There are several guns I found that I never thought I would find or afford:

Remington 31 factory riot. Affordable because half the varnish was peeled off the stock.

First year Ithaca 37T

Ruger No. 1 RSI in .243 Winchester. It came with a 10X Leupold M8 that I sold for $200.

Winchester 97 factory riot. The dealer really wanted my high condition first year .308 Winchester 88 that beat me up real bad. Who was I to complain.

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I've bought many that I never expected to find or afford.

But buying them I was able to own many that others wish they could.

And in trading them or selling them later, my current collection has been paid for in full.

Yes I found a few I thought I never find nor afford.

Norinco 1911A1 45acp.

Norinco M14S 308. Sweet price.

Swedish M40 lathi in 9mm

Swedish Lungman AG42B 6.5 swede, sweet price too.

A few: Model 13 with a 3.0 inch long barrel, Model 65 with 3.0 inch long barrel, Model 34 with a 4.0 inch long barrel, H&K P-7, and a Browning Hi-Power.

Regards,

Dave

Just this one:

[IMG][/IMG]

After retiring from LE in 2008, my next two 'retirement jobs' were in busy LGS's. Lots of trades and estates coming in. I was very fortunate to be able to lay my hands on stuff I would've otherwise never seen or been able to afford.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

The Grand Power K100 Mk7 I picked up recently was originally marketed as a STI GP6 for a lot more money. So I guess you could say I lucked out and got a cheap GP6.

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Release the Kraken

A Winchester Model 1897 trench shotgun...young guy was carrying it into a gun show as I was walking out.

Union Switch & Signal 1911A1...it was in a pawn shop with a refinished Colt slide on it so they had it priced as a refinished Colt. Sure, I had to get a US&S slide for it but that's the only way I could ever afford a US&S.

Never thought I'd own a Registered Mag or a Korth .22, found both somewhat reasonable. Larry

I used to think I would never own a factory original Winchester Model 21 with a ventilated rib, full/full chokes and a beavertail forearm.

I still think that.

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Just this one.
20140912_082849 by Slick_Rick77, on Flickr

Caracal F
2.5 years of searching internet. Ended up finding one at my LGS one day when I was looking at purchasing another Glock.
NIB and $400 OTD later - been happy ever since.

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If I ever find a Bren Ten, I'll find a way to afford it!

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Because of the metric system?

Funny: Just happened a couple of weeks ago. Wife was looking for a X-mas gift for me and she usually gets me involved (I'm kinda hard to buy for). She got me a 1950 Model 94 Winnie. But that's not it!

We went to Yakima to a pawn shop. Turns out, the owner pulls all the Colts and older Winnies for her own collection. But they gave me directions to another shop. We made a wrong turn and got lost (The "Palm Springs of Washington" is NOT a place to get lost in!). We couldn't turn around for a couple of miles (in Selah, the next small town). As we turned around, there was a small gun shop in the back of the parking lot==seriously, the showroom was about 15x20 and mostly "black" guns. On the rack were several 94 Winnies (all but one were pre-64). Also, a Model 71. It was a long-tang, Deluxe, with factory peep (bolt mounted), factory detachable sling swivels, an early side-mounted Weaver scope. Came with a box of Winchester Silvertips. Drawback: mostly silvered and had a recoil pad installed. Checkering worn but intact==all diamonds there with worn points. Price: $800! (I figure market value is closer to $3000).

Now, I already have one of the re-issues the wife got me a few years ago==the "High Grade" with engraving, etc. But this is a real gem I never expected to find (since I had one, it was never high on my priorities).

The real kicker is this is obviously part of an estate sale (along with the Winnie my wife bought) and shows that it was well-taken care of with honest wear. The question is: How many elk, moose and maybe grizzly have this taken, since it was obviously someone's prized hunting rifle?

Several, but my best one was a 95% Colt Model 1909 at a gun show at a very reasonable price. I don't think the seller thought it was anything different from any other New Service. Someone else mentioned the Swede AG42b rifle in 6.5mm. I lucked into one of those in perfect condition some years ago at a giveaway price.

I bought a Colt 1905 maybe 20 years ago, that in retrospect was a heck of a deal. I doubt that I could afford to buy the same gun today.

I'm still looking for something I'm not likely to find, much less at an affordable price. I want a Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in .308 - left handed. Maybe 15 years ago you supposedly could get one as a custom order from the factory, at a price about three times a production gun. But I've never seen one.

Colt Officers Model Match MK IIII .38. They made under 500 of them total and 350 were exported out of the U.S. Only seen two in person. This one was used and had holster wear but it was affordable on a cop's salary.

Closest I have to ones I thought I would never find are the USFA Double Eagle and a TLA Improved #5 in 41 mag.


Top two are 41 mags.

I have always wanted a Springfield Trapdoor Cavalry Carbine from the Little Big Horn. Still haven't found one, but I lucked onto a carbine for a thousand dollars that was later documented as 7th Cavalry post-LBH. Very likely used at Wounded Knee.

I saw one about a year ago that sold on GB.

A little tracking and saw that the seller snagged it on GB for around $1900 BIN.. Sold it as soon as he received it for north of $4500.

To bad you weren't aware of the first buy in.

and if you think magazines for a 10 series S&W are expensive.. WOOF..!!

In the Never Thought I'd Find One category, this 3" Model 24 .44 Special. I wasn't actively looking but I've always wanted one. In a rare case of having money and luck at the same time I saw this one at a local shop and made it mine.



In the Never Thought I Could Afford One category, I always wanted a nice shotgun. I've hunted with utilitarian type guns, Remingtons and Mossbergs and a Browning A5 I got from my brother. I spotted this raggedy Beretta box at my local shop right after it came in the door. I know its not the top of the line over/under by any means, but it fits me and its the nicest shotgun I'll ever own.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

I never thought I would have a Ruger Woodside
I just bought my second

A pre '64 M-70 in 30-06 and a M-12 12ga. Got them both in one year from two different folks needing money. Have $460 in both.

Yup, I find one every now and then, and 99.9% of the time my second assumption is correct - I can't afford them...

Two of them. A new in the box second generation Colt SAA, and a German 9mm Luger.

Once I had 6 Parker Bros shotguns. All 12 gauge, 1 A grade 2 bbl set, a 16 gauge and 12's in various frame sizes. A local LGS took a 2 BBL 20 gauge set in on trade. I knew he had nothing pricey enough to warrant this as a trade in. He could have traded 2 of his regular guns and would not have been hurt.

My guess is he took it in for a deer rifle or some shifty Grandson or son got it off ole dead Dad and sold it for peanuts. When I asked what he had in it he just smiled.

When I asked what he'd take he said $1800.00 and smiled. That was more than I had in all 6 of mine.

He said he was taking it to Tulsa. I smiled, he'd bring that over priced Parker back and listen to reason.

He did not move it at Tulsa.

I offered 1500, he shook his head no but smiled.

I never tried to buy it again, a man has to have principles you know.

The gun went to Tulsa 3 times.

It brought $3000 he said as he smiled.

The old lady in the upstairs smoky shop told me to stick pins in this doll that is his image daily for a week. And he will find another one and sell it to me cheaply or he will pay the supreme price.

Daily I stabbed that voodoo doll with the pin. He did not find another Parker and just like she said, he paid the supreme price. Twenty years later he dropped with a heart attack.

The above chapter in my life is true, except the part about the old lady and pins in the voodoo doll. However I did think about it. The only magic was the beauty of the gun and the way it leaped to my shoulder. 25 years later I can still see it in my mind. In hindsight I should have bought it at $1800.00.

Principles tainted with a burning desire to buy at a fair price oft leaves one watching the prize leave with another.

There is a valuable lesson to be learned from those words...............at least for those intelligent enough to absorb them.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

I always wanted a double rifle but never could afford one. A few years ago Cabela's ran Pedrosoli Kodiak in 45/70 for $1895. I could not pass that up. Love the rifle and its classic style. Now retail on them is $5800.

I had a Walther PP .22 when I was a teenager. I sold it for what seemed like a lot of money at the time and soon regretted letting it go. 45 years later my friend ordnanceguy mentioned he'd taken a Walther PP .22 to a show but it didn't sell. I didn't know he had one and he didn't know I'd pined for one for years. The deal was made on the spot. No, it's not for sale.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

I recently traded into a S&W Model 64 (No dash). I had been wanting one for a long time and got lucky finding this one:

Brand new 1997 PPK, imported by Interarms. Never been fired, in box with all papers, and for $ 550. Much less than what they are selling for now.

A M21 Winchester with double triggers, ejectors and splinter fore end. It's hard to find one with those spec. but patience and paying too much finally paid off. Larry

I think I saw your likeness on a poster in the post office.

Nice job. I would have too.

I've picked up a few nice ones from individuals over the years.

My wife and I stopped at a hard to deal with LGS in the STL Metro area. I have bought a couple of guns there but did not go there often.

I was picking up a few reloading items. As I paid an older gent was trying to sell them a pre 64 Model 70 in 30-06 I believe it was from 1939. Blue was 75-85% but the gent had shortened the stock and butchered putting the curved metal plate back on. The LGS did not want it at 400 and lowballed him, the bbl'd action was worth $400.

We left at the same time. And by changc we were parked next to each other. The gent was in his 70's. As an after thought I asked him what would he take. He said he'd pawed it before and only got $200. He needed more this time and would take 400. I've bought a couple over the years at 250 to 350 and that was over 20 years prior. I had 8 or 10 pre 64's at the house. I was thinking and he said his old time friend was coming to visit and he wanted to have a billfold full of cash so the guy wouldn't think he was hurting.

He went on to tell me another friend older than him had bought the gun new and he bought it years ago for deer hunting when his old buddy quit the woods.

He said give me 375, I said follow me to the ATM on the corner and I'll give you 400.

We both left happy. Oddly enough my wife never said a word about upping the price. Perhaps like I she thought pay it forward, some day we'll be old and perhaps need a break.

I cut the stock right and added a red Win pad. Refinished the stock and put a scope on it. I killed quite a few deer with it. Sold it with a bunch of pre 64's when I retired.

I seem to find sweet deals all the time, more so when I'm broke, before Christmas, the wife's birthday, our anniversary, Mothers day. Paying for them is the hard part. If you go by income, then I'd not be able to afford 90+% of the 25 or so I have now. I missed a sweet deal on an Anchutz 22lr target rifle by app 10 seconds. I did snag a 1974-78 (without getting the paperwork) nib Remington 40 X in 223 with a Leupold fixed 24x benchrest scope for 1,000$. That was a tough negotiation with multiple interested buyers. Beginning asking was around 1500$, but the seller mentioned he was going to Vegas & we would continue bidding when he got back. Who is gonna say no to 1,000 cash when they are heading out the door for Vegas?

Just two come to mind. First a pristine and early commercial Sig P210 made in 1952 with original but ratty box. I paid $500 for it about 15 years ago.

More recently I had just about given up trying to find a superb but reasonably priced HK P7 with box, docs etc. when I walked into a LGS and found one on consignment for $600. I don't think it was ever fired. Sorry, I don't have a pic of it.

Sig P210 (1952)

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I'm gonna grow fins.

Back in the 1980s, I was visiting Redstone Arsenal, taking a computer course. On the weekend I did the gun and pawn shops in Huntsville. I was in 'Paul's Pistol Parlor', which had mostly shotguns (I think it's shotguns only for deer in Alabama). Next to the door a customer was talking to the guy behind the counter. The latter said: "Here's Kaiser Bill's Pistol' and handed this obviously European revolver to the customer. I wasn't too intrested in European revolvers, but when the customer cocked it and that mainspring guide came out the front of the pistol, I almost soiled myself.

I waited until the customer had left and asked to see the pistol. It was a Mauser solid frame Zig Zag. I bought it for $150. When I got it home, it had one more surprise: a 44 cleaning rod wouldn't go down the bore; it was a 9mm (DWM #6).

Hinged frame zig-zags are scarce enough, and bring well up into four figures. But at one time I beat the bushes enthusiastically for zig-zag data, and only found three other solid frames, the highest serial number being 65. Mine is the ONLY 9mm solid frame I've ever been able to locate, and it's SN 4. It's in excellent condition, but is missing the ejector rod which is retained by a catch under the barrel and extends back through the cylinder pivot shaft.

The cartridge is identical to the 38 special but about 1/4 inch shorter. I made up some and shot it with light loads of smokeless. Winced every time I pulled the trigger, and quit after a little while. I wouldn't mind shooting it with black powder, however. It would be hard to get accuracy, as the bullet is a heel type, the same diameter as the cartridge.

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I found this 5 screw Pre-29 at a small shop in the mid-90s. I knew at the time that the barrel length was probably not correct. I traded in a 29-3 with an 8 3/8" barrel, to help lower the price a bit.

After taking it home, I sent away for a factory letter, which was my first factory latter, and it came back stating that the pistol originally was shipped in 1956 with a 6.5" barrel, then sent back to the factory and had the then new 8 3/8" barrel put on and returned to the owner in the presentation case. I have since found out from Doc44 here on this forum that the case is quite rare by itself.

I also never thought I would have an engraved pistols either, but this 1st Model, 3rd Issue followed me home a few years later. Sent for a factory letter on this one as well, which was my second factory letter, and found out it left the factory 1872 as an engraved pistol.

I have acquired two (2) sidearms I did not think I would ever own.

A 1940 Mauser Luger and a H&K P7M8.

There are so many I would love to have and who knows, the quest continues.

But remember, the joy is in the quest.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

I inherited an 1886 original Winchester 45-70. It is a shooter but kicks like a mule. No pad. About 5 rounds and you have trouble not flinching when shooting targets. Accurate but you have to shoot it to be good with it. Needs 405 grain bullets like it was meant to shoot. Pushing that much out of it hurts on paper targets. I love it. Heavy in the field. Full length tube. One of my most prized possessions. Good friend left it to me. God bless him.

Have read about the 2nd Boer War 1893 Mausers many times over 40 years or so, and how the Boers used them to teach the British a thing or two about long range accuracy. In all this time have never seen one until last month. Sitting pitifully in the "junk gun" rack at my favorite pawn shop. The nasty varnish and the stock carving surely didn't help matters...unless you know that the Boers sometimes did carve their buttstocks! A couple weeks of cleaning and "non original" varnish removal... and:






The owner's names were often removed as a precaution when the Brits started hanging Boers that they could link to the insurrection via their firearms. Seems to be the case here.

Bore's cleaning up nicely, too, and headspacing is spot on.

Markings and serial number (380) confirm that it was part of a commercial DWM contract of 10,000 that went to South Africa in 1897.

More exciting find than my Lemat and, maybe, my Remington Model 10 trench gun, both of which were good and severely underpriced acquisitions!

Same here. I waited forty years to get a nice SXS. My Beretta 471 is fabulous! Not top of the line, but perfect for me.

From the comments I get in the field, many others have the same dream.

P210, 29-2, . . . still more to go.

Yes........ luck is a good thing..................

Registered Mag. at a early 2000s 6" 28 price.

My carry 3" 66............ unrecognized as a uncommon barrel length....... listed on tag as 2 1/2"

A couple of model 17s used but not abused.

A 98%+ Pre 39 that brought 4X's what I paid for it.

course it took decades.......................

Yes
For years and years I have been a fan of the Andy Griffith show and I wanted a Colt official police .38 caliber revolver just the like the one barney carried.

And for years and years I searched and I searched but no luck on those rare occasions I did see one it was to expensive.

Then one day I went to this little mom & pop gun shop in Pekin Illinois that I visit regularly and their in one of the display case's was a colt official police .38 caliber revolver with a 4 inch barrel and nickel finish for $200.

I examined that gun and I said to myself "Aside from the finish this is the exact same revolver that Barney fife carried."

That same day I went home counted my gun fund money and I had exactly $200 in the fund so I called the store and asked them to hold the gun for me and that I would be down their the next day to buy it.

The next day after breakfast dad and I got into his truck and he took every shortcut he knew between our house and that gun store.

When the store opened I went in their point out the gun in the display case the nice lady behind the counter took it out of the case I handed her the money.

after the paperwork and the back round check was done I was the proud owner of a Colt official police .38 caliber.

I sold it a few years later because my family needed the money after I sold it I cried and cursed for over a week. And to this day all these years later whenever I go to a gun store I look for it hoping and praying to find it.

This one: a pre Model 45 .22 LR "Post Office gun". Sure it isn't in great condition but that condition put it at a price level most of us could live with and many would jump all over.

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Bill Bates

Yep a couple of times, but about a month ago I scored a slightly defective Lawson 650 Mountaineer in 300WM. I've been wanting a full blown Lawson custom rifle since I was 13 years old... only took 27 years to find one I could reasonably afford. Picked it up the day before my 40th birthday. Can't tell from the horrible cell phone pics, but the epoxy finish on the stock is spiderwebbing. I might send it back to Lawson to have them refinish it, or I may just live with the disfigurement and make it my go to hunting rifle - the damage is purely cosmetic.

Me too! Exact same gun, pencil bbl Model 64 I had first seen in 1972. 40 years later, I walked into one NIB. Almost like a time capsule.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

Oh, I got another one. I was checking the counter at an LGS, and spotted a Browning Medalist. LNIB. I had wanted one decades before, and there it was. Did some dealing, and got a good price on it.

Should I shoot it? HAH! I violated it like a teenage boy. Love to shoot it, but, lately, my M41 has been getting more trigger time.

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I have a Browning T2 T-bolt from the 1960s I bought new. It has the *** salt stock. Many years ago, I stripped off the factory shiny stuff, and oil finished the stock. It turned out super. You might consider that for your Lawson.

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I've been fortunate to find several additions to the collection I never thought I'd find or afford.

Found a shooter grade 3" M-66-2 at a local show listed as a 2 1/2" gun. Snagged it for a bargain price. Had wanted one for about ten years.

At the Reno show five years back I fell into not one, but a pair of very nice pre M-29's, both 6 1/2" blued guns. One was an estate sale gun in the black cardboard presentation case. The other was a solid, original gun that had been used but not abused. Had I not found those two guns when I did, I doubt I could have afforded either of them even a few years later.

As I have luckily filled voids in the S&W revolver collection my WANTED items became the rarer models. Both tougher to find as well as expensive. One of these was an early Combat Magnum. I'd always been a fan of the CM but all of mine were later 19's and 66's.

I luckily found a very early CM last year at the Reno Show. Wrong stocks, but I also found a proper set of period correct stocks for a fair price at the same show.