Keystone Armory Edinboro PA?

[pittgunguy]

Hello,
Planning on coming up in the direction of Erie over the weekend, has anybody had experience with this shop? Worth the time to stop by? Im mostly interested in firearms.

[P89]

It's worth stopping to see, lots of neat stuff in there.
Prices are about par for the course, no real "gotta have" deals from what I've seen.

[Noah_Zark]

It's worth stopping to see, lots of neat stuff in there.
Prices are about par for the course, no real "gotta have" deals from what I've seen.

Neat store (converted barn).

Neat stuff in inventory (some of the inventory is displayed in glass cases with historical artifacts like uniforms and militaria).

Prices on the high side of going rate, in my experience and opinion, for both ammo and hardware. (They had a lot of "like to have" merch, but the prices were off-putting. E.g.: WASR-10/63 for ~$500, others have them for $450 +/-.)

Noah

[pittgunguy]

Thanks for the input, will give it a try. Anybody try negotiating the prices? Some dont seem too far off for my area.

[pittgunguy]

...I guess a couple novembers ago those would have been a steal! Haha

[ChuckS]

This article was in the Erie Times-News recently. I thought it was pretty interesting that the weapon happened to turn up at Keystone Armory.
WWII Ariska Type 99

Published: January 26. 2011 1:15AM
Family reunited with father's lost WWII-era rifle
By SEAN McCRACKEN
sean.mccracken@timesnews.com

HARBORCREEK -- A Japanese World War II Arisaka Type 99 rifle usually fetches $200 to $300 on the gun market.

But one with the name "Bill Bucklin" carved into it is worth a lot more to a local family. It's a lost-and-found story that begins 66 years ago on the other side of the world.

Back in 1945, Bill E. Bucklin was a young marine fighting at Iwo Jima in one of the most pivotal battles of World War II.

Like many soldiers, Bucklin collected enough guns and other keepsakes to fill a duffle bag. Bucklin made it back to his home on the lower east side of Erie later that year. The bag didn't.

When he would tell his eight children about the experience years later, Bucklin would leave out the most gruesome parts of the war. But that lost bag would become a family legend.

Until his death in 1996, Bucklin would openly wonder what had happened to that bag after he boarded a bus in San Francisco. Was it stolen? Was it mixed up with someone else's bags? Or was it just lost in transit?

Fast forward to September 2010. Bucklin's eldest son, Bill P. Bucklin, is working at GE Transportation when a co-worker tells him he saw a rifle at Keystone Armory, 11091 Route 99 in Washington Township, with his name -- Bill Bucklin -- carved into it.

The younger Bucklin's mind immediately raced to the memory of his father's infamously lost duffle bag. He quickly told his brother Mike Bucklin, of Lawrence Park Township, who ran out to the gun shop that day to check it out.

Within a month, they'd own that gun and at least a good chunk of its history since the day it disappeared.

"I got chills down my spine," Mike Bucklin said. "It's something that we can physically touch. I have no idea how (our father) acquired it, but I was stoked."

Months later, it's still hard for them to wrap their minds around how the rifle found its way back to the family.

"I don't even know what to say about it," said Bill P. Bucklin while sitting in the living room of his Harborcreek Township home, just feet away from the rifle. "It's just unbelievable."

The Bucklins aren't sure of the exact path the gun took after leaving their father's possession, but its previous owner, Mark Starocci, of Erie, has some idea.

Starocci said that when he bought the gun in 2008, he was told it was sent to Erie at some point by a fellow collector's uncle in California. Starocci was told that the uncle was either a veteran of the battle or was given the rifle by someone who was.

The gun would exchange hands at least two more times before becoming part of Starocci's collection.

Despite its unique inscription, Starocci said he was never truly enamored by the rifle.

"It was starting to collect dust, so I figured I might as well sell it and use the money to pick up some other pieces," Starocci said.

The Bucklins bought the gun from Starocci in October for the same price he had originally paid, $175, and brought it back to Bill P. Bucklin's home.

Keystone Armory owner Ernie Carlson said this type of story is something collectors dream about.

"That rifle sat up in that display case for a few weeks and I remember looking at it and wondering 'who is Bill Bucklin,'" Carlson said.

Carlson's shop opened in July, and he said the Bucklins' story has added an entire new dimension to the store.

"We get military items in, but when they're personalized, there's something to it," Carlson said. "When this all transpired, the phone calls were just flying to the store."

Mike Bucklin, an admitted history junkie, said he's extremely proud of his father's service. He even makes sure to put a laminated photo of his father, which was taken on the peak of Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima, next to his father's grave each Veterans Day.

He is still holding out hope they will be reunited with the rest of the bag's contents, including his father's medals and dress uniform.

But he realizes how lucky they are to have the rifle -- a priceless piece of their father's past that could have remained a mystery.

"It's a good thing my brother doesn't go by his middle name," Mike Bucklin said.

[pittgunguy]

I had a chance to stop by the Keystone Armory on Saturday while visiting my family in Fairview, easily one of the nicest shops I have ever been in. For a follow-up on P39, prices seemed fair/par to me and I saw some customers trading firearms who appeared happy with thier transactions. I wasnt shopping for a WASR-10 but did take a look at a tag, they had them at $475 so they may have been dropped since Noah's visit but I did not have any "off-putting" experiences based on price tags, seemed like some of the expensive items were firearms that you rarely come across in a shop so it made sense to me. I did enjoy quite a bit of the military artwork and items around the store although I dont consider myself a military buff. I was expecting mostly military items from the name of the store and look but was very surprised by the variety of firearms, both military and non, both new and used. I did have an experience not often felt in shops in my area, I was surprised to be able to actually handle fireams and shop around without feeling any pressure or hawk-eyes following me around the store, environment was great and I was there almost an hour before I realized it. Handguns were of course locked up but I had no problems with the friendly employees letting me handle whatever I wanted. Looked a bit limited on ammunition until I saw the stock of it behind the register. They seemed to have quite a bit back there. I decided to purchase an LCP since I have wanted one for a while and while filling out the paperwork observed two other customers negotiate prices and saw the employees were very fair and willing to work with customers, so as in most gun stores I dont think the advertised prices are the bottom line. I was happy with my $285 LCP (I think tag was $300 or so). Yes I had seen them cheaper online but after shipping and transfer fees it seemed fair. $5-$10 price differences are not worth my drive around town to find a better price. At checkout they even handed me a free t-shirt! So with my experience I will stop by again whenever I am in town. I also found and added thier facebook page to my profile. Chuck S, that was a cool story!

[GrumpyBear]

Chuck S.Thanks for the story,brings back some of my memories of WW 2 stories from my dad.
Also sounds like a neat store to stop and vist,will add it to my list.