Rifles I'm glad I bought when I had the chance...

Well, I guess that could be ALL the ones I still have, lol!

But, if we rephrase it as : Rifles I cant believe I was lucky enough to find at a good price on a day when I could actually afford it.........

Springfield M1922
Winchester 52
RfI Enfield .410 Musket
My Garand
Eddystone M1917
Inland Carbine
Savage M99 in .243..........

With very few exceptions that were either bought new or sought out, pretty much all mine were lucky chance finds.

In ‘90 I bought an M1 Garand for $239. I still have it. I had it restocked, bedded, accurized and rebarreled / configured for .308. I love that rifle.

1- Larue OBR, purchased when they first came out at a special discount 2- M1 Garand, won by a raffle for purple heart recipients 3- 1942 Steyr K98 with all matching numbers- given as a gift for doing someone a favor

My Springfield Armory M1A a few years ago, brand new in box or $1,500 and an old Remington 788 in .308 for practically nothing.

My Remington 7615 is the one I got right before they really gained value. That means nothing to me though as I intend to do a few modifications and use the heck out of it. I was just glad my cost of entry was $400 on GB instead of over $1000 less than a year later and then the jump to over $2000 after the Remington liquidation and now back to $1000-$1200

Probably my DPMS Recon. It's quite a decent rifle after getting a better trigger and an AGB and man that thing can shoot. I'm not even gonna say how accurate that gun is because nobody would believe it. It's a shame DPMS isn't making anything anymore let alone this fine example of the AR10 and so I'm pretty pleased that I got my hands on one. Wish I could have picked up their Gen II Hunter model too.

k98 for 250 bucks.
Type 99 500 bucks
Ruger no1 375hh 1000 bucks
Yugo sks 150 bucks
Those would have to be some of my favorites

Remington 40x
Remington 37
Remington 700 BDL Varmint Special
CZ 452 FS
CZ 452 Ultra Lux
Marlin 39A
Remington 541-S

They weren't bargains when I bought them, but I'm very glad I picked up an m1 carbine and later garand before they dried up at the cmp. And my Marlin 1894c, love that gun.

I'm sure I don't own nearly as many firearms as most people in this group, but I'm very happy with all that I bought new back in the day. Most particularly the following Three, which can't easily be replaced if at all:

1. Early Model Ruger Mini-30, made in 1989 with .308 bore (.3089). It shoots exceptionally well with many brands and types of projectiles, from .308 to .311. It consistently shoots under 2-inch groups @ 100 yards and I'm still perfecting it. Hey... it's a Ruger Mini. That's good shootin' for the species... ask anyone.

2. Pre Braztech, pre button safety, 20-inch barrel Rossi 92 Saddle Ring Carbine in 357 Magnum. It's true to the original Winchester 92 in nearly every detail. It easily rivals the Miroku 92s in fit and finish. The bluing is deep and lustrous. The wood furniture is beautiful... makes it look like I paid a lot more for it than I did. And most importantly it's a great shooter.

3. 22-inch (21.875) barrel CZ USA 527 American in 7.62x39. My most recent acquisition and apparently just in time. I bought it just last year and they're now being discontinued and selling for nearly twice what I paid... if you can find them. It's the closest thing to a tack driver I've ever owned. I guess it depends on the size of the tack, but 1-inch 5-shot groups @ 100 yards is the norm, but it'll get better as me and it get broken in. The 8-inch gong @ 300 yards can't hide from me either.

Since the 527 is my latest toy I've been having a lot of fun with it. I replaced the factory bolt handle with a far better bent shaft tactical bolt handle from Glades Armory. Then I modified that with a slightly smaller ball (.875") from Pacific Tool and Gauge. Now it's juuuust right!

I've got three 5-round factory mags for it and recently bought an Original Bob Sled Loading Block for single loading rounds from the top. For now it sports Burris glass... a Fullfield II 3-9x40. It does the trick.

I'm a happy camper... life is good!

Molot VEPR in 7.62X54r.

M1a SOCOM 16.

CZ 527 American in 6.5 Grendel.

TexasPatriot.308 said:

My Springfield Armory M1A a few years ago, brand new in box or $1,500 and an old Remington 788 in .308 for practically nothing.

Click to expand...

I bought a Remington 788 chambered in 308 Win back in 1981. I still have it. It has been a good rifle.

Cz527 before they were discontinued
Ruger 77ts 7x57 well you know why
Pre 64 m70 before they get out of my price range
1909 Argentine mauser for a sporter build to pair with my other one
Cmp daisy 853, and rifle but brings back memories from early jrotc days, and they shoot.
There are many more birding have anymore or were given away so they don't count I suppose.

to name a few;
Vepr 308 when they were still $700
parade grade springfield m1 garand $650
Browning 92 lever action 44 mag $700
TC Encore 300 wm $600
M1A national match $1700 but also had the rebate on top.
M1A Socom $1100
Ruger SR762 in 308 at $1400 and its little brother:
Ruger SR556 in 6.8 SPC $1350.
three Henry's on the same day;
45/70 Octagonal barrel, brass receiver
357 mag octagonal barrel brass receiver
22 golden boy. This was on black Friday at walmart after my wife got her bonus of a store wide 25% off coupon as well as an extra 10% for working thanksgiving. It could be used one time for an entire purchase. I did all my Christmas shopping, bought tires for my truck and Camaro, all their remaining 9mm ammo, and the 3 rifles all at once. All three of the Henry rifles are superb in every way. I think the three of them totaled about $1400 after tax.
Navy arms 45 colt lightning pump action. the thing is just smooth, accurate and beautiful. $1100

Windham Bushmaster AR Varminter. Incredibly accurate and used on multiple prairie dog hunts. Got it used but basically unfired. Wasn’t really looking for one, but my friend talked me into it before my first trip.

Browning X-Bolt. It was a SHOT Show special. Got it for less than dealer cost, about 45% off.

CZ 453. Ultra accurate. Ordered it new and paid going rate, but it’s really fun to shoot

SP-10 Remington. Perfect turkey gun

Model 70 Winchester 6.5x55 , probably my favorite al time rifle .
Got a 788 Remington and a 92 Winchester because they had been re-barreled, re-finished . The 788 someone had re-fit a savage 223 barrel , set back and rechambered to 221 fireball , glass bedded into either a Fajen or Richards stock added a timney trigger and even glassed in the scope mounts . With midway dogtown bullets and reloader 7 , it shoots around a quarter inch .
The 25-20 model 92 was refinished and barreled by some obscure gunsmith who put his name on the barrel , P.O Ackley , anyone heard of him ? Got em' both for 650 , about 5 years ago .
.223 C.Z. 527 Mannlicher carbine , shoots just over 1/2 inch and isn't picky what it gets fed . that just tickles me .

My FN SPR in .308 win

I bought it as my test bed when I decide to get serious about load development. After 6,000 rounds through it I had it re- barreled and customized into a fantastic hunting rig. It’s the slickest action I’ve ever had, deadly accurate and a pleasure to carry in the field

I don't have a photo right now (I'm at work), but my Model 70 Classic Laredo 7mm Rem. Mag. in an H&S precision stock. Closeout for $399. The distributor had 300 Win. Mag. also at the same price. Should have bought one of each. The rifle is heavy but with my hand loads it will shoot 1" groups at 200 yards. I love my .308's but that thing shoots.

About 3 years ago I bought this Savage Axis II in .308, because one can never have enough guns in their favorite caliber and WOW what a shooter.

Last year I bought this Savage Mark II in .22lr. Wow two Savages that shoot far better than I ever expected.

I have a few.

Chinese T53 Mosin Nagant. At the time, it was the most I had ever paid for a Mosin rifle, for the grand price of $145 bucks at a Ranch & Home near me.
Ithaca 49 22. single shot rifle. My local gun shop owner couldn't sell it to me faster for a scant 100 bucks. I got the feeling he didn't think it was worth much. So much the better for me!
Chinese T56 SKS, gunsmith special when J&G Sales used to have those. $250 was pretty good for having the take down lever catch being the only broken part. Best thing about it was
the full blade bayonet and the ultra rare cleaning rod!
HK Walther A5 22. LR rifle. Fun fun gun, CDNN had them when they were first discontinued. Glad I stocked up on magazines too at the time.

I got a Mosin back when $80 was high, I guess I’m glad I bought it.
Also got a International Harvester Garand, very glad I got that one while I had the extra cash and the opportunity.

Marlin 1895. Two LGS put them on sale when Marlin did the $100 rebate. $400 wasn't a bad price for a nice 22'' Marlin 45-70. Now, since Ruger took over they slapped the typical Ruger charge on them and they are pushing $1k.

Savage Axis 223 varmint barrel. I love it when I shoot with a buddy and it groups tighter than his custom Rem 700. I think I paid $350 out the door.

Of course I'm glad I bought my custom, Montana Rifle Company 308 Norma Mag for my retirement gift to myself 10 or 12 years ago, but I'm also glad I bought my tang safety Ruger 77, 30-06 back in the early '80s.
Then there's the top-eject Winchester 94, 30-30 I bought new the year Winchester went to angle-eject (1983?). I used the rifle to kill one mule deer, then I put it away and seldom shoot it anymore. I'm still glad I bought it because new, top-eject Model 94s became unavailable just like I figured they would.
Funny thing about that though - my wife ran across a "like new" top-eject Model 94, 32 Special with an aperture (peep) rear sight in our favorite gunshop 12 or 15 years back. It was in the shop on consignment, and it wasn't even very expensive.
Anyway, my wife jumped on it and I'm glad she did. She seldom shoots that rifle either, but it sure is fun.

There are quite a few 788's on this thread.

Here is another.

Remington Model 788 in 6 mm Rem that I bought new at Oshman's in Austin on sale in the mid-70's while I was in graduate school.