Do you own guns you never wanted?

A recent situation made me wonder how many people own guns that they never wanted to have, and how that came to be.

My situation came to be as a guy I went to school with caught a felony and had to quickly divest of his firearms. He had a plea deal arranged and made it happen before the court date when he technically plead guilty and became a prohibited person. He sold most of his nicer stuff to family members (likely gave them guns in lieu of repaying them for bail/bond/fines paid) and was left with some scraps. Again, I have known the guy for 30+ years. I did him a favor and bought 2 pistols and another guy we graduated bought the shotgun and rifles. So now I have a couple hipoints. I really wish I hadnt seen them but they were both like new and half price, and came with a couple hundred rounds each. Got an old friend out of a bind and now there’s something to show for it… until the next gun show.

 

Yeah, when I was in my early 20's I'd basically buy anything that a buddy/acquaintance was selling for fear that I'd regret not buying it (that and i could usually expect to negotiate myself a good deal), especially knowing that if I didn't jump on it a buddy would grab it and rub your nose in it.

The ones I truly didn't care for I sold or used in trades, and some I got at a great deal and did the same only to really regret it later. I've let some good ones go. When you're young, you can be really stupid. I learned quite a while back though, what I have, I don't sell. Only reason I'd ever sell is if I "had" to.....

 

Hipoints aren't horrible. For $100 I'd keep one just in case a family member needed a loaner. Or use it for a toilet tank gun or SHTF stash piece......

I've had a vintage Mossberg Plinkster- the one with a fake wood pressed foam thumbhole stock- since I was a kid and would love to dump it. It was never very reliable and is a royal pain to clean, but it's accurate enough and my daughter cherishes it for some reason, so I keep it around. Lol.

 

I'd keep the ammo and next show trade them for more ammo.

 

I bought a beat up 5-digit Ruger 10/22 from an army buddy who wanted beer money… $75. While he was out partying, I went and shot it. When he tried to buy it back… I said no. I didn’t really want it, but it was a shooter… and I still have it today.

the other firearm(s) I have that I didn’t want… are all my Kahrs. I bought my first one as my first try into the ‘poly 9’ field. I figured I’d shoot it, decide I hated not only the 9mm, but poly pistols in general, sell it, and live my life. Whoops. I’ve owned something like 10 Kahrs. And still own 6 of them.

 

Only when a trade deal benefited me or helping acquaintances out.

I have sold all but one.

When I am selling something worth around $1000 or more dollars I will usually throw in a few trade deals plus cash for guns I don’t want but I know I can sell fast so I can speed along the sale of my higher priced item. Glocks, lever actions, S&W revolvers, etc.

 

Well, I can't say I never wanted it since I outbid someone at a farm auction in Canyon City Colorado years ago but I was disappointed in the pitting I didn't see when I briefly looked at it before the auction began. Still, I didn't pay much for it and for a Model 15 S&W snub it shot 147gr flat nose loads really well. From across the room the blueing and stocks look nice but a close inspection reveals pitting at the muzzle and across the left side of the top strap. It will never be a collector piece.
I keep thinking I'll put it somewhere useful but it languishes in my safe until someone in the family wants to shoot .38 spl at a target close by.

 

Yes. Similar to the situations described. Some family member, friend, acquaintance, or customer wants or needs money and has the firearm to sell. He/she knows I am a gun guy so I am the first call quite often. I always make them name the price and inevitably they give me figures that are less than what it's worth, so I'll usually buy what ever it is and I give them more than what they ask. Then I just hang onto it for a while incase they want to buy it back. They typically don't and if I am not fond of it or don't foresee it gaining in value down the road, I'll get rid of it, most of the time making a little money in the process.

This is how it goes down almost every time, and it's always interesting to see what they have to offer.

This is How I got a;
Taurus semi auto something or other pistol in .40 - he bought it back for what I initially paid him.
H&R 929 22lr revolver - still have
Norinco SKS with the ugliest plastic stock I have ever seen that wasn't pink, the first time I fired it the muzzle break flew down the range - gone thank heavens.
Century Arms AK47 - gone, doubled my money but I should have kept it longer. Would have quadrupled my money at least if I had.
Swiss K31 - still have
Para USA Black ops 2011 -still have and it's the pickiest pistol I own for ammo.
Ruger Blackhawk Stainless 357 - gave to a friend as a thank you for a favor.
Desert Eagle 44 mag - used it to help bail the same cousin out of jail who sold it to me.
Desert Eagle 50 AE - gave to a different very good friend
S&W model 27-2 357 mag - still have
Cetme L - still have
Several build kits of various flavors, none of which have been touched yet. - still have
The list could go on. I've forgotten a lot of the ones that have left. You get the jist of it though. Always an adventure, and pushes me to try out things I would never have considered some times.

 

I have an ATI MP40 pistol clone that was gifted to me by a friend I've known for a bit more than several years, a few weeks before he finally succumbed to cancer.

I don't even know if it even works. No interest in finding out either.

 

I bought guns my younger self was never interested in, but that is about as far as I have gone with it.

 

NO.

There is no gun that I will "never want". Some just have very, very low priority in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yes, three, all inheritances/family gifts. Though I don't enjoy shooting them much, I'll never part with them except until I pass them down to the young'uns.
BHP Practical in 40S&W
S&W M63
Ruger Wrangler

They're very nice firearms actually, just not my cup 'o tea.

 

Yes, numerous times. The most recent was trading the 10/22 I bought for my son to use when he was 12, for an Remington 552. My son wanted the 10/22 for a squirrel/raccoon gun ( ten years after I initially got it for him), as it was handier in the woods than the 552.
A rare event of him trading a walnut and steel gun for one in a plastic (Tapco) stock. I traded the 552 towards another Remington, an 1100 Competition.

 

I bought a Carcano to get the cleaning rod to complete another. Turns out the one I bought was nicer. Then the dealer I did the transfer through calls me up and says “So, since you like these…” and offered me another for a price I couldn’t refuse. So I took the cleaning rod off that one… I set out at the beginning to own 1 carcano TS carbine, I now own 3, one of which is refinished and missing its cleaning rod. Mission accomplished, sorta?

 

Ive got two that have outgrown their usefulness.
A SKS bullpup, and a 1949 Winchester 94 in 30WCF.
Both were replaced by 7.62x35.
They safe queens until someone says, I want that.

 

A buddy gave me a non functional "Eytalian" POS 22 pistol. It sits in the safe waiting for a buy back program someday...

 

That’s an interesting way to put it.

 

Of course!

 

In 1997 one of my uncles was preparing to move into assisted living. While cleaning out the house and its contents an old 12 ga. Stevens 820B pump shotgun turned up in the basement. I never knew of its existence although he owned a few other guns. My shotgun needs are already covered and I really don't need another shotgun but he wanted me to get it off his hands so he could sell the house and move to the old folks home where he couldn't have guns. It's not exactly mint, has little to no collector value, ( they were made from 1949-54) so it wound up in a safe here. The bluing is getting thin but it shoots and functions OK. So I keep it around and even shoot it every few years just for grins and an excuse to give it a good cleaning. Thinking of letting a local auction house sell it for me at their semi-annual sportsman's auction. I need gun safe space. ..

 

Nope, every firearm I have purchased or been given I have wanted.

 

I have a few I acquired in trades over the last few years. Then, a friend gave me a number of his current but ordinary handguns when he was forced into an 'assisted living' facility and then died.
I typically am a 'vendor' (sometimes a term for "guy who desperately wants to rid himself of some stuff") so I will peddle it off bit by bit. It really isn't junk, just stuff I don't need or want.

 

Only one. I never wanted a Winchester lever action 30-30 saddle gun or any other model of it for that matter. A very close friend gave me his old, old saddle ring 30WCF carbine quite a few years ago and I will keep it and pass it on to my son because of sentimental value..