What is "the one that got away", the gun you got rid of but wish you didn't?

[Martinjmpr]

As a complement to the "dream gun" thread here: https://www.ar-15.co/threads/183891-Guns-What-s-your-wet-dream

I would ask: What gun did you used to have and got rid of, that you wish you could have back now?

Since I asked, I'll go first: Back in the early 80's (couldn't have been later than 1984 or so) I bought a Vietnam bring-back SKS at Foothills Shooting Center at Wadsworth and Jewell (now Blue Core.)

At that time, anything in 7.62x39 was as rare as hen's teeth. The ChiCom imports of SKS's and AKs didn't start until several years later. This was fully functional, though it had a lot of wear, and had all the proper War Trophy Bringback paperwork.

I thought it was a very cool gun and probably paid close to $250 for it (roughly the same cost as a Ruger Mini-14 at that time.)

However, I found that ammo was almost impossible to come by and very expensive ($1.00/round, which sounds cheap 40 years later but back then you could buy .30-06 or .308 for about $0.40/round, brand new in the box.) So I kept it for a year or so and then traded it for a Walther P-38 with Nazi markings. The P-38 had been reblued, which pretty much destroyed any residual value, but it shot fine. A few years after that I traded/sold the P-38 for (I think) a Dan Wesson .357 Revolver (the kind with the interchangeable barrel) and a Universal Carbine.

If I had just held onto that SKS it would have been worth big $$ with the war trophy paperwork. Not only that, with cheap 7.62x39 ammo that was widely available starting in about 1988 - 89, I would have been able to shoot it, too.

(Side note: When I traded the SKS I didn't give the buyer the war trophy papers and kept them in my personal records until 3 - 4 years ago when I found them and gave them to someone on this board.)

So yeah, for me that SKS is "the one that got away." Or maybe the P-38 (although I'm not into Nazi stuff, personally, it was a historically interesting piece.)

[Martinjmpr]

I'll also add a note that I generally try not to get emotionally attached to "stuff." For example, rarely do I give my car or motorcycle a name. It's only "stuff" to me.

I do have 3 guns I inherited when my dad passed away in 2020, one of them is the first gun he ever had, a little JC Higgins single-shot .22 that is also the first firearm I ever shot.

But beyond that, I don't really regret selling or trading a gun, although I do generally apply a rule that if I get rid of a gun, I will almost always use the money to get another gun.

[O2HeN2]

Vickers belt fed. All that remains is the stamp :(

O2

[DOC]

Getting a tax stamp for a MG. I never had it. Its just a pin up girl of what I desire.

[Bailey Guns]

There are so many I wouldn't know where to start...

[ray1970]

I don?t generally regret moving anything along to a new owner but I had an older, blued GP-100 that was buttery smooth and a real tack driver. Probably should have held on to that one. And maybe my old Contender and all of the fun barrels that I had for it.

[crays]

Every. Single. One.

Probably...

[BlasterBob]

HK P7M13.

[WETWRKS]

.44 Mateba. Owned 3 of them. Sold them when I needed money. I paid 850 each. Sold them for over 1k each. Now to get one you are looking in the 5k range. They were a fun revolver to shoot.

[MrPrena]

I got rid of many HK rifle collection I had since age18-20.
Decade later, I kept selling because the market was asking 2x to 4x of what I've paid for.
many of 308s had msg90 or psg1 parts I bought from CFI which I believe it was in Ft Worth TX.

Most of those funds got into many quality bolt guns.

[Waldo1]

Wow. One of the 1st Gen Glocks that I waited 8 months for. Two Rusisan SKSs that I traded (probably for a SIG P228) because I knew there would always be more. That SIG P228 (because I could always get another one)... An Ishapore Enfield in 7.62x51 that shot lights-out after I re-crowned the barrel and installed Mojo sights. An AR chambered in 7.62x25 Tokarev that was an absolute hoot- with about 700 rounds of ammo.. A Hi-Power that I loved and then hated. A CZ-75 that I traded on a whim. A beautifully blued, Rock River Arms 1911 that I put the Idiot/Dissassembly scratch on the 2nd day after I bought it. A 2nd Hi-Power that I loved and then hated. I'm going to have a glass of bourbon and sob quietly for a few minutes, but I have more. Yes. Yes, I am an idiot...

[TEAMRICO]

86302

She could bump fire like nobody’s business....

[exxonv]

Saiga chambered in .308, bought for $500, sold for $1k with ammo (upgraded furniture) to buy my wife an iPad for Xmas. My wife was happy, still talks about it, but I do miss that rifle 😀.

[Eric P]

Of all the 30+ guns I purchased, I only sold 1. A Romanian AK47. Zero regrets, it shot like garbage.

[Doc45]

S&W 27-2 blue with 3.5 barrel sniff sniff

[eddiememphis]

Only sold three guns. Miss two of them.

Winchester 9410 lever action .410.

I hit a triple shooting skeet one day with that lil sucker.

Kimber CDP II .45. Sold in a desperate attempt to save a business. Lost the business anyway, would rather have the pistol.

The one I don't miss is a Smith 3913.

[Hummer]

A 1911 Colt .45.

In 1979, I rode my BMW R100RS to the Arctic Circle, up the Inside Passage and the Alaska Highway which at the time was 1750 miles of gravel road. I couldn't take a handgun through Canada but when I got to Fairbanks I stopped in a gun shop. A young fellow in army fatigues was at the counter trying to sell the Colt but the dealer wasn't interested. I invited him outside and bought the almost new gun for $150, and it included a shoulder holster and three boxes of ball ammo.

I carried the gun every day over 3 1/2 months while fishing and backpacking. In my travels I encountered bears almost every day, black bear, grizzly and coastal Alaskan brown bears. The .45 was my defense of last resort. It's fortunate that I never had to use it.

When it was time to head south in mid September I was running out of money and couldn't afford to ship the gun home so I stopped at the same gun shop and sold it for $175. There were only 8 rounds left and I had to beg the dealer to take the holster and ammo so the Canadian mounties wouldn't hassle me at the border. The Colt was only one of two guns I've ever sold and I wish I still had it.


86304

86305


My life has been full of adventure!

[eddiememphis]

A 1911 Colt .45.

In 1979, I rode my BMW R100RS to the Arctic Circle...

Still have the RS?

[Hummer]

Still have the RS?

No, sold it at 117K miles. Wish I still had it, kinda, but at the time I couldn't afford to maintain it properly. Three homes, a busy work schedule and the Mrs. didn't like riding on it.... Since I never got on the machine without driving it 100+ mph on the mountain highways it's probably just as well that I let it go.

[Osmosis]

Remington 40X with globe and peep sights. Got a deal when the university I worked at shut down it's indoor range (the rifle team had gone 10 years earlier) and decided to unload them. Sold it for what I paid but now wish I had kept it. I am fixing up an old Remington 510, but its not the same.

A gun I loved but don't regret parting with was a 1984 HK91. Loved it and shot it more than any other gun, but moving from western PA to to CO meant no convenient place to shoot and I know it is in good hands. But I miss it and the sound of plates ringing at 400m.

[brutal]

Sig P226R SAO.

I bought it NIB from a member purely with the intention to flip at Tanner, never shot it, and sold to a member here.

For the few bucks I made, should have just kept it and enjoyed it.

[Ridge]

My M1 carbine. I made an incredibly stupid trade with it and I regret it all the time.

https://i.imgur.com/oPgRnw9h.jpg

[rondog]

Matching pair of S&W Model 19 .357 Combat Magnums, w/6" barrels, white outlined rear sights, orange ramp front sights.

3-screw Ruger Blackhawk in .357 mag.

Remington Sportsman 58 shotgun that my grandpa handed down to me.

Single shot Iver Johnson .410 shotgun that used to be my grandma's.

Glenfield .30-30 carbine.

Enfield No.5 Mk1 rifle, a "Jungle Carbine". Wasn't fun to shoot, but was the real deal with matching #'s all over it, and I got it dirt cheap.

[Sawin]

All of the ones I sold or traded for non-firearms in the early 2000’s before the private party sale laws changed at the end of June, 2013.

[MrPrena]

no "ragret" but I had many USP/USPT/USPCs in the past.
I got rid of all. New and better stuff were coming out of the market.
I did not know how expensive those USP are now.

[Great-Kazoo]

Powder springs M-10, select fire with costal can. Along with the Model A uzi that included both the 16" & 6"? bbl. Along with the Factory High Standard derringer wallet gun, holster. Which the ATF, way before they offered comments. Turned both the OF all things, a wallet holster, and the uzi in to NFA items.

'
TWO HUNDRED FUKIN DOLLARS, FOR A WALLET HOLSTER! !

they looked something like this. BUT the way they held the derringer made it something, something, something. bullsheet

https://www.ebay.com/itm/14405226781...oAAOSw6T9anqo7

[Erni]

Wait? People sell their guns? What?

[ChickNorris]

Can't imagine selling anything I own at this point. For training, comp or daily, they all have a niche & are in use.

Had an opportunity to buy a tactical sport orange with 9 matching mags @ a stupid good price but couldn't quite swing it in the budget in time so it sold to someone else. Still on my wish list. Maybe that counts here.

[wctriumph]

My 1943 K98k, matching exceptional bolt, no import marks, sold it to a forum member, Alxone I think. He said it was going in his museum.
I needed the money ...

[Little Dutch]

20 years ago I traded a beautiful matching pair of Uberti engraved revolvers, in .357 and .45 Colt, for a very nice M1 Garand. I still have the Garand, but I wish I had had the money to just purchase it and keep the revolvers.

[Little Dutch]

Enfield No.5 Mk1 rifle, a "Jungle Carbine". Wasn't fun to shoot, but was the real deal with matching #'s all over it, and I got it dirt cheap.

I paid real money for mine. Even 10 or 15 years ago when I purchased it. I thought, briefly, about selling it earlier this year when I needed the money but parted with some pistols instead.