Rifles I wish I'd bought when I had the chance...

[Meeks36]

I should have bought SKS’s by the ton when they where cheap. But I didn’t have a crystal ball. Really should have bought 303, sks, nagants, AK, and all the military surplus.

 

[someguy2800]

There are a few that come to mind.

Pretty much all the milsurp stuff when they were dirt cheap. K98k's, turk mausers, enfeilds, nagants, sks's, swedish mausers, ect... I've been priced out of most of that stuff now.

When I was 17 or so I went into a local sporting goods place and they had a table full of wasr 10's piled on top of each other for $199 each.

I found a beaten up old M1 carbine at a gun show once for $200 that I wish I would have grabbed.

My friend tried to sell me one of his M1 garands for $550 once but I didn't have the money.

I didn't know they existed when they were still in production, but I want a DPMS G2 hunter in 338 federal. Would really really like to have one now.

 

[illinoisburt]

I should have bought SKS’s by the ton when they where cheap. But I didn’t have a crystal ball. Really should have bought 303, sks, nagants, AK, and all the military surplus.

Pretty much all the milsurp stuff when they were dirt cheap. K98k's, turk mausers, enfeilds, nagants, sks's, swedish mausers, ect.../QUOTE]

Eh most people thought it was all junk back when it was cheap. I was willing to suffer sideways looks and snobbish remarks while enjoying blasting through all that dirt cheap ammo.

I did turn down a shipping crate of thumbhole Mak90s with accessories in early 1990s. I did not like the one I had and did not care to acquire a bunch more of them.
I suppose the regret was deciding against getting an AK74 and SVT40 with a few crates of ammo for them back in 2003. They were really inexpensive so I did ponder them heavily at the time ($235 for the AK and $275 for the SVT, ammo was $169/1400 and $89/880 respectively). But since these were toys for me while my kids were little I thought going to Disney was better use of money. We parents had a not wonderful time, kids don't remember it, so definitely the wrong choice in retrospect.

 

[Rockrivr1]

Many years ago I had the chance to buy an authentic Dragunov Tiger Sniper Rifle. A real one. Not a Romanian clone. It was expensive and after some back and forth I passed on it. Sold shortly there after. I still kick myself for not buying it. Today I would have tripled the value of it back then.

 

[someguy2800]

Eh most people thought it was all junk back when it was cheap. I was willing to suffer sideways looks and snobbish remarks while enjoying blasting through all that dirt cheap ammo.

All the old fudds at the time told me they were worthless junk that couldn't hit the broad side of a barn and in my youth I foolishly believed them. Luckily I grew up to realize that nothing could be further from the truth, but a little to late to get the good ammo deals. I've still managed to pick up a few of the rifles here and there for prices I can stomach.

 

[SwampWolf]

Sometime in 1965, when I was home on leave from the Air Force, I visited Jim Flynn's Sporting Goods, a large outdoors store in Dayton, Ohio at the time (sadly, long gone). In the gun department I remember a stack of twenty or so, new Model 70 bolt-action rifles in various chamberings, still in their cardboard shipping containers sitting on a table, heavily discounted (I don't recall the price but they were steeply discounted). I asked the salesman why they were selling them so cheap and he explained that the store manager was afraid that they'd be stuck with them after the "new and improved" Model 70s arrived. And still being young and dumb, I thought to myself that it did seem to make good sense to wait for the "better" Model 70 iteration and so, once again, I passed on a deal never to be "opportuned" again. It never knocks twice I learned too late.

 

[.308 Norma]

Sometime in 1965, when I was home on leave from the Air Force, I visited Jim Flynn's Sporting Goods, a large outdoors store in Dayton, Ohio at the time (sadly, long gone). In the gun department I remember a stack of twenty or so, new Model 70 bolt-action rifles in various chamberings, still in their cardboard shipping containers sitting on a table, heavily discounted (I don't recall the price but they were steeply discounted). I asked the salesman why they were selling them so cheap and he explained that the store manager was afraid that they'd be stuck with them after the "new and improved" Model 70s arrived. And still being young and dumb, I thought to myself that it made good sense to wait for the "better" Model 70 iteration and so, once again, I passed on a deal never to be "opportuned" again. It never knocks twice I learned too late.

I'm sorry, I couldn't help but laugh - HARD! Besides, I'm not the only one, even in this house that laughed right out loud. My wife gasped, and laughed as hard as I did when she read your story. "New and improved," huh?
Oh, well. I actually have a pre-64 Model 70 that I bought sometime in the late '80s (of course I paid through the nose for it) and I'm not sure it's any better, or even as good of a rifle as either of my wife's post-94 Model 70 "Classics." She has both a 7mm-08 Model 70 "Featherweight" Classic, and a highly customized 7mm Rem Mag Model 70 "Standard" Classic. They're both real nice rifles, even if they aren't pre-64s.