Another new toy

Well, the holidays are over... thank goodness. Am I the only one that is dismayed that we spend a month or more preparing for Christmas and then in one day it is over? It always seems so anti-climactic. Well, this year did result in two rather special things. The first is that for the first time in my 38 years, I got to experience a white Christmas. It started snowing about 11am on Christmas Day and by the time it was done, we had about 8 inches. The other thing that happened (and the one that more fits the topic of this blog) is that my wife gave me $300 to spend on a new gun.

The plan was to attend the local gun show that was scheduled to be held on Jan 1st and 2nd here. However, the Monday after Christmas I decided to hit the local pawn shops just to see what they had to offer. The first one I went to was the one furthest from my house that I had on my list. It is Foothills Jewelry and Loan in Hickory, NC. My plan was to start there and then work my way back home stopping in about a half dozen shops along the way. I walked into Foothills and scanned the gun counters. They only had one gun that really caught my eye... a Sig P6.

For those that are unfamiliar, the P6 is the German Police version of the Sig P225. It is a single column 9mm that has since been replaced by the P239 in Sig's lineup. In fact, my wife has a P239 and I had one myself that I sold this summer. If you want a good picture of a P225 go to SigForum. The picture on the welcome page and in the logo is a Sig P225 and looks nearly identical to the one I found at Foothills. A couple of years ago, the German Police started trading in their older P6's and a large number of them were imported into the U.S. for civilian sales at some VERY good prices. At the time, it was not that rare to see them in the $250 - $300 range. That supply quickly dried up and a new batch came in at a higher price of $400 - $450. These guns varied greatly in condition. Some were LNIB while others looked liked they were used as a dog toy in the K9 division. A friend that works at Hyatt Gun Shop actually got a NIB one that was never issued to an officer.

That supply too has dried up and they are getting hard to find again. One issue is that older models apparently had a different feed ramp than the civilian P225 and did not feed hollow point ammo very well. The P6 I found was in excellent condition and had a newer date code on it from after the hollow point issue had been corrected. After a little haggling, I got the gun for $350 + tax with 2 mags, a shoulder holster and a single mag carrier. This gun is immaculate and I feel very lucky to have found it.

My only problem is that I didn't get to browse the other shops and going to the gun show became pointless. Oh well. I got a great gun at a great price and got to replace one of the guns I sold that I regretted. Check those pawn shops occasionally. You never know when you will find something special waiting for you there. Stay safe out there... and watch your six.