Guns you regret letting get away

Twenty years ago I sold my Marlin 336 .30-30 to my Brother in Law. I loved that gun but I was no longer hunting in Michigan's rifle zone. I regretted it immediately. About a year later he was showing me some of his guns. An old Winchester model 12 that was rusty, pitted, and so gunked up I could not work the action. A model 37 Ithaca 16 ga. In the same condition. That was enough for me. Dumb*** doesn't take care of his guns. I made him sell the Marlin back to me on the spot. Thank god he never even took it out of the case. She's been back in my safe where she belongs ever since.

Back in 1993, just before the federal assault weapons ban a friend of mine sold his guns to finance a return to graduate school. He sold:
Colt AR15 Hbar (obviously pre ban)
Ruger Red Label 20 ga O/U
A Nylon 66
Beretta 92
His grandfathers Colt 1911 that he carried in WW 1, with a worn but intact US military holster.
A Ruger Security Six

All to a gun shop for $1,800. I didn’t have the $’s at the time to buy the lot. Since I live in MA, everything would have been grandfathered in before the bans here. I think about this lost opportunity a lot.

Here's my list : (I'm sure I'll remember others later)

1. WWII K-43 (aka G-43) 8mm Mauser semi-auto rifle.
2. WWII Winchester M-1 Carbine.
3. Both of my Lugers, 9mm and .30 cal.
4. One of my P-38's. Still have one.
5. WWII .32 Mauser HSc , Nazi proof marks.
6. Whitney Wolverine .22 pistol (original, not made in China repo).
7. Ruger Bearcat .22 original alloy frame NIB.
8. Ruger Blackhawk 7 1/2 " .357 & 9mm cyls.
9. Ruger Single Six .22 LR .
10. WWII Colt .45 ACP semi-auto pistol - believe Remington/Rand.
11. Colt Commander 9mm in the late 1950's or early 1960's.
12. Baby Browning .25 blued NIB. Now have Bauer .25 Stainless Steel, which is an exact copy.
13. Browning High Power with Nazi proof marks. It had been re-nickeled and was peeling.
14. S&W 1917 .45 ACP revolver which had barrel shortened to 3" and hammer bobbed by previous owner.
15. S&W Combat Magnum .357 Stainless Steel Model 19 with large wood grips.
16. S&W .32/20 revolver.


That's all I can think of now.
I enjoyed owning and shooting them.
The OP was right.
Life happens.
><>

Colt 1911A1, Shockley royal blue finish, Colt Ace conversion. I won't even tell you what I traded it for.
Another Ace conversion, traded for a Colt 25 auto.
No more.

I had a very nice rolling block carbine in 45-70, Italian, can't remember the make but it had very nice wood and a colour case hardened reciever, a real tack driver. I got it from a friend who was moving and keen to move it on for a very good price. Then I lost my job and had to sell a load of stuff and this was on the list.

I have bought and sold many guns over the years, as economic situations changed.
The three I regret, or miss, the most, are a full size 9mm Uzi, a 9mm mini Uzi, and a Tokarev SVT 40.
Now that I am retired, and much more stable, financially, I wish I could have them back again.

Gun Master said:

Here's my list : (I'm sure I'll remember others later)

1. WWII K-43 (aka G-43) 8mm Mauser semi-auto rifle.
2. WWII Winchester M-1 Carbine.
3. Both of my Lugers, 9mm and .30 cal.
4. One of my P-38's. Still have one.
5. WWII .32 Mauser HSc , Nazi proof marks.
6. Whitney Wolverine .22 pistol (original, not made in China repo).
7. Ruger Bearcat .22 original alloy frame NIB.
8. Ruger Blackhawk 7 1/2 " .357 & 9mm cyls.
9. Ruger Single Six .22 LR .
10. WWII Colt .45 ACP semi-auto pistol - believe Remington/Rand.
11. Colt Commander 9mm in the late 1950's or early 1960's.
12. Baby Browning .25 blued NIB. Now have Bauer .25 Stainless Steel, which is an exact copy.
13. Browning High Power with Nazi proof marks. It had been re-nickeled and was peeling.
14. S&W 1917 .45 ACP revolver which had barrel shortened to 3" and hammer bobbed by previous owner.
15. S&W Combat Magnum .357 Stainless Steel Model 19 with large wood grips.
16. S&W .32/20 revolver.


That's all I can think of now.
I enjoyed owning and shooting them.
The OP was right.
Life happens.
><>

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OBTW, (see posting #104):

17. Colt 1917 .45 ACP revolver with a beautifully re-nickeled finish and smooth blonde wood grips.
I felt the gun was too big and heavy for comfortable shooting. Also, I didn't like the exposed ejector rod, and the rod head didn't want to stay attached.
18. Colt .38 Special snubbie 2", which on reflection was probably an Official Police with off white/yellowish plastic grips. Still a good gun.
19., 20., 21. Stevens 12 gauge shotguns - 30" F/M, 28" M/IC, 26" IC/CB.
22. Stevens 16 gauge ('' ?).
23. Browning "Sweet 16" semi-auto shotgun.
24. Great Western .22 revolver refinished in blue/nickle and rifle? sight, 5 1/2" ? (couldn't hit a thing).
C'est le vie !

WWII p38 that i sold for $80.00 dollars in 73. I could not find any 9mm ammo for the pistol so I sold it. boy I was dumb back then when it came to guns.

frankmako said:

WWII p38 that i sold for $80.00 dollars in 73. I could not find any 9mm ammo for the pistol so I sold it. boy I was dumb back then when it came to guns.

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Welcome to the club, my friend !

Koolmoose said:

Back in 1993, just before the federal assault weapons ban a friend of mine sold his guns to finance a return to graduate school. He sold:
Colt AR15 Hbar (obviously pre ban)
Ruger Red Label 20 ga O/U
A Nylon 66
Beretta 92
His grandfathers Colt 1911 that he carried in WW 1, with a worn but intact US military holster.
A Ruger Security Six

All to a gun shop for $1,800. I didn’t have the $’s at the time to buy the lot. Since I live in MA, everything would have been grandfathered in before the bans here. I think about this lost opportunity a lot.

Click to expand...

See posting # 112.

I had a Remington Nylon 66 .22 LR that I got rid of because it would double/triple fire with one pull of the trigger.
Probably a broken sear.

Gun Master said:

I had a Remington Nylon 66 .22 LR that I got rid of because it would double/triple fire with one pull of the trigger.
Probably a broken sear.

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Nylon 66. They use to advertise them in the Boy’s Life Scouting Magazine.
A back story to my post is that my friend gave me an early ‘70’s Marlin Glenfield Model 60 that he could never get running correctly, and replaced it with the Nylon 66. That gun worked well for him.

The Model 60 sat in the back of my safe for years until I decided to make it a challenge project. It was during the research to get it running right that I discovered:
The High Road
The Firing Line
Rimfire Central
And my home message board: Northeast Shooters.

BTW that gun works flawlessly now.

Thank you, my friend, Allen!

I still do miss letting that gun package go though!

Gun Master said:

I had a Remington Nylon 66 .22 LR that I got rid of because it would double/triple fire with one pull of the trigger.
Probably a broken sear.

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Wow you just reminded me that long ago I won a Nylon 66! I had in my apartment in a closet and I lived with a drug addict girlfriend so when I went to get it out one day it just wasn't there. Shot pretty good as I remember.

So many.... Sig 1911 C-Bob with laser grips. Robinson XCR. My first gun (S&W 3000 12 ga pump riot gun with rifled barrel, fully adjustable irons, and folding stock). CZ 550 FS in 9.3x62 (but which I was able to replace 3 days ago after letting the other one go 6-7 years ago to my buddy, who wouldn't sell it back over the years, despite many pleas to do so), Harry Lawson custom in 7mm RSAUM. Henry pump .22 with 18" bbl. I'm sure others. Starting to regret parting with Witness Steel 10mm Hunter.

Valkman said:

Wow you just reminded me that long ago I won a Nylon 66! I had in my apartment in a closet and I lived with a drug addict girlfriend so when I went to get it out one day it just wasn't there. Shot pretty good as I remember.

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That's another one I let get away. It wasn't a Nylon 66 though. It was the version of the Nylon 66 that came after that looked just like it and was mag fed.

Oh yeah, forgot about the LSI (Rossi) Puma 92 in .454 Casull in 20". Sold it and was gonna replace with same in 16" but then they were discontinued.

One I never had but wish I had bought before discontinued (which in a sense is "letting it get away") is one of the Taurus Tracker 4"ers in .45 Colt.

A few years ago there was a Steyr m.95 scoped snipers variant from WWI at an auction I missed. It only sold for $1100. Today ones in similar condition go for $7000 and rough ones $4500. Somehow no one knew what they had.

DannyLandrum said:

Oh yeah, forgot about the LSI (Rossi) Puma 92 in .454 Casull in 20". Sold it and was gonna replace with same in 16" but then they were discontinued.

One I never had but wish I had bought before discontinued (which in a sense is "letting it get away") is one of the Taurus Tracker 4"ers in .45 Colt.

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I have a 16” stainless 454, super fun gun but the thing shoots its self apart every other weekend.

AlexanderA said:

My biggest regret in collecting is passing up an original Pedersen Device offered for $5,000. I couldn't justify the expense at the time. (It was 5 times what I paid for my original Thompson, at about the same time -- early 70's.)

My second biggest regret is selling that Thompson.

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Today that may go for $40,000 at auction

About 20 years ago I had a very nice S&W M&P 10 that I traded away for something that I sold later after I lost interest in it. Wish I could go back in time and slap myself before I did that trade.

I foolishly let 2 Browning Hi-Powers go about a month before they were discontinued.

I haven’t sold or traded very many but there are a few over the years that I do regret selling/trading;

Colt New Service .38-40 in about 90% condition

CZ 50 in .32ACP with no visible import marks

1911 Bullseye Gun built on a Springfield Armory frame with a Union Switch and Signal slide. Good shooter....

6” S&W Model 686

Every. Last. One. (Which suggests that I haven't bought enough guns!)

Really only 1. And I don't even wanna talk about it!!