Best gun deals?

Nothing stellar here, but a couple that were decent deals in my eyes, at least.

A Stevens Model 89 .22 caliber single-shot rifle for $30 at a gun show in around 1987.

Pre-serialized Marlin 99M1 rifle, complete with original rear site (a highly-sought item, as many were removed for scoping, and subsequently lost), in 2014 for $140.

A second 99M1, from about 1970, missing its rear site, but with sling and a nice scope, for the same price, about 6 months later.

A Hi-Point C9, LNIB, from a friend who wanted to finance a bottle of rum, for $75, in 2013 (he offered it for $60, but I felt that was too low, even for a Hi-Point.)

A stainless Charter Arms Undercover .38, vintage 1985-ish (I hadn't even known they made them in SS back then) for $185 about six months ago.

A polished aluminum/stainless steel Taurus PT25, LNIB, complete with three sets of grips and three magazines (somebody was really into this gun!) for $199 about a week ago. Bought it mostly to flip or trade, as I already have another PT25 and a PT22, but maybe, when my wife is ready to start carrying, this can be a nice beginner for her (she won't shoot anything bigger than the PT22 so far.)

I picked a Mossberg 500 12 gauge for $100 earlier this year. This guy had one of those sheet metal gun cabinets for $75, that was on Craigslist. When showed me the cabinet it had the shotgun in it and I asked about the shotgun. He said he would sell it for $100. I told him that I would buy it.

From an estate sale I bought a Winchester Model 94 and a Rossi 22 Gallery gun. I paid $200 for the pair and dropped them off at my gunsmith to clean them up and make them work. While the guns were in the shop a guy came in and offered $200 for the Rossi so I recovered my original investment. Another customer saw the '94 and asked the gunsmith for my phone number. A few days later he called and wanted to look it over again. The gun was in very good condition and had an interesting history. The guy paid me $600 for it. Best deal I ever made.

Over the Black Friday weekend, I bought a NIB H&K P-30 40 caliber for $499 shipped. It wound up being $525 out the door. I never thought I'd ever see H&K's priced that low.

Year before last, I was looking for a Rem 700 SA donor action for a rifle build. After searching a bit I decided to buy a brand-new Rem 700 ADL at Academy on special for $379+tax. I researched ebay ahead of time & .308 Win. barrels were selling, so I made sure to get the ADL in that caliber. I had a buddy-gunsmith-hobbyist remove the barrel being careful not to scratch it. I put the barrel back on ebay auction as brand-new never fired starting at auction for $100. The barrel sold for $425 plus shipping! I don't know if this was a fluke, but I'm tempted try getting another "free" action when another Rem 700 sale pops up!

I bought a Colt Trooper MKIII .357 a few years back from a friend at work who had inherited it from an uncle who had brain cancer. It had been fired one time. $225 No box or anything, looked pristine.

My wife's boss decided he wanted new golf clubs and was selling some of his guns to fund the purchase and knew I like firearms so he sent some home for me to look at. A Ruger P89, an AMT Backup .45 and a Colt King Cobra SS .357 which looked NIB. He wanted $450 for the Ruger, $400 for the AMT and $300 for the Colt. The Ruger could be had for far less and the AMT had a trigger pull that I could barely make but the Colt was spectacular. I sent them all back but the Colt and told her to ask him for sure on the Colt price and he wanted $300. Sold!

19 years ago, I was helping out at a fundraiser. One of the items on the live auction was a S&W 629 from the custom shop. My dad happened to be attending and I asked him to bid on it for me. He purchased it for $425, which I thought was a great deal.

I bid $175 in an online auction on an item that had really poor pictures. It was misidentified as a S&W Model of 1902 in .38 special. When I received it was a model of 1905. It had a presentation engraving on the side plate (not mentioned in the listing) that it had been used in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris in 1919. It turns out it was one of 25 guns delivered by S&W specially to the US Army for the competition (which the US won). All this confirmed by the S&W historian. Oddly enough, this was one of three guns that have resurfaced from the competition in the past few years. The other two sold for between $1200-$1400.

Been away for a while, Dusty. The C-96 will never be fired, it is still gooped with the factory cosmoline, on the inside. The engraved 1911 was fired 200 times by Roy Huntington for an article in the Handgunner, and I put one mag through it, just to say that I had shot it.