Have you ever regretted trading or selling an old gun?

Almost never. A few weeks ago I'd have said never, but I did trade off a really nice little AYA 20 ga double years ago. Man that thing was pretty. Pretty wood, very nicely checkered, a little tasteful engaving, 28"-mod/full. I had bought it new as Sears about 1978 for $200.00. Which was a pretty fair chunk of change in those days.

The only reason I say I regret it now is I've reacquired a hankering for double shotguns, and now I realized what a really nice little gun it was. At the time I'd never really heard of AYA and it was just a "Sears gun."

On the other hand, now I've got an excuse to look for a nice 20 ga side by side.
 
I have no regrets of the handguns I sold. My reasons I still standby to this day. All sold were bought by me new with the exception of the High Standard Citation, I was too young at the time.

Beretta 84 380ACP, the only 380 I’ve ever owned. Never an issue in terms of reliability, feed only factory Federal hollow points. The grip of the pistol was all smooth from the wood side panels to front and back of the grip and fat, not to my liking. Recoil was nasty yet useable. A friend that was in the service at the time with extensive experience with the 1911 said the recoil felt more than a 1911 45ACP. This is was my beginning into the 45auto.

High Standard Citation 5.5”, 22LR. One of the bad ones with a wobbly trigger, side play. Trigger has to be moved/pushed to ones side to fire. Sold at a high loss with defect noted.

S&W 586, 357mag revolver. Felt too front heavy even compared to the Colt Python. Lockup was consistent and loose on all chambers. Comparatively my S&W 66 is a high precision tool although with a compromised forcing cone.

Sig 220, 45ACP early import, I believe, with Euro mag release. Double action trigger was useless to me in terms of reach and pull. Decock with no safety didn’t make it better. Single action was just OK in terms of hand fit. The most accurate 45ACP pistol I’ve owned. IMO not well suited for high round count range use because of alloy frame and the roll pin of the slide was a turn-off. Aesthetically not much better than a Glock IMO.

Colt Gold Cup series 70 (1911, collet/bushing), two pistols. First pistol I wore the bluing off the receiver, thousands of rounds. No part breakages or need related to wear. Cold blued receiver prior to sale. Second pistol sold new complete in the box un-shot. IMO no pistol fits the hand as well as the 1911 and it’s aesthetically pleasing. But I find the reliability wanting. While it never jammed with factory Federal Match JSWC it didn’t sound like it had an easy time feeding either. Makes a double clang sound while the round is entering the chamber. Jamming becomes more of an issue with my reloads when the round count approaches 200 during a single session. Probably related to the hold of the pistol and fouling at the muzzle area of the bushing/collet. And then there’s the magazine floor plate breakages. Issues that don’t exist with the S&W 745. I still have a third Colt GC that was customized by King’s Gunworks and my own widening of the mag well, making the pistol more to my liking. Yet it’s still a 1911 with issues that I simply choose live with.
 
Sellers regrets:

Colt Anaconda, was told it couldn't handle the hot .44 Mags that we all knew were needed to kill deer back then. Shortly after selling they quit producing them.

Colt Police Positive .38 Special - just a nice little gun but I really didn't have much use for it. Shortly after I traded it off we got shall issue.
 
Very seldom

I am a serial owner. I can't own them all...not all at once, anyway. :)

Seriously, I think I have owned close to 75 handguns in the last 25 years. Sell one, buy one has allowed me to experience almost 20 S&W revolvers, almost 25 1911s, and a bunch of others.

Do I regret selling any? Only a few. A six-inch S&W M57 and a Hamilton Bowen-massaged four-inch M25-5 are two I think about from time to time, but honestly, they did not get much exercise. If I can't (or don't) carry it or shoot it at least somewhat regularly, I will sell it and move on.
 
I regret selling a first gen Ruger Vaquero Bisley in .44 mag. The regret is not so much from selling it as from buying it in the "wrong" chambering to begin with when what I should have bought is the 45LC.
 
Some but certainly not all. Times change. Tastes evolve and become refined. There's no shame in letting go of guns that you know are ready to go. Besides, nearly everything is replaceable.


Nowadays, replacing these revolvers is just too expensive.
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Then you obviously don't miss them bad enough.
 
The only gun I ever got rid of was a Rem 700 in .222 with a bull barrel.

I miss that rifle. It was a tack driving, woodchuck killing machine. :)
 
I miss my Springfield Xd, but I got it from my brother-in-law and it was his first gun, so I felt bad about taking it from him, so I traded it back to him for his AK.
 
Biggest Regret

West German Walther PP .380 in Mint Condition

!917 - All Matching DWM - Luger

Fulton Armory Nat'l Match Garand - Premier Grade

Etc, etc.... :(
 
Owned a bunch .Sold a bunch. Been home broken in two times .divorced onetime .Do I regtette it. IT'S JUST STUFF.
 
OK. Enough time has gone by (over 50 years) for me to 'fess up to a moment of incredible foolishness. The year was 1959. I was 18 and going into the Navy. And I was broke. So I made the somewhat-less-than-Solomonic decision to sell three guns to a friend. The guns were:

- a Ruger Single Six .22 revolver with the extra .22 Magnum cylinder;
- a Winchester model 94 in .30-.30; and (gulp)
- a Winchester pump gallery gun in .22 (model 62?).

The sky-high price I extorted from my buddy? A whopping (double gulp) $200.

When I was eventually discharged, I asked my friend if he would sell the guns back to me. He just laughed. I think I have spent the last 50 or so years trying to make up for this act of youthful foolishness. :rolleyes:
 
IT'S JUST STUFF.
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Maybe for you. For me it's memories of shooting and hunting with family and friends. It's the grand result of a lifelong passion. It's our connection to the past. The stuff is usually replaceable but the memories associated with them are not. I can buy another .410 shotgun but I cannot buy another first gun, used to kill my first squirrel. I can buy another pre-`64 model 94 but I cannot relive that first deer hunt. I can buy another single action .22 but I cannot buy another first handgun that I spent every dime I saved on at 12yrs old. I can buy another .44Spl but I cannot buy another first custom gun. I can buy another Super Blackhawk to convert to a Bisley but I cannot buy that one custom gun that turned out just right. I can buy another 28ga double but I cannot survive my first serious health problem again that resulted in scratching that off my bucket list. No sir, not just "stuff" at all.
 
Yes, I once bought a Blackhawk 44 for $100, had it about a month and someone offered me $200 and I sold it.

Didn't get another one for years and that one cost me about $400. :(

I do not regret selling my Sterling .25 - LOL :)
 
Yes I have regretted selling every gun I have sold. I will never sell another one. I have replaced everyone I sold except for a Ruger Bear Cat and a S&W model 29.
 
Three, all revolvers.

My first gun, a 4 inch Blued Colt Diamondback .38 Special.
My 4 inch blued S&W Model 19 .357 Magnum.
My 6 inch nickle plated S&W Model 57 .41 Magnum


And two I regret not buying.

Matching 4.75 inch Colt SAAs circa 1979 - for $350 each. At the time I couldn't see paying that much for two "old fashioned" guns when Colt Pythons cost the same amount of money...
 
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