A few years back I was helping with the hunter sight in day at the Ike's range in Lincoln. A couple of guys (who, frankly, didn't seem all that smart) showed up with the ugliest, most beat up old Mossberg .22 I've ever seen. Someone had tried to "carve" a design into the stock, the metal was covered in flaking black paint, the rear peep sight swung back and forth like a weathervane, etc. If I remember correctly the owner told me he paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $200 for the thing, and he was pretty proud of his new toy. It patterned about like a shotgun at 25 yards.
It was sold to him by a certain local dealer who has a reputation for being a little shady. I didn't have the heart to tell him he got screwed. I guess it goes to show that P.T. Barnum was right.
