Gun Oh No's!

J

Jim V

New member
I am not talking about accidents (ND's and the like) but selling off or trading away a firearm that 1/2 a pico second later you were screaming, mentally, "OH NO!"

I have had two real big ones.

I bought a minty Springfield (Fed. Gov. type) 1911 at a gun show, put it with my display and was shortly later offered big bucks for it.
Sound of palm striking forehead.

I had a pair of Randall 1911A1's, a right and a left hand pistol, with spare magazines for both pistols, and a fancy holster and belt set for the pistols. As an aside, Randall made mirror image 1911's, everything that could only work one way was the mirror image of the right hand part. I had the rig on display at a gun show with the rest of teh 1911 collection and was enticed into selling the set for more money than I ahd into the entire set up. Real loud sound of palm striking the forehead!

Anybody else have them moments? Not "I shudda bought that '73 Winchester for $150.00" things but "Why the hell, did I sell that for?" moments.

BTW, It was kinda fun slipping a shooter on the range a left handed Randall magazine and have him go nuts trying to figure why it would not work in his pistol.

OOPS, POSTED ON WRONG FORUM-SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE GENERAL FORUM.

[This message has been edited by Jim V (edited November 29, 1999).]
 
No prob...I'll move it over to Gen'l and lock it here

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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes" RKBA!
 
Two come to mind here.
One where I was offered "Big bucks" for my fully dressed out, LOW serial numbered (one of the first 1000) Springfield Armory imported SAR-48.
Second, which I'm still kicking myself over, was when I realized (approx. 1 min. 38 sec. later) that I shouldn't have sold my Winchester model 1897 "trench gun", complete with bayonet, that never had more than one box of shells put through it since it was built. :(

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Happiness is a tight group!
 
A gun once sold is rarely retrieved. It is much akin to parting with a loved one.


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Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt
 
Passed up a few this year:

Unfired Enfield: $170 at the Del Mar Gunshow. Thought that an "unfired" Enfield sounded a little like "virgin" hooker (ie, doesn't exist)

Complete Armalite AR15 lowers: $230 assembled. I ran across these in a gunstore. Came back the next day and they were $330. Clerk and owner denied they were ever $230. Like I can't read. Don't know if I could'a got them out of the store like that, they would have had 15 days to catch the mistake, but you never know.

Bushmaster Complete lower with Factory NM trigger for $320 (same as catalog price which is also dealer price).

Kick kick kick.
 
I passed one up in April of this year. We go antiquing in PA every spring. I noticed a rifle sitting up in the corner at one dealers cubicle. He didn't sell firearms, only had this one. It was a Win. Model 1890 in 22 Short. I thought it look in good condition and I noticed that it had a case colored receiver. I thought that was probably normal for that model having never seen one before. I didn't need another 22 to add to the 3 I already have especially since he wanted $400 for it, so I walked on. When I got home I checked the Blue Book and found that that rifle was worth around $3,000 because it was case colored. That dealer only opened on Sundays, so the next weekend my son and I hot footed it back to PA, about a 250 mi. trip, only to find that he had sold the rifle near the end of the day we had been there. Damn!

The moral is, never go to an antique store without your Blue Book, I know I never will again.
 
1987, Ft Hood, Texas. Broke buddy of mine offered me a mint AutoMag with .44 AND .357 barrels, for two hundred dollars. I got a brain-cramp, thought, "Why do I need an AutoMag?"

Doh!

LawDog

[This message has been edited by LawDog (edited November 29, 1999).]
 
Well, I should have kept a minty Winchester 1895 in .30-'03, saddle-ring carbine.

Then there was the 85% Model 92 in .44-40...

And the Ruger 77 heavy barrel .220 Swift with single-set Canjar trigger. A tack-driver.

Hmm. One of the first AR-15 A-2? Is that right? Heavier barrel? Gave $350 for it...

And 50 years back, a Winchester Hi Wall in .25-20 Singleshot. Traded it to my uncle for a Ruger Mk 1, at some point.

There was a 98% Winchester 42 I shoulda kept.

Two beers and a couple of Hank Williams songs and I'm gonna go off and commit suicide...
 
Art,

I'll provide both the beer and the music if we can let it stop right there! ;)

(Good to hear from ya!)
 
Oh - great topic!
Now why dont you splash lemon juice into these old wounds you just reopened!

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"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." - Sigmund Freud
Hey, have I mentioned my new book? It is called:
MEN ARE FROM MARS and WOMEN JUST NEED TO DEAL WITH IT!
 
I've bought, sold and traded many guns over the years but, only one really haunts me. Six inch S&W Model 17 1960s vintage. Really loved that .22, but at the time I was out of work and desperate for money. Some broken hearts never heal.
 
I have had so many of these that they don't even keep me up at night anymore...(yeah, right...)

There are really only two, no, THREE that still bother me:

1.) Traded a nearly new (200 rounds downrange) Bren Ten with TWO MAGAZINES for a worn out Colt National Match (pre-Gold Cup) that would not stay on paper at 25 yards. Why? Couldn't get 10mm ammo...

2.) Traded the first handgun I even bought, a Mag-Na-Port Custom 4" Model 29 Smith, for something so unremarkable that, 17 years later, I don't remember what I traded for!

3.) Traded off my first Colt SAA (44-40) for an AR-15 HBAR. Not a knock on the HBAR, but that SAA was SO smooooth. It was an absolute tackdriver, too.....<sigh>

Let the butt-whuppin's commence....

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Mossyrock
Curmudgeon In Training



[This message has been edited by Mossyrock (edited November 30, 1999).]
 
Two come to mind for me, both done in '75.

1)An original AMT .44 Automag, complete with plastic hard case and one box of factory ammo, purchased for $300. It took a few years for that one to dawn on me, and I look at prices today and want to puke. :( :(

2)A Springfield Armory NM M1A, complete with a dozen 20 rd mags, and one which had been blocked to 5 rd. capacity for hunting purposes. Also had one ammo can full of sized & primed brass, and one ammo can full of ammo, as well as a target sling and various other accessories. Also got that one for $300, ended up trading it for a '64 Galaxy 500 which promptly threw a rod. SUCKER!!!! :( :( :( :(

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Shoot straight regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=45acp45lc
 
I'm not sure if this may help or not, and since I have only disposed of 5 guns over the years, it may hardly apply. If I have one I don't care for, for one reason or another, I take it out one last time and make sure I experience the most unpleasant aspect of shooting it. The last one was a Smith Model 66, 2 1/2 snubby. 6 rounds of full house .357 158gr cast SWC, all over the target, bloody hand and a whole bunch of lead to clean out of the barrel. I had zero regrets about getting rid of it.

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CCW for Ohio action site.
http://www.ofcc.net
Do what you C.A.N.

http://thematrix.acmecity.com/digital/237/cansite/can.html
 
In 1964, through our Rod & Gun Club (in Germany), I bought a brand new Colt Government Model .45 for $67 (or $64, I forget...).

Came to the U.S. and sold it for a hundred dollars. I was happy I made a profit.

(Dumb, dumb, dumb,...n. :()
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Oh, on my return from overseas, my three rifles were stolen. One of them was a brand new Marlin .30-30 (lever, of course) that had never even been fired. Grrrr.

Riiiggghhht. "We 'take care' of our own!"
(Bah! Humbug!)
 
Found a NIB. Winchester model 70 in 300 win mag for 230.00$ from a guy back from Germany in the service. Drove halfway across the state to by it. Ended up selling it for cash i needed at the time. Man wish i had the reciever from that rifle now, great start for a varmint rifle.... heavy sigh...
 
1992: I was offered a way pre-ban CAR15, collapsible stock and 16" barrel, with several mags of various capacity for $450.00.
Argh!
 
Early Remington Mod 870 wingmaster, my first shotgun purchase when I was sixteen. Had to sell it when I was in the Army and had orders, couldn't take it with me. Wish I still had it, lots of memories go with that gun.

Geoff Ross
 
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