Rifles you missed out on

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A Savage 99 in 300 Savage for $100.00 because I was looking for a 1911 and had only enough to buy a nice used one and did not think till a few hours later how great of a deal the 99 was! I alomst bought it, went back to the table and some dude was looking at it and took it to the guy to pay...dang!
 
Marlin 375 in 375 win for $250 awhile back, but I just had wrote uncle sam a check that made me queasy.
Spankin new rusky SKS for $80 shipped (all I wanted ) in '97.
Win model 54 in 270 that was like new for $250- but I still suspect it was hot. Thats my only rationalization to allow me to not suffer.
Beretta Mato in 280 with a Leica scope for $800 @ Gene Sears on the used rack of all places, right after I had just lost my job and I was spending my last precious gun stash at the counter , I was literally waiting on a background check for a browning 10ga lite. That one hurts so bad. The scopes sell for 800+ now and the rifles go for around a grand.
 
DR Rob said
Wish I had bought the NIB Hungarian SA 85M I ran across for $300

I just got a SA 85 from a guy at work for $300. No box but it looked unfired and came with 4 mags and 700 rounds of ammo.
 
Have many of the above firearms, that were purchased reasonable
at the time, but high now. Cared for over the years with values that
continue to climb indicates if I truely would not miss owning them,
they were excellent investments. Price for all the years of fun?
PRICELESS. Most of the selections increased in values many times
and the involvement was time well spent. Looking at an excellent
303 Sniper like MJ, was a pawn shop buy for $35. A pre 64 M70
Win. Featherwt. sold for $139, new. A new Colt Python, that
remains in the box sold for $125 then. The list goes on. The
reloading and other related time spent, adds to the interests of
firearms ownership.:D
 
I passed on a No.5 Jungle carbine for about $150. That one doesn't bother me as much as the minty $160 FR8 though.

I really wish I would have stocked up about 10k of SA and Greek .303 when it was available ('course I didn't have an Enfield at the time)
 
Marlin 1897T, the octagonal barrel .22 lever action, for $300 several years ago. At the time I could never picture paying $300 for a .22.

The other day one popped up on the internet for $700, and for a minute I even thought about buying it. But i could never picture paying $700 for a .22
 
Savage 93R17-BV .17 HMR with a tactical scope NIB at Cabelas for $250 last December. Man I wish I would have realized what a deal that was.
 
I thought of a second one--a NIB Norinco AK Underfolder w/spike bayonet for $375 in 1995. Again I was 15 and had no money!
 
I have to put a different spin on this thread. I have read, and I have learned from others' mistakes; I bought the rifles NOW.

I have 3 Mosins 91-30s purchased a mere $79.00 each. They now sell for $69.00! But, in the not-too-distant future, they will go the way of these regrets. I will not have any regrets. I also bought my M44s, my Mark IV, Swiss K-31, SKS 59/66s, etc. No regrets. Now, I need an M38 or two, and perhaps 2 more SKS, M59s. :D Where else could I ever pray to locate such wonderful forged steel and lucious wood for such an absurd price?! Here and now!

No fail-to-purchase-regrets!

Doc2005
 
About 4 months ago I was at a gunshow looking for a converted saiga-12. After mulling around the stadium, I found a beautiful russian SKS. The wood, metal, and barrel were perfect. I asked for the price and all they wanted was $175. I knew it was a heck of a deal but I had come for the s-12. Well, needless to say I found the S-12 but didn't have enough for the SKS. Kinda kicking myself for that. I probably won't see an SKS like that for $175 again.
 
hmmm

Rifles, I'm still kicking myself for passing up on the Ruger M77 Frontier in 308 for $485.00 at Cabelas when they opened here... It's no 03A3 but it's my missed chance.

I'm also a bit peeved at myself for passing on a pair of Desert Eagles 50AE sequential serial numbers with four extra mags and a two gun shoulder holster. Tragic story from the pawn shop about the guy who brought them in just put them in for a week or two and before he came back to get them got run over by a car. No one came to claim them... He just wanted to get rid of them because no one wanted them... :banghead:
 
I hold true to Doc2005's ideal. If it's a deal, I buy it. Last time I bought a rifle I bought 6, when you go in to buy a 10/22 you have to walk past the surplus rack, and only a man with a black heart wouldn't try to adopt as many as he could. They were all rifles I didn't have and three were deals I won't see again (k-31 walnut stock, 98k, and a Arisaka 99 all for about half of normal or less, the mosins were fair priced) I'd make a few hundred on them today if I sold them, in a decade I'd make much more.

This is the only aspect of gun collecting my mother likes.
 
Well I recall the says of Woolworth's selling AK's for dirt cheap.. but this was post Bush import ban pre Clinton AWB.. the SA-85 M was a really well made blued steel rifle and even their stock was nice.

I've gotten some sweet deals on rifles before, that wasn't a steal but the price was nice.
 
In all seriousness, my father always told me, "Son, I tell you about my mistakes so you can learn from them. That way, you won't make the same mistakes I did."

I took my father seriously. I applied that theme to life. Even here at THR, I can learn from my fellows. As I said, no regrets. :) Thanks to my THR friends, no regrets.

Doc2005
 
A beautiful enfield longbranch with micrometer sights and bayonet and frog. I didn't pass on it. Like an idiot I thought my bid would hold and of course it didn't.
 
I took my father seriously.
That is the best father's day gift IMHO. Hope my future kids can say that and mean it.
I read this and more so don't want to pass up on guns. Too bad I can't afford all I want, with time the collection will grow.
 
I missed out on a 150 dollar all matching, mum intact, with AA sights and monopod Type 99 Arisaka. It was really beautiful. I bought a beat up VZ-24 instead, cause I thought ammo would be easier to find.

Let's see... I didnt buy a whole pile of FAL kits when they were cheap... only one. I only bought one case of Portugese 7.62x51 NATO for 150 dollars... I missed out on a 700 dollar M1A. Oh... and a Finnish M28 for less then 200 :(
 
Absolutely mint condition Persian Mauser with a dark red stock. Only twenty or so were imported into Australia, this was the importers personal hand picked gun that he had to sell because he had taken one too many prepayments. The new owner only held it for a month or so before trading it. By the time I had the cash it was gone.
Then it's twin brother came available. I came back with cash the next day and it was gone as well.
 
Unfortunately there are many rifles I have missed out on that I regret not buying when I had the chance. I remember seeing M1 carbines in excellent condition for $150-200. They just didn't interest me at the time. I passed on Springfield 1903's and 03A3's for $200. There were others, but the one that stands out most was an excellent German G.43 sniper with the original German scope for $500. I'm still kicking myself for not grabbing that rifle. I saw one just like it on GunBroker recently with a starting bid of almost $7000!!
I didn't know enough at the time to know that even then(about 10 years ago), $500 was a steal on that G.43 sniper. You live and learn.
 
Hesitated on a mint Winchester 52 Sporter for $1300......by the time I went back it was gone. Kicked myself for years over that, later found another a few years ago in similar condition and jumped on it for $4000.
 
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