OK, guys, I finalized my first online purchase today. The whole thing took about a week. I have to say, it was super slick. I ended up buying this baby from a pawn shop located in Texas. I used a local FFL guy and everything went really smooth. I would definitely buy from gunbroker.com and use "my FFL" guy again.
Here she is in all her glory...it's a S&W .357 Magnum - the 686 model (6" barrel, 6-shot)...
