I use the opposite tactic occasionally. One evening I walked in with a M2 receiver and flopped it down on the floor. To the outraged "What the hell is that?"
I replied, "Half a gun - I have to go back and get the barrel out of the car"
The basic question that came next was "What do you need one of those for?"
Answer was "I dont need it. I wanted it, I could afford it, so I bought it." I keep threatening to get a medium caliber weapon (Unfortunately, that's not feasible since '68, but she doesn't know that), so when I get anything smaller, there aren't too many objections
Ahh. The old bait and switch routine!