The Trap Door Gun That Sold For Hundreds On Pawn Stars

Guns are one of the most popular items found in any pawn shop. It's surprising then, that the traders at World Famous Gold & Pawn from "Pawn Stars" don't actually deal that often in weaponry. By law, Rick Harrison and his employees have to follow certain rules when buying weapons. The store can only deal in antique items, though customers might find their shop full of swords and other such weapons made for melee. As a result, it's always a little bit special when a customer arrives at the shop looking to sell a weapon that fits the bill for "antique."

However, in the Season 5 episode, "Learning the Ropes," the featured gun in question is considered desirable for reasons other than its age. Rather than firing bullets, it shoots ropes, and looks like the confused lovechild of a musket and Batman's grappling hook. Without a doubt, it's a unique and interesting item, and Corey managed to purchase it for mere hundreds of dollars.

Just to be clear, the Springfield Ropeshot featured on this episode of "Pawn Stars" isn't some glorified silly-string gun. As Corey noted in the episode, it was originally designed for the U.S. Army as a regular gun, but was modified after the advent of repeating rifles to shoot a rod carrying a length of rope. Using this device, U.S. sailors could connect two ships (often for the purpose of boarding an enemy vessel) up to 700 yards away. It's a unique item to be sure, but in this case that also means it has a small number of potential buyers. Even then, Corey had to verify that he is legally allowed to buy and sell the thing.

Luckily, the seller (who inherited the weapon through his mother's family) had papers verifying that it was an antique firearm. Once that issue was settled, the seller was quick to offer his first price for the gun: $1,200. Unfortunately, Corey did not think the gun was worth that much and offered $400 in response. The seller tried to juice a bit more green from the gun by asking for $850, only for Corey to offer a counter-deal of $500. Finally, the two men managed to settle on selling the gun for $600. While this may have not been the big-money maker that the seller anticipated, the seller still walked away satisfied.