It's interesting because I visited two pawn shops yesterday and had a different experience in each one.
In the first I spotted a Finn Mosin-Nagant model 91 rifle that I believed to have a Chatellerault receiver. (The first M-91 Mosin-Nagant rifles made for the Russians were made in France.) The 1940 Tikka barrel has an excellent bore and the rifle is well worth the small price I paid. The young man working there struck up a conversation because I mentioned I had a C&R license and he wasn't familiar with it. Then we got off onto Mosin-Nagant rifles and he wanted to know everything I could tell him. Obviously, he was interested in old military guns and was willing to learn. He's an exception and I'm sure he'll use the knowledge to price future MN's closer to their real value. This one was priced well under market value.
In the second, I ran into a young man in his early 20's who knew almost everything and what he didn't know, he was willing to improvise. He proudly showed me an 1855 Harper's Ferry rifled musket with a Maynard Tape mechanism. The barrel had been whacked off to carbine or musketoon length. When I pointed that out, he explained that both the barrel and the stock had been shortened for a small man who had served in the 21st VA Infantry Regiment. How he knew this, I was afraid to ask. It was obvious that he'd tell me anything he thought I wanted to hear in order to make a sale.
Pawn shops are a prime reason for "caveat emptor". I'm sure they're also the origin of many "facts" we hear that just aren't so!
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