I am from Georgia, about 100 miles from Atlanta, where Steve used to be in business before moving to Mississippi. I maybe go back a lot further with Steve than most of you here. I have had a number of "encounters" with Steve over the years, some good, some not. There are others from this general area who go back to those years in Atlanta who would give similar accountings. While in Atlanta, Steve frequented a very large gunshow there, he still comes to Atlanta to this same show, in fact. I bought at least two guns from him at that show, maybe more, that's been a number of years now. At one show we had essentially concluded a trade transaction for one of his guns he had displayed, when suddenly Steve changed his mind. It was his gun, so I guess he was entitled to do that. I won't go into details, they have been debated here three times over the years, except to say that the very bad scene involved his extreme abusive and very loud language and persona, and for absolutely no apparent reason. I could name others from the general area who also had bad dealings with him, but remember this, these dealings were all a number of years ago. Since he left Atlanta for Mississippi, he apparently has found a new backer with deeper pockets. The general concensus at the time of his leaving, burning his bridges behind him as he headed West out I-20, was that there was a problem with his floorplan people, that he was under extreme pressure, and that led to his blow-up. Since that time I have continued to look at his greatly expanded offerings, and am in shock at some of the prices, as others have mentioned. I have bought one gun from him since that time, such a good deal I had to have it. I called his store and dealt with someone else there, bought the gun (a pre-war Merkel 16 ga SxS in need of some TLC) and have been very pleased with it. Photos of it after it's renovation have been posted here in the thread on case coloring after I had Don Menk re color it for me. I continue to watch his listings. I very definitely believe in second chances. I have needed a couple in my life. It appears to me, based on the above testimonies of like minded gun buyers, that maybe
Steve has worked out his problems and has settled down. His general reputation, again based on recountings from others, has also changed. I would say it is now generally good, whereas it did not used to be. So, to put an end to all this dribble, I'll add my vote to all those above as a "Yes," if he has what you want and you can work a deal, go ahead and do so with a good degree of confidence. Now, from where I sit, this kind of story bears more heavily in his favor than might a single transaction from a recent period from one of the above posters.
