AZ: Bullhead City Gun Shop (N&P) on the way to Yuma

Gun Watch ^ | 31 May, 2015 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

On the way back to Yuma from Las Vegas, I stopped in at N.P. gun sales.  I had stopped there on the way up, but had not spent much time.   Bullhead city has the lowest gas prices on the route, and I had already filled up at $2.57 for regular unleaded.  The price was $3.17 in Las Vegas, $2.99 in Searchlight, and $2.88 in Yuma.  

Neil, the proprietor, had a big smile for me as I walked in the door.  He is a people person, easy to get along with and talk to, and very knowledgeable.

This Savage model 99 in .300 Savage was the find of the day.  It has nice wood, was in good condition, and was a "transition" model, when Savage switched from brass magazine counters and cocking indicator pins to steel.  It has the brass magazine counter and a steel cocking indicator.  They do not make the model 99 anymore, because it is too expensive to produce.  Prices on the model 99 have been all over the place.   It is a great hunting rifle.  I have a soft spot for it, as I shot my first buck with one when I was 13.   At $459, I thought it a good deal, but Neils says the demand is low in the Bullhead City area.

I had been discussing the prices of Colt Pythons a few days prior.  Apparently all the Colt "Snake" names are commanding high prices.  This six inch King Cobra had a price tag of $2,250.   Colt made a bad decision when it decided to stop producing most of its revolvers.



I did not pay much attention to the prices, because I was more interested in what items were there, and not very interested in purchasing.  It is a strange place to be when you think more  of giving guns away, instead of buying them.

At first glance, I thought this revolver was an Enfield.  But it was a Webley and Scott!   They are much less common in this configuration than the Enfields are.  It appears that someone customized these grips.

I did not look at the price of the sporterized Krag.  Someone did a good job of putting on a Lyman peep sight. 

Krag rifles have always been known for the smooth bolt action.  The 30-40 falls in between the .300 Savage,  and the .308 for power.  It is adequate for all North American big game, though I would pick something a little bigger for the big bears.

The 1903 Colt Pocket hammerless is not commonly found any more.  At least 508 of them were bought by the OSS (precursor to the CIA) during WWII.


There was a Browning Auto-5 in 12 gauge, with a Cutts Compensator and Lyman interchangeable choke tube.   With a bit of looking, more Lyman tubes could be found.  I have heard that they come up on ebay now and then.

Here is a closeup of the Cutts with the Lyman tube attached.

Neil provides gunsmith services.   He also converts SKS rifles into this bullpup.  It sells as a kit, but requires several hours of gun-smithing.

I always enjoy stopping at the smaller shops and seeing what they have.  You never know what you are going to find.


©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch 

[marktwain]

The Savage seemed like a pretty good deal at $459. I hear that they cost about $1100 to make.

I used to pick them up for less than $300... 10-15 years ago. Not as popular in the desert Southwest as in the Midwest, South, and Northeast.

[sean327]

You had me going, I thought we were going to get some competition for Sprague’s. Ever since Foothills Firearms went out of business Sprague’s for all intent and purpose is the only game in town.

[T-Bird45]

That Browning Auto-5 looks exactly like the one my dad used for quail hunting when I was a kid. Wish he hadn’t sold that shotgun...

[Lurker]

I had a chance to acquire a Savage like that one in .300. I passed on it but somehow still have a box of ammo for it.

L

[hadaclueonce]

Thanks for the post.

I enjoyed going to gun shows in the 70/80’s, it was special to see and touch all the firearms that I had only read about.

[marktwain]

There is Yuma Coin & Gun...

[smokingfrog]

The SKS pup looks a lot like a Tavor.

[AlaskaErik]

I don’t need a gun, I need ammo. I haven’t seen .22 on the shelves in years. If production was tripled my guess is there would still be a shortage.

[Tijeras_Slim]

The 99 is a killer deal. Most of the one’s I see are beat or later models with that awful pressed checkering. I’d wager that one is 1940-1950’s vintage. I have a 1938 takedown model in the safe that is very low mileage (the case colors on the lever are very bright), in 300 Savage.

Nagants I don’t mess with, a personal rule not to buy commie guns. That way you don’t have to check the muzzle for the neck hairs of some zek.

Looks like a genuine Krag that was sporterized, and not one of the Benecia Arsenal carbine conversions done in the 20’s. The integral front sight is the tip off, the Benecia ones used a 1903 Springfield band sight.

The Colt 1903 and 1908 are great guns (Bronwing design, how can we expect less). My 1908 is the least ammo sensitive .380 I’ve ever seen.

Based on the bluing and wood finish color the A5 is a 1950’s gun (the sweet spot for Belgian A5’s). Shame about the Cutts, they pattern well, but are loud. Tubes are still available from Midway I believe, or small dealers like Don Corson of Corson’s Barrels (I got a .410 Cutts tube from his for a Winchester Model 42). A possibly “folk legend” story was that in the 50’s a Soviet shooting coach bought up a Cutts equipped gun at an international meet and cut off the barrel to take it back for study. That led to the “Tula” Choke that was popular for a while.

[Tijeras_Slim]

PS: Shouldn’t gas have been 3.10 in Yuma?

[marktwain]

It would have been poetic...