All right.
So yeah, 10 grand, no problem.
[laughs]
Well, uh-- how about we start at $20,000?
Well, I've got to put it into an auction.
They charge fees, everything else like that.
So I mean, what's your best price?
Well, how about $17,000?
I'm thinking more like $12,000.
Would you do $15,000?
I'll tell you what.
I'll do $14,000.
All right.
I can do $14,000.
$14,000.
That's a deal, man.
OK.
You take the gun.
And I'll meet you back at the pawn shop.
And we'll do a bunch of paperwork.
And I'll get you paid. - Awesome.
OK.
And I'll grab all of Alex's stuff
he just left here for me to clean up after him.
CHARLES: I'm very happy that I was
able to make a deal with Rick today for even
more than I was expecting.
And I'm happy that it will find a good home.
Now, where in the hell did they go?
[sighs]