In this months edition of Pawn Shop Finds, I search the beautiful metro shops of Flint, Michigan to find a bargain gun. I have been trying to go around the state of Michigan to find interesting used guns for a great deal. In the past, I found a couple of Detroit police trade-ins and a John Wick style Compensated Hi-Point 380 out of this world. I decided to search up a few smaller gun shops in Flint. I finally hit the road to see what I could find for a used gun under $200.

The Ruger P95

I started on the edge of Flint with various gun shops but after coming up short at every store I ultimately had to go deeper into the city. After a few hours, I found myself in a neighborhood I probably shouldn’t have been in with every building either being boarded up or having bars on the windows. When I got to the last gun shop, It had huge bars across every door and window. When I tried to open the door, it was locked, but thankfully the shop owner buzzed me in. I knew this would be an interesting conversation at a minimum. Slowly, I started looking at what the shop had and a clean Ruger P95 caught my eye.

The gun had a little discoloration which is common for P95s and included a no name laser attached to the Picatinny rail. The gun felt really solid and when I took the gun apart, it had nearly zero wear on the slide or barrel. It looked brand new internally and still had a tight lock up. The owner had the gun priced at $179.99 but after a little negotiating we settled on a price of $129.99.

I read a lot online about how the good old days of finding great deals on guns are over. I think this is far from the case especially in the slower gun market right now. Gun shop owners are more willing to make deals in order to have a steady income flowing into their shop. My P95 came with one brand new magazine with the sticker on it and a chest holster as well. I’m fairly sure the holster was designed in the 1980s for a scoped revolver but instead came with the P95.

Range Sessions and How It Performs

When I got home and took the pistol apart, the gun looked like it has never been fired. Everything was spotless and there was little to no carbon residue before I started cleaning the gun. Whoever previously owned this gun never fired it or kept it immaculately clean. The lockup is also rock solid with no play between the barrel and slide. Typically, a well-used P95 will feel like it’s riding on glass but can sometimes feel loose in the lockup. My example feels factory new which is a huge plus. The P95 was ahead of its time with the gun being nearly fully ambidextrous.

I’ve shot a P95 in the past but didn’t take notice of its features like I have when I purchased one. I think it’s rather impressive that Ruger put a safety decocker and ambi magazine release on the pistol. That may seem standard but back when the P95 came out these features were not standard. It definitely shows how forward thinking Ruger was trying to make the gun.

Shooting my P95 was a very pleasant experience and even though the gun may not be the smoothest thing to shoot, it’s definitely a steal for $129.00 and I can’t be upset with the overall quality. With a metal slide and polymer frame, the gun does feel a bit top heavy and does recoil quite a bit when shooting at the range. I put a few different ammo types through the gun to see how it performed. I tried Wolf, Tula, PMC, Blazer, and American Eagle from Federal. Everything fed flawlessly and the P95 cycled everything without an issue.

Overall Thoughts

I’m beginning to become a little irritated honestly because every gun I have bought from either gun shops or pawn shops has worked 100% without issue. I have been expecting one of these guns to have terrible malfunctions but that’s simply not the case. This Ruger was a steal for what I got honestly. The gun is practically brand new from what I can tell and hasn’t been beaten at all. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard people say that used gun deals don’t exist anymore and the 4 guns I have found in the last three months have all been severely under their market value price.

Great deals are out there if you just take the time to look at different shops and just talk to the workers. In today’s market, gun shops are always trying to sell as much as possible even though the market is slow. At the end of the day, the worst thing that could happen is the store attendant says no and you move on to the next store. It’s never a bad idea to at least ask if they would take a different price and work from there. Let me know what you guys have bought for a great price in the comments below. If you have questions on anything feel free to message me on Instagram @fridgeoperator. Stay safe out there!