The ones that got away

Last week I could of bought a rem 1100 special for $200. I told a good friend about it and he asked if he could get it, so I told him yea sure. I picked it up for him. It was beautiful it looked brand new. The stock on it is a little different then what I have seen before on the 1100, kind of reminds me of a old lever action stock. I was a little sick when I gave it up, but it couldn't go to a more deserving guy. I found 1 just like it on GunBroker for 720 with 6 bids.
On a good note. I bought a S&W 629 44mag with a 2in barrle and combat grips from the same guy at work for $250. A gun collecter I know offered me $850 the next day for it. I did not sell it! Vary fun gun to shoot.

Sparky13
 
i bought a remington 1100 with engraving in the wood and reciever from my uncle this past summer. it didnt have 50 rounds through it, and has removable chocks and a vent rib. he paid 1000$+ for it and sold it to me for 550$! he said he didnt need it, and tht i helped him so much that he would cut me a deal! i LOVE that gun! the ONLY thing though is that it cant shoot 3" shells, only 2 3/4". also it is WAY To pretty to duck/turkey hunt with! its only my dove/quail gun!

i did miss out on an ithaca model 37, with removable chocks and a vent rib for 500$ last year! i still cry to this day! ithaca's are my ALL TIME favorite gun in the world! i LOVE them! i just didnt have the money right then!
 
In 1968 I was shopping for a Winchester model 70 in 30-06 and found a Brno 22F in 7X57, at the time I was not at all interested so didn't even ask the price. I have wished ever since that I had bought it.
 
My story isn't about one that got away but rather its about one that alluded me for years.

Back during the early and mid 1960's when I was ~14-15 years old and first seriously becoming interested in hunting and rifles, I used to drool at the Montgomery Ward catalog when it came out every fall. Of particular interest to me was the Remington Model 600 rifles that, IIRC, cost ~$109 or thereabouts. To me, they were the epitome of what a rifle should be, complete with the plastic barrel rib. I imagined if I could afford one in the then fairly new 6MM Rem caliber that I could probably kill all the deer and most of the coyotes in NE Wyoming where I was growing up at the time. No scope needed....

Yesterday we were having winter again in Houston, and it was a little bit too chilly outside to do anything, so I decided to drive down to a favorite haunt of mine near the Galleria - Collector's Firearms. If you're ever in Houston and have 3-4 hours to kill, Collector's is a good place to do it. For those of you who have seen First Stop Guns in South Dakota - both the showroom and the basement - picture a gun shop with the same variety of rifles and handguns from antique to high dollar current production with probably 1000 more guns than you'll find at FS. It's a true candy store for gun lovers....

Anyway....as I was cruising the used rifle racks, I noticed a Remington 600 rifle - complete with the cheesy plastic barrel rib - sitting in a rack. I picked it up and noticed that the metal was in extremely good shape and that overall the rifle was in excellent condition sans the extra coat of varnish someone had applied to the stock at some point in time. It has a few runs, drip and errors on the stock, but that can easily be fixed with a little bit of effort. Even the Rem 600 plastic "bottom metal" looked to be in excellent condition.

When I rolled the rifle over and saw the caliber - 6MM Rem - I had no choice but to buy it. It has a 60's vintage 4X Optitec scope with slim cross hairs in Weaver rings and a one piece Weaver base - also 60's vintage. The bore is extremely bright and shiny and overall the rifle looks like it has had very little use. After a little effort on the stock finish and after putting a trim little 2X7 Leupold scope on it, if it will shoot .25 minute of coffee saucer or better at 100 yards, I will probably die a happy man..

So....I guess in my case the old saying that "Its better late than never" definitely applies to this.

-BCB

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Many years ago I sold a really nice Rem. M700 in .222. It shot extremely tight groups, fun to shoot. I have kicked myself for years for that very stupid stunt. An ol'timer told me once, when comes to guns always buy, never sell. Unfortunately, I could never afford to put that philosophy into full practice.
 
More along the lines of I wish I had bought back then..but a local shop had Colt Delta Elites on sale for $369, had them on sale off and on for a couple months(this was like 15yrs ago) never pulled the trigger and sorely wish I did now.
 
My dad gave me my first shotgun when I was about 12 or 13. It was a well used Winchester Model 12 20 guage, with a 25 inch nickel steel full choke barrel. I used that little gun for just about everything I could hunt back then. I even shot my first deer with it, using slugs. After I had gotten married, and was in my early 20's, it finally started showing signs of wearing out, as it quit ejecting fired shells, and jamming when you tried pumping in a new shell. Only a few months before my Dad passed away, he took it to a local gun shop to have it repaired. They told him how much it would cost to have new parts installed, then the owner, who collected Model 12's, offered me a brand new Remington 1100 for it. I took the trade, and thought I was better off. All this took place in the early 1970's. The 1100 has long since been traded away, and everytime I see an ad for a Model 12 20 guage, I think of the one I traded away. I can still remember the serial number...281477.
 
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A savage 99 in 243 the receiver was engraved on both sides.I think it was an elk on one side and a bear on the other but I could be wrong, checkered stock. A beautiful gun and I have never seen another like it
 
They didn't get away because I was to stupid to bring them home in the frist place. Ones like a S&W 22 the guys dad bought it around 1950. asking $300. A marlin lever mod 1894 32-20 wcf in good shspe $100. in a yard sale. Marlin lever .44 mag with scope $225. another yard sale gun. Ruger #1 270 with leupold vx11 3x9 like new $400. Just to name a few. I did redeem myself with a ruger single six, both clyinders and leather holster that looked like new for $40.00
 
OK, now a few I missed out on:

NIB .44 Automag for $250 (this was 1973 but still...)

Colt Python NIB for $180 (again 1973)

Colt Officer's Match in .22 LR for $20 (yes, that is TWENTY dollars)

New .357 Marlin lever gun for $100

This and quite a few others comes to mind. Guns that I should have bought but did not. Guns I should have not sold but did and so on. Oh well- if that was all the mistakes that I ever made in my life I would be doing pretty good I think!
 
I dont sell any of my guns so ive never had sellers remorse but i was at a gun show this year and a guy was walking around with a brand new ruger 77/44 in 44 mag. it was brand new in the box and he wanted 500 for it. Still kick my self for not buying it. Wouldve been a great deer gun.
 
I traded a M 700 VSSF W a 6x18 luupy VXII for a Baretta silver Pidgen grade 12 ga O/U straight across. I don't miss that heavey rifle for nothing but it was a great shooter........I miss the scope though.........
 
1958 I bought an 03A3 $50.00 wish I had been rich and bought a truck load of them
1963 bought a M1 carbine from NRA for $25.00
1969 thought $75.00 was to much for a real German Luger
now worth $1,000.00 & up to 10,000.00
1984 bought 2 1896 Mauser's 6.5X55 29 inch barrels $79.00 should have bought a bunch of them
just before Bill Clinton stopped all Chinese imports I bought
2 new norinkos tokarov pistols 7.62X25 & 9 mm for $78.00 each should have bought a lot of them.
 
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I bought a Rem 788 in .30-30 while I was in college. It was mint and I had dreams of having it rebarelled as a .219 Zipper. But money got tight near the end of the year and I sold it - I wish I had sold something that was more easilly replaced. I've never seen another 788 in .30-30 since.

There used to be an annual gun auction near here years ago and we would drive 3 hours from my home town to attend it. There were usually 100+ guns on the block with lots of great guns at amazing prices. But those were the days when we didn't have 2 nickles between the 4 of us. It was like torture just seeing the deals go by and I can't even begin to list some of the great ones I missed out on!
 
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