I know you've got one...

I traded a cheap pellet pistol ($20.00) for a Sears Model 42 .22 rifle.
To illustrate how long ago this was, the trade occurred in a Los Angeles area high school auditorium during a school-sponsored swap meet!
-And yes, I still own and shoot this old rifle.

Even cheaper, I picked up a Springfield 1903 and a Mauser Gew. 98 for $12.50 each at a rural auction. I usually don't think about them because they were stolen a few months later.

I've also picked up several modern black powder rifles for $30.00 plus shipping.

Beyond that I've found a number of guns that were lost, misplaced or discarded over the last sixty or so years, but let's not count those.

In the middle '80's I get a call from an officer who was retiring. I was on the board of our association and he wanted to know what paperwork our NYS agency required to dispose of firearms. I asked him what he was getting rid of, said a Hi-Standard and a Colt. A dealer was going to give him $50. I asked each? No, for both.

I said don't do anything, I'll be right over, handle all the paperwork and buy them myself. I didn't even know what models he was selling, but for that price.....

Turned out it was a like new HS Victor model with the box and all papers including the bill of sale, and a Colt Detective Special with holster wear. I had just come back and was looking them both over on my desk when another officer walked by and said he was looking for a Det. Spl., was I selling it, and if so, what did I want for it?

Made him very happy for $50 and I got a Victor for free.

I posted this pic last spring. T series, made in 67. Never fired. My collector friend wanted me to haul a load of guns and thousands of rounds of ammo from California to Illinois. He is moving to S.C. next year and this way his guns would be halfway there. This Hi-Power was one of the guns. What looks like blueing wear on the slide in the second pic is just light reflection. The gun is a 99+++ % gun

He gave it to me as a thank you. Best gun deal I ever got.

I bought three cases of cheap beer for a party back in college, and to pay his share my roommate gave me a Rem 581 that he said he didn’t want. I still have the gun, it still shoots great.

I also had a $89.99 SKS I bought in the early 1990s from some oddball Chinese import guy who literally had a warehouse filled with pallets of rifles and steel-cased 7.62x39 ammo in Pasadena. Now that I’m thinking about it. I’m not 100% sure the guy was even a licensed dealer, but I do recall filling out a 4473 so he may have been.

It came with an ugly reddish colored fiberglass stock, but I put it in a folding stock-pistol grip one and had a “trunk gun” for a while. The sks was sold off years ago.

Stay safe.

Got this M44 for free years ago. It was missing the bayonet, but I found one cheap.

I picked up a Yugo-capture K98k from a pawn shop for $100 about 6 years ago. It had the front half of a steel case stuck in the chamber and the barrel was unscrewed about 20 degrees. Gunsmith charged about $50 to get the case out and tighten down the barrel. It headspaced perfectly after that and shoots great. Not the deal of the century but considering that they were selling for about $450 at the time a really good deal.

The other was free from my Dad. It is a Spanish Air Force M44 Mauser. It was slightly bubba'd so I just finished the job. It shoots pretty well but will probably get a new barrel at some point in the future.

Matt

NorthBorder said:

I found this one in a closet at my mother's house. Nobody can explain how it got there or where it came from. A FIC (Garcia). A real gopher killer

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Hmm, that looks somewhat familiar......


My first gun, received as a birthday gift many years ago.

I buy a lot of stuff cheap, as I'm always on the lookout for a bargain. A few examples:



SKS, purchased new in the 90's for $99. Western Field 742A-EMN (Marlin 336) purchased from a friend for $75.



Carcano 1891 TS hacked by Bubba, $20 at a yard sale last year. Not sure yet who got the better end of that deal....


Browning Buckmark $150 otd, it was missing the front sight. Less than $15 for a replacement.

I have probably a dozen more like these, my wife says I'm so tight I squeak when I walk.

$100 Russian sks in 2000. I didn't know much about them when I bought it. I wanted one because my older brother had one and took me shooting when I was kid. Turned out to be a numbers matching letter gun. It was reworked by the Russians like the majority but surprised to see the stock numbers match without the old numbers being X'd out. It was missing the cleaning kit, rod and bayonet.
I am curious as to what it would be worth now.

I also just remembered the 1944 German Mauser k98 that was given to me by a friend that was moving away and didn't want to take it with him. It was a little rough on the outside and had been sporterized by a hack but it actually shoots pretty good. Ammo is a little hard to find and not real cheap but it's definitely an interesting free rifle.

I think I've got $95 in this one.

Absolutely mint 1946 Mosin Nagant model 44 at a yard sale for 75.00. It prints 3 inches or better at 100 yards with open sights from the bench with my old eyes, with surplus ammo. hdbiker

Bought a model 60 for $50.00 a few years back. Chinese SKS for $75.00. Lastly a Ravin .22 for $20.00.

$125 OTD. Remington made M17 with an immaculate bore, quality glass bed and the goofy 1950s custom stock. Banner 1.5x4 and rings included. Yes, it shoots...really damn well. Lives at my hunting camp for bear problems or a spare/bad weather rifle. Last week I head shot a grouse with it at 50 yards. This was my choice to carry many miles by snowmobile, snowshoe and foot when I drew a MN wolf tag several years ago. It works in any conditions

montanaoffroader said:

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Carcano 1891 TS hacked by Bubba, $20 at a yard sale last year. Not sure yet who got the better end of that deal....

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You can probably double your money at the next "buy back".

Marlin 1893 in .38-55 for $25. I worked in a small town hardware store and a kid wanted to buy a cheap .22 rifle but didn't have the cash. I asked him if he had anything to trade. He brought this in and took home the .22.

JM 1895 45-70 for free. Buddy shelled the transmission in my Honda 4-Trax that I had also gotten for free and didn’t have the $700 to rebuild the transmission. That was the start of my levergun fascination. I’m not sure if I should thank him or not. That free rifle has subsequently cost me thousands in the purchase of other JM Marlins.

A Marlin 39 a friend of my father said I could have for $100 because “You like guns”. I ended up convincing him 250 would be better. Even then I had to force him to take the extra. Best shooting .22 I’ve ever had.

Then there's also the Savage M110 accutrigger I picked up for $100 from someone desperate for quick cash (I was poor too at the time, so no guilt on my end). But that's not the real story. The matching, perfect Swede M96 I traded it straight up for is.

A few.
A savage BA stealth in 6.5 creedmoor for $500. "Its a 6.5" so the older gent I bought it from thought 264 win mag. Bought it with the stipulation that it had a chamber issue. Not at all, just a brain fart on his part. 2 inch rifle with the random cheapo on sale ammo I bought.

Remington 1903 non sporterized. The fellow I bought it from said it shot patterns and didn't eject.
The barrel I thought was a smooth bore due to all the copper in it (I could've started my own mine in that thing). Got it all out and the bore is a bit dark but I can hit steel at 600yds with her. The ejector was busted. $10 and back in business.

2 Winchesters. A M69 and M69a from the old busybody woman down the block when we helped move her into a senior center ~10 years ago. They are mostly complete. Just need a buttplate, rear sight and another magazine

In 2012 I payed $400.00 for a LNIB Colt Cobra.