shadowman Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 Just noticed that Autoweapons.com has quite a few Thompsons listed on their site (about a dozen). All are POR but from what few prices are given (other guns), I'm guessing they're going to befull retail (or higher). Anyone purchased or otherwise dealt with this dealer? Info appreciated. Thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubguy Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 My friend who is a class 3 dealer buys from him, but when I inquired about a couple 1921s he had for saleI found him to be a jerk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Iannamico Posted November 2, 2015 Report Share Posted November 2, 2015 deleted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgvince Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I've e-mailed for a couple prices before. Much higher than "retail". I don't know who would have been buying from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m60mgman Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Convicted last month... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTRS-14.5 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Wow another auction maybe!!!LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmarvin Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I've dealt with Vahan on several occasions and he has always been polite and professional inour dealings (both buying and selling). He has connections that allow him access to some ofthe rarest machine guns you will ever see. His prices may reflect the high side of retail but I was alwayswilling to pay up for the chance to acquire them.I don't know any specifics of his legal case, but the cutting and parting out of post samples has been ongoingfor years. Perhaps the ATF is now cracking down on that practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21 smoker Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I have had no dealings with Vahan,but we have shot together..he always brought the coolest stuff to my range...too bad he ran afoul of some petty ATF regs.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrylta Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 As my mother once said, if you do not have anything nice to say, say nothing at all.I'll leave it there........Darryl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Darryl, I would agree with your mother, except when it comes to vendors. Especially vendors selling expensive items. If a guy is a good seller, then it should be made known. If a guy is a bad seller, then it should be made known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLansky Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I purchased three guns in three separate transactions from Vahan when I first started collecting. First i bought an UZi, then a Mac 10 (45) and then a Mac 10 (9mm). i think this over the course of 3 years. all three were new in the box. I overpaid for each gun by about 10% in order to get the new in the box guns. the deals went very smoothly and everything was as advertised. after those initial purchases I did not do any further business with him for a few years. About 5 years ago I sent him an email inquiring about some thompsons and accessories. I identified myself as a prior customer and said I looked forward to doing business with him again. his response was to the effect that he looked me up in his books and the guns I was interested in were out of my price range. a follow up call went rather poorly. that was that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10/22Hunter Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Thank you for asking this question! Called on a Machine gun, woman answered, was short, rude and seemed to lack knowledge past cursurary questions. Could not answer any real questions regarding a couple items on the website. Told they do not like to talk with customers on the phone and prefer to do everything by email and I would have to email any questions in to be answered. So, no clue as to customer service or even basic courtesy. Very short and rude, I was clearly bothering her by calling on a gun. Subsequently, emailed questions in and got short and generic responses instead of detailed answers to specific questions. Responses also used VERY crude language and were beyond unprofessional. After finally getting a couple prices, they were past reasonable overpriced. I.e.: 25-28K gun for 34k. I did not buy, will not buy, and will no longer look at their website. They don't care because currently demand outweighs supply, but when that changes (either by laws or economics) they will go out of business. Good riddance. No place for this firm among educated collectors and professionals with expendable cash for toys/investments. Now this is an accurate description of my experience, no matter how anyone would twist it. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colt21a Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 Dance with the Devil and sometimes you get forked.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCM Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) Wonder if anyone made a " deal " on # 6444, one of the Thompsons Mr. Dillinger borrowed from on his escape from the Lake County jail in Crown Point. It was returned to FBI, then back to Lake County after recovered in St Paul as I remember. I know it's there my friends fired it. Someone may have #6444 and don't even know what they have.I need to make some calls. Edited November 4, 2015 by OCM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brazos609 Posted November 4, 2015 Report Share Posted November 4, 2015 I don't know any specifics of his legal case, but the cutting and parting out of post samples has been ongoingfor years. Perhaps the ATF is now cracking down on that practice. Cutting up a post sample from a department after they have used them for years and you got them in trade is one thing, ordering six dozen guns in a department's name that the department doesn't even know about and stripping them down and selling the brand new parts is very different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowman Posted November 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to post their experiences... I suspectedthere was a reason he seemed to have such a large inventory on hand of otherwisehard-to-find items (e.g., Thompsons, M-60's, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renovate7 Posted November 8, 2015 Report Share Posted November 8, 2015 (edited) He screwed me royally on a purchase in 2006. I knew his ethics would catch up to him and now it has. Good riddance to the industry. It's hard to believe Bowers had him as a RECOMMENDED dealer. I told Bowers in a phone call he is judged by the company he keeps...There's a picture of Vaughn, Bowers and another dealer posted on Sturm right now under the NFA discussion section with big sh*t eating grins on their faces. Wonder who else just got screwed. Edited November 8, 2015 by renovate7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLansky Posted December 17, 2017 Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) sentencing scheduled for January 5. http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/gun-dealer-will-learn-his-fate-jan-for-gun-running/article_25a15d76-cbe9-5908-8562-0a3988cb4b69.html http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/crime/ct-ptb-kelerchian-machinegun-sentencing-st-1117-20171110-story.html Edited December 17, 2017 by DLansky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black River Militaria CII Posted December 17, 2017 Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 Caveat emptor!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petroleum 1 Posted December 17, 2017 Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 I have been looking for a nice Thompson and German ww2 gun for a while now. As I posted on another thread here I found a nice M1A1 in my price range from Dan Shea in NV. A couple of months ago I was told to look on the autoweapons site because they had a big inventory of both type guns I was looking for. Their site does not have any prices listed so you have to email in for pricing. I find this to be tedious but as I came along and saw something I was interested in I clicked on the send email link and asked for the price. I was thinking this was some sort of automated bounce back thing for getting prices. As I found out this is NOT the case. There is a person on the other end responding. I received emails saying I was a F******g tire kicker and to go away!! This person went on to say that I'm a stupid newbie posting on this forum and the subgun message boards and this hobby has no room for blank blank like me. Honestly it almost made me pitch what ever guns I had and move on to something else but I'm glad I didn't as I bought several guns since those vulgar emails and found some good friends online here. Anyway that is my experience with autoweapons.comVinny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huggytree Posted December 17, 2017 Report Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) he must sell some of them to someone.....and at those prices he only needs to sell a few a year ive found his prices 50%+ higher than normal....but the beautiful list of weapons is impressive.....if your a multimillionaire who wants a nice gun and does care that your thompson costs +$20k extra then you buy from him... Ruben has a similar business plan except is is only 10% higher....he sells every one of those guns, some take a year+, but eventually they all go...he doesnt have as nice of a collection as autoweapons does though.....think of the millions sitting in that vault!!! Edited December 17, 2017 by huggytree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buzz Posted December 18, 2017 Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 I have been looking for a nice Thompson and German ww2 gun for a while now. As I posted on another thread here I found a nice M1A1 in my price range from Dan Shea in NV. A couple of months ago I was told to look on the autoweapons site because they had a big inventory of both type guns I was looking for. Their site does not have any prices listed so you have to email in for pricing. I find this to be tedious but as I came along and saw something I was interested in I clicked on the send email link and asked for the price. I was thinking this was some sort of automated bounce back thing for getting prices. As I found out this is NOT the case. There is a person on the other end responding. I received emails saying I was a F******g tire kicker and to go away!! This person went on to say that I'm a stupid newbie posting on this forum and the subgun message boards and this hobby has no room for blank blank like me. Honestly it almost made me pitch what ever guns I had and move on to something else but I'm glad I didn't as I bought several guns since those vulgar emails and found some good friends online here. Anyway that is my experience with autoweapons.comVinny What on earth is wrong with those people? holy smokes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowman Posted December 18, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 So since I started this thread on "Autoweapons" about two years ago... - I emailed for a quote on a nice-looking M1 Thompson they had listed; got a quick reply that waspolite enough, but about $10K above what I eventually found one (original WW2 gun) for. Given the differential,my judgement was that we were way too far apart to likely ever make a deal, so I didn't counter or otherwise try to negotiate on that gun. - I subsequently purchased one of the Integrally Suppressed Rugers ("Amphibian") from them, and haveto say that that transfer was handled quickly & professionally, and no problems (*gun now in my safe). I would presume they cater to a clientele (not me!) that has soooo much money, that "$10K either way" is neitherhere nor there... and that seems to be the way that most MG ownership is going... keep in mind we live in acountry where it is said that 63% of people couldn't cover an unexpected $500 debt...(see-- https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2016/01/06/63-of-americans-dont-have-enough-savings-to-cover-a-500-emergency/#3dc7fd414e0d ) My $0.02... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petroleum 1 Posted December 18, 2017 Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 I have been looking for a nice Thompson and German ww2 gun for a while now. As I posted on another thread here I found a nice M1A1 in my price range from Dan Shea in NV. A couple of months ago I was told to look on the autoweapons site because they had a big inventory of both type guns I was looking for. Their site does not have any prices listed so you have to email in for pricing. I find this to be tedious but as I came along and saw something I was interested in I clicked on the send email link and asked for the price. I was thinking this was some sort of automated bounce back thing for getting prices. As I found out this is NOT the case. There is a person on the other end responding. I received emails saying I was a F******g tire kicker and to go away!! This person went on to say that I'm a stupid newbie posting on this forum and the subgun message boards and this hobby has no room for blank blank like me. Honestly it almost made me pitch what ever guns I had and move on to something else but I'm glad I didn't as I bought several guns since those vulgar emails and found some good friends online here. Anyway that is my experience with autoweapons.comVinny What on earth is wrong with those people? holy smokesYup...i have the emails but certainly not appropriate to post here it was shocking to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppgcowboy Posted December 18, 2017 Report Share Posted December 18, 2017 He treated me pretty poorly. Would never consider him getting a dollar from me. It will be interesting to see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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