Most I've spent is about $700 for a couple of my nicer S&Ws. Most spent for a rifle was a little under $500 for one of my old Stevens single shots. Paid $330 for the only "new" rifle I've bought, a Ruger #1b in 30-06. That was about 30 years ago.
As far as guns I've almost bought...
Bid a nice Baby Chief with a 3 digit serial # up to $800 before I had to quit. Was hoping to get lucky. There was only one other bidder and myself after $350.
Same thing happened at an auction with a nice 44 target pre model 24. I joined in the bidding when it faltered at around $600, then went toe to toe with an absentee phone bidder before bowing out at $1200. It was fun.
John
As I stated when this thread was first started I have a hard time paying over $1000.00 for a gun. I do have a desire for a higher end 1911 and will have to break that rule. Maybe have to do some trading too. Since I retired I don't have the gun fund I once did. I used to spend much of my overtime money on guns and the thought helped me get through some long nights on call. Of course S&W revolvers were easier to find then and much cheaper than today.
The most expensive gun I own is this mint condition, unfired U.S. Model 1842 percussion musket. In 1975, I paid $625 cash ($2745 in today's dollars) and also traded an excellent condition Mauser C-96 broomhandle pistol in the deal. I have the history on the gun. It was produced at Springfield Armory in 1848, too late for use in the Mexican War. It went into war reserve storage at Springfield during the Civil War, as it was a smoothbore. Some years after the Civil War it went to a museum in Virginia, where it was kept for over 50 years. It was then sold to a collector, who sold it to another collector, who sold it to me. The metal is still untouched Armory bright. The wood still has those tiny raised segments that indicate it has never been refinished. The cartouche is as fresh as when it was applied. Again, unfired since it left Springfield 166 years ago. I've had it appraised at $6,000 or more if it would be put up on auction. I blew a wad on it, but it's one of those guns where less than 1% of them have survived in this condition.
John
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Last edited by PALADIN85020; 04-29-2014 at 12:10 PM.
Not the most expensive but the most elaborate is this Schutzsen Rifle:
I bought it from a guy who claimed it was a "sniper" rifle a relative brought home from the war!
Jim
"The most expensive firearm (I've) ever bought".......
is my Registered Magnum......worth about 5-6 grand...........I'm guessing
glad I only "paid" $325 for it...LOL
Also have a Winchester 1885 low wall in .22short dating to 1887 hanging on my office wall....which I'm told is worth a couple of grand.
Finally, I have a 6" Colt New Service in .357magnum from 1938-9 that went to King Gun Works in Calf for an action job and target sights.......I never have been able to establish a "value" as they are a lot more rare than the S&W with the same sights ( never found a record of one being sold)........but it was my Father's so..... to me it's priceless!!!!!!!!
Here is a Ljutic Combo. This shotgun new was right at $40,000. That included both a set of O/U barrels, a un-single barrel with and adjustable rib, ten choke tubes, three trigger groups and a $600.00 case.
In the live bird ring this would be considered an inexpensive shotgun. I shot against a guy one time that had a matched pair of Fabbri's that set him back over 100K each and he was not the only one there with them
By far, my most expensive is my Smith & Wesson Revolving Rifle serial number 1. We had to get another mortage on our house. Looking back, my wife and I are glad we did.
The price of these Knights Armament Stoner 25 carbines has continued to go up since this thread first started. I’m not sure what they sell for currently, however, having an ACOG on it does not make it more affordable.
Are these SR 25s worth the price? It is to me. This is a 10 shot 100 yard group that I shot with factory match ammo. I shoot slightly smaller groups with my SR25 than I do with my Remington 700 bolt gun using the same ammo.
Mark
Colt SAA I bought new for $1100. Not really 'big money' but a great deal to me. It was something I've always wanted. I know but don't care that there are less expensive, stronger, more modern and probably better (sorry Col. Sam) SA revolvers avalible. I wanted 'the real thing' like the cowboys in the movies I grew up watching had. "No pony?...It's a phony!"
$3200 for a Shiloh Sharps Quigley, .45-110. The $200 was to move up in the waiting list.
I was going to have Shiloh make me a "Quigley" as a retirement gift to myself back in 2008, but there was a 3 to 4 year wait, and I was not sure I would be around to get it, so I didn't order it. A couple of years later I found a replica 1894 Sharps in .40-65 and bought it along with some accessories. It shoots very well, once I got a custom bullet mould that is sized for the barrel's throat, which is .416", while the bore is .410".
I bought a Glock model 34 and had it customized by Zev Glockworxs for USPSA Open Class, cost me $2400 with five 15 round magazines. The gun has a custom ported barrel from KKW, Leopold electronic sight, all Zev Glockworxs internals, trigger and springs.
$10,000 for a transferable full auto Sendra AR-15 lower. Then bought a 11.5" upper for $600, a Spikes 22 upper, and a thousand dollar Trijicon scope to put on it.
It's funny, I have iTunes on Shuffle as I read this thread, and the Kinks "Low Budget" happens to be playing. Sums me up pretty well compared to some of you guys.
I have been shooting 3 position indoor in a winter league for a long time. I had an Anschultz match 64 rifle that had been imported by Savage in the 1960's and my scores averaged in the 270's to 280's out of 300 possible. I had convinced myself that if I bought a real match rifle my scores would improve. So I ordered an Anschutz 2007/2013 from Champions Choice and paid around $2700 for it. I do not think that I ever shot a higher score with it than I did with the smaller rifle.
Gee, I've been noticing prices now for new Kimber Ultra CDPs and thought the grand I paid for mine a lot then. I hope I don't need to ever have to replace it either.
That's still the high price I've paid for guns and back then looked for cheaper options. I found nice older N frames back then for less than four hundred and started buying them. I wish I'd bought more at that pricing now.
Thirty years ago I bought a Winchester 21 Skeet for $2350. I have spent more than that for a couple of trap guns, but that $2350 represented a whole lot more of my annual income at the time. I sold it back to the dealer I bought it from a year later for $2800, so I didn't come out too bad!
It's hard to say if you consider inflation.
If I were to sell them Nib I guess I'd have to say a Anschutz 54 Sporter or a Ithaca SKB over and under. Dang it's really hard to say.
Wow, déjà-vu: my 2 priciest (in constant dollars) are an SKB O/U and Anschutz 64 MS. Traded off the latter many years ago.
Most for the gun and extras? A Kimber StainlessII that I got a good deal on new, but had a tuner do a carry melt, some custom work on the front strap and back strap, some custom grips, and night sights. It's about what one of their Custom guns is, but I have it exactly how I want it.
I carry it once in a while in a DeSantis OWB holster, and a DeSantis 1.5" belt and it is a real nice shooter too. It is a beauty too. It's done nicely, but not overdone at all.
Well, not in the same league as most of the other guns here- but for an old retired Navy Chief, it's pretty expensive- and I don't even have it yet! Been "being built" since October of last year- had a Savage Single Shot Target Action tuned/trued by Sharp Shooter Supply- with their Evolution trigger and a Bartlein barrel chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor- and is now at Masterclass Stocks having a Walnut Prone target stock built with an aluminum bedding block inletted for the action for it- I'll get it in the semi-finished state, sanded to 80 grit- and I'll finish it myself. Has the adjustable buttplate, cheekpiece and Anschutz accessory rail built in. Hoping to have it in hand by the end of June. I'll probably have about $3000 in it when done.
The best deal I ever got? In the early '70's, I was on a Navy pistol team, and the club associated with the team had its own FFL. I ordered a new Colt MK IV pistol and all the parts to accurize it/build into a match pistol- Bomar sights, trigger, bushing, etc. etc. from Gil Hebard. Cost me a whole $135.00- + a case of beer for a 2nd Class Gunners Mate on the team to put it all together/accurize it for me.
Wes
The forum suggested this thread for me off of the "what's the worst gun you ever bought thread".
This thread is great and I see no problem resurrecting it.
My most expensive gun purchase was that time I bought Elmer Keith's 1911 on auction after a screwed up flight and no sleep all night. Don't regret it though.
I walked into a gunstore in New Hampshire in 1980,,
There sat a Weatherby rifle, it was NIB from the factory.
Every part that could come off the receiver and barrel had been gold plated.
It looked like the perfect rifle for my wife,, she enjoyed shooting a LOT then.
The gun had been custom ordered, about 1/2 had been paid as a down payment.
The LGS offered it to me for the unpaid balance.
I was ready to buy it, then I looked at the cailber,,,
300 Weatherby Magnum!!
It would have been too much for my wife,, recoil-wise,,,
BUT,, all that gold, and beautiful wood,, made it look like a girls choice of a rifle.
Does putting down $200 on the proposed VLTOR Bren Ten (would have been just over $2,000) back in '09 or '10 count? I forget the exact year, just that my dad was still alive (he passed 10/30/10) and Bass Pro Shops had a SKU number in their system to do orders with. The project stalled and I wound up getting my money back after a year or so.
At the ripe old age of 18 I wanted an 'Army .45' so a friend had a 1911 he was going to sell to me for $250. So he brought it by and I looked at it and it had a period shoulder holster with it but the gun did NOT say Colt on it but had some other weird marking, Uh something that said 'S Mfg. Co.' on the side - I passed on it because I wanted a real Colt................
a 2nd gen SAA made in 1958. Nickle, 5 inch barrel. I got it in a combo with an unfired 2" colt lawman MK lll, and a First gen Det. Special. All unfired. I gave $3700 for the three. I might have got a bit over my head, because I don't know that much about Colts, but I live to watch wesrerns with that nickle .45 SAA in my hands.
I bought a 98% 4" 29-2 with box, tools, & paperwork for $700 + an old Apple laptop I had $150 in. Held onto it for two or three years and never shot it because I didn't want to devalue it.
I ended up selling it for $1600 so it was not only the most expensive gun I ever bought, it was also the most expensive gun I ever sold.
Bought a Beretta O/U once for $4400 & the wife was with me. Even though we have a deal that each of our extra money can be spent on what we please, I thought I'd catch it on this one. She never said a word.
Shot it for a while & realized like others here that it didn't make me a bit better shot, so I sold it. I got 5K for it & she finally told me that she thought I had lost my mind when I bought it, but evidently knew what I was doing. I don't hear that often.
I guess myself I don't put a price on things. If we run across something we like and know we aren't over paying then it finds it's way home. Be it muscle cars ,motorcycles or guns. I tell my wife you can't put a price on a good time.