'Pawn Stars' boss Rick Harrison buys a medieval gun and made a fearful Chumlee shoot it
Chumlee has a penchant for getting into trouble on “Pawn Stars,” but it is not always his fault. In an earlier episode of the show, Rick Harrison put his employee in the way of some serious harm and laughed about it. The pawn shop owner had just bought a revolver that was manufactured during the 1850s, and there were big question marks over whether it would actually work properly or blow up in the user’s hands.
The gun was manufactured by the Manhattan Manufacturing Company just before it got patents from Colt. Harrison said that the gun was wildly inaccurate and could only hit targets within five feet of it accurately. Even loading the gun was a tedious process, and as a result, not a lot of people were interested in buying it. It would have served as a good option for those who wanted to use it solely for self-defence.
The guest brought the item to the shop on his wedding day and hoped to use the money to buy his partner a wedding present. He said that he had purchased it in an estate sale and wanted $500 for it. However, before any kind of deal could be agreed upon, Harrison wanted to have the gun looked at by an expert. Therefore, he took it to a man named Tony, along with Corey Harrison and Chumlee.
Such a revolver was called the Pepper Box back in the day, and it looked like one. The expert confirmed what Harrison had said about the weapon earlier, that it was only good for targets that weren’t far away. “Couldn’t hit nothing with it beyond 10 feet,” Tony said. “Across the card table type of gun, that’s about it. Popular with the gamblers, ladies, little on the garter,” he added.
When asked what his concerns were about the firearm, the pawn shop owner said that he wanted to know how much it was worth and whether it would fire. Tony had a shooting range where the weapon could be tested and placed its value around the $500 mark. That is exactly what the guest wanted for it. Obviously, Harrison was going to pay a lot less than that.
He offered $200 at first, but then changed it to $200 if the gun did not fire and $300 if it did. Who was going to fire the gun? None other than Chumlee. “There’s always a danger when you shoot an old gun like that. It’s a couple of hundred years old. The metal fatigues, corrodes, it rusts. It could actually blow up,” Tony added.
The fear on Chumlee’s face was clear as day as he held the gun in both hands at the shooting range. Thankfully, it did not blow up when he pulled the trigger, and the guest was able to walk away with $300 on his wedding day.
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