Mistakes/regrets in purchasing a firearm?

I sometimes buy these "project guns." I have a number of threads on here about them. Somewhere along the way I end up spending more money on every project than I intend. Not a big deal if the project works out, but when it doesn't it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
 
Bought a Bersa 22 semi -with a single mag-I won't do that ever again-that would'nt feed rainwater much less bullets

-bought a used High standard snub 22 revolver that Satan made just to pixx me off everytime I looked at it-skipped in the action more then Gene Kelly in a rainy movie-

-bought a Ruger 22/45 semi that Gene Kelly moved into as soon as I loaded the first magazine and the next 1500 rounds as well before I got rid of it

-bought a Smith 617 that worked exquistily but felt like I was firing a popgun it was so huge-

-bought a High Standard cowboy style double action six inch barrel 22 revolver that worked perfectly that I traded in on a snub High Standard revolver that Gene Kelly was dancing out in the rain when I bought it and he moved into it's cylinder skipping as he went

-bought two Ruger P95's -one that was an wonderfully parkerized and shot in handgun that I bought fifteen round mags for and then sold to finanace my foray through the 22 long rifle wilderness-

-bought a stunningly beautifully made stainless PT101 Taurus 40 smith semi auto without the tool rail under the slide and traded it in becuase there is always something better-NO THERE IS'NT-

-traded in a Mauser HSC that I once used to save my wife and myself from getting carjacked-but it jammed more then Bob Marley with a ton of weed-

-sold a stunningly well made Dan Wesson Model 15 with the six inch heavy barrel shroud-I got a good price for it but still-what a single action that handgun had-brings tears when I think of it-also when I think of just how darn loud the 357's were shot out of it-even with hearing protection.

Passed up buying a Colt hammerless 380 in almost primo condition for $750 about eight years ago.

Bought an RG 38 revolver as my first handgun-that's all I have to say about that.

And there will be more that I'll regret too but I'm hanging on to my Model 10 Smith,an old Baltimore City Policeman's handgun-with an action as smooth as J-Lo's skin and my little snubby Taurus Model 85-never done me bad either.

Might be a Ruger single six or a Smith 22 revolver in my future or who knows may be a LCR or maybe I'll really lose my mind and buy a PPS or a Smith Shield.

It's one thing that makes life worth living-looking forward to looking back.

I can't wait.
 
I bought a Sig Mosquito... There were days that thing ran great. There were days where it wouldn't fire 10 rounds without malfunction.

I also traded a Glock 17L for a S&W M&P .40 when the M&P first came out. Big mistake.
 
Traded a TC contender in 30 Herrit for a Remington XP 100 in 223. Hated the XP wish I had the Herrit. I really enjoyed cutting down 30-30 case and forming them into Herrit cases. When I loaded those hummers with 22 grains of WW 296 behind a 110 grain HP bullets it would pulverize a beer bottle at 100 yards. I would love to use it on Prairie dogs and coyotes.
 
Borderline regret purchasing the Springfield EMP, which I bought for an EDC piece. It felt great, shot great. When it worked. Had to go back to the factory the week I took it home. Came back, and it was flawless...until it started jamming AGAIN, coupled with some light primer strikes for good measure.

Since I figured I was now interested in the 1911, I traded the EMP in for a Colt XSE. I regret not researching/trying this one out before purchasing. That gun was fantastic...except the fact that the beavertail and thumb safety didn't 'fit' my hand right, making it difficult to hold. People suggested that I get a gunsmith to install replacement beavertail and /or safety to make it fit better, but at this point, I decided that, as much as I loved the 1911 trigger, it was time to try something else.

So I traded the 1911 in for TWO Glocks. Haven't regretted that yet...but it's only a been a few months. :)
 
Regret not buying several guns years ago. When I think of some of the deals I passed up. I had a chance to purchase a fully automatic Ruger 223. The $1400 price tag made it seem out of the question. I imagine it is worth alot more now wherever it ended up.
 
Unfortunately, the list is long because I knew next to nothing about guns when I started shooting, and the internet barely existed back then. I did not have any and there were no discussion forums like this one anyway.

I decided that .22 automatic pistols were not reliable so I had to have a revolver. Bought a Ruger single six because it was the only revolver they had at the store. Later realized I had little use for a .22 plinking revolver.

Bought an enfield jungle carbine at a gun show because it looked cool. Found out it kicked like a sledgehammer and was not particularly accurate.

Bought a Ruger Redhawk .44 magnum used at a good price because it was a .44 magnum. Later realized it hurt my hand to shoot it, and I wasn't planning on hunting any rhinoceroses.

Bought 4 cowboy guns to go cowboy action shooting: 2 revolvers, a Rossi/EMF .357 lever action, and a winchester 1897 pump. Found out I didn't much care for standing around for 8 hours in cold drizzle to blast out 120 rounds of .38 special ammunition in less than 15 minutes of shooting.

Bought a Norinco SKS back when they were 200 dollars. Found out that there weren't any barn sides big enough locally to act as suitable targets.

My collection is much smaller now but every gun is one I enjoy shooting and works for either target shooting, fun plinking, or just basking in the history of a paricular fine firearm.

Chaz
 
My Walther PK380

:mad:

I read many reviews of this gun prior to purchasing it. What didn't pay attention to was how old those reviews were. Most reviews were done soon after the gun was released.

I purchased this gun for my girlfriend at the time to shoot so we could go to the range together. After about 50 rounds we experienced constant fairlures to fire and failures to extract. Complete pain in the backside. Lost complete confidence in this gun and sold it to a local gunshop.

What I could have known was that the problem I experienced had also been experienced by many others and in fact there were videos reflecting these problems! When it worked, I loved it. It had a great feel but a gun with so many problems is less than useless.
 
PPS-43C. Oh dear god the regrets. I thought, "Oh, how neat. I don't guess the lack of folding stock will bother me." WRONG. It bothers me everytime I look at it. After countless videos of folding stock PPS43's I crave it. Secondly, I hear all about how the hammers and firing pins love to snap into peices. The nightmarish stories about terrible customer service. It is really funny how in all my research I never seemed to find any of this info till I already had the gun. It's been taken out for shooting 2 times in a year and a half.
 
My only regret is buying a Beretta 9000S and selling off the Bersa Thunder .380. That was years ago when I knew nothing of guns. I knew the Beretta was supposed to be better quality then Bersa. That 9000S was a lemon from round one and I have never been able to get a Bersa again. Just too many things on the list now that I know more. I would like one if I ever have the $$$ for it again.
 
biggest mistake was the purchase of a Taurus 1911,had to send it back to the factory twice, once for a bad sear, the other time the safety fell off. I sold it for a song just to get rid of it. Biggest regret not buying the second SW model 19-3 when I bought the first one, they belonged to a husband and wife who traded up for a couple semi autos. Had to build a butt kinking machine on that one.
 
My first gun purchase was a snap decision made over the phone while talking to the guy. I knew I wanted a semi-auto (because, duh, they're so much COOOLERRR than wheel guns - learned how dumb that was soon after!) and I knew I had to have a .40 because that's what the cops use and darn it if it was good enough for them, it had to be good enough for me! Oh, and high capacity. That was important. Was gonna get the Sigma because of the price, but opted to get the Beretta Cougar in a snap decision instead for a little more because it had a hammer, and I kinda sorta thought I wanted a hammer, too. Well, was happy after doing a little research that I didn't get the Sigma. Haven't even held one to this day, but it didn't sound like anything I'd be interested in. Turns out I ended up loving that Beretta.

Needless to say, my tastes have changed completely. I no longer have the Cougar, but I'm not necessarily sad that I don't either. Single stack single actions are my calling. And of course I love me some revos. Ergonomics, inevitably, become the premier concern in any firearm and you realize how important it is to you rather quickly. Of course I love the way a 1911 looks, but it still doesn't look as good as it FEELS...
 
No regrets in owning them but I know I paid too much to get them:

Used LE S&W 5609
New Kel Tec PF9

that being said it balances out with some great purchases that were a real bargain. Somehow, stupidly, because of the way I am wired I remember the bad purchases too readily and do not count blessings at the good ones.
 
Purchased a DAO H&K long ago as my first handgun. Trying to sell that sucker was very difficult because no one wanted a DAO pistol.
 
I would like one if I ever have the $$$ for it again.
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Just picked one up myself. Fleet Farm (which now sells hand guns) has them on sale this week for $259. I finally broke down and bought one even though it was about number 3 or 4 on my wish list. Looks like a nice gun and has a really good feel to it. I can't wait to try it out. It should make a nice carry gun for when the Cougar is just too big. (they had boxes of .380acp on sale too, 100ct white box for $31).
 
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