Just wondering what the best deal you have ever gotten on a firearm. I'm not asking about those given to you from a relative or friend but one you happened upon at a gun store or gun show. Something you actually laid out some cash (credit counts) for.

I'll start with my Colt/Armalite SP1 with its 5-digit serial number at $175.00 purchased in 1977. 480 rds of ammo, bayonet, scabbard, bipod, and 5 twenty round mags completed the deal.

Adding late to the show; it also came with the 3 power Colt scope.

Llance

Probably the M&P 9mm 2.0 that I recently bought. $620 retail. Sportsman's Warehouse had it on sale for $560. S&W was offering a $75 rebate at the time, bringing the price down to $485, which is almost 22% off. Then I also traded in a gun and got $180 for it (I doubt I could have sold it myself for any more), bringing my cash out to $305.

And I LOVE the gun, so I was pretty happy with that deal.

For me, the one that immediately comes to mind is a Remington 870 Express Magnum in 12 gauge that I talked the pawn shop owner down to $220 for.

Bought a 1905 mp 4th change with 2" barrel and round butt for $140

__________________
viking

1915/1920 Double date Luger, about 95% overall, $125.00. 5 screw pre-29, letter showing shipped in March 1956. Just a touch of wear on bluing, mostly muzzle.. $750.00

__________________
Have Canon, Will Travel

Last year I went to Cabelas to look at a used Ruger M77 Hawkeye that looked like it was stainless steel on the website. It was some odd brushed looking finish and I was about to leave when the one guy who works there that actually knows guns walked up. “Hey did you see that Sako A III with the Mannlicher stock?”



I knew nothing about Sako rifles, new or old, but this clearly was a very well built action. .270 Winchester is my favorite bolt action rifle cartridge. A quick check on my phone suggested that $1,200 was a darn good deal. The only flaw was a missing rear sight. But part of why I was there was a special Monday 10% off everything deal. After applying my credit card points, I paid about $650 in cash including sales tax.

I picked up a Model 34 22LR with Elk Grips for $450….and a 6 inch Pre Model 28 S Prefix for $700. It came with a Blanchi Holster, Stag Grips, Ammo, 3 speed loaders

In 1983 I bought S&W Model 34 .22 in a pawn shop for $189. I liked it and shot it a few times then the pawn shop called and said the gun had previously been stolen and they needed it back. But they gave me $450 credit in the store. I chose a 4 3/4” 1966 nickel Colt SAA .357 for that exact price. I later traded it for a 7 1/2” 1958 nickel Colt SAA .45 with stag grips that I still have. So that .45 cost me $189.

Pawn shop HAD (past tense) a Pre 64 M70 300 H&H Magnum 250$. No issues on condition. Sorry, my computer crashed, no pics.

Gun show, S&W M58 nickel, 310$. Went back to the mother ship for a tune up, 85$. Sorry no pics.

__________________
"Don't Give Up the Ship"

A 3.5 inch pre-model 27 with original stocks for $626 OTD, about 9 years ago.

This for $700….

Attached Images

IMG_5366.jpg (98.9 KB, 220 views)

Great Western single action-5 1/2" blue in .45 Colt. It came with plastic stags. It shot good.

$70 from a pawn shop.

__________________
John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

A dude answered my I Buy Guns Ad.
He had some interesting guns and away I went.
He was at his Mother’s house down in SW ABQ.
He took me down into the cellar - basement.
Hold on - we don’t have those here! But they did!
N Frames. Second, Third and Fourth Models.
All blue, Targets, 44 Specials, 6 1/2 inch.
We needed money and I dealt hard.
When the deal was done and the dog was down. $1,700.
That’s was for all three.

__________________
NRA LIFE MEMBER

2022 went to a big outdoor store and found a 1915 Colt New Service in 455 Webley with British proofs in plus 90% condition for 299.99. After using a couple of gift certificates total came to a little over 200.00. Always wondered if it was for a British officer in the War to end all Wars.

Back in the early 90s, a friend sold me a very early (late 30s) pre-64 Win 30-06 Mod 70 carbine for $200. I insisted he take more, but he refused. Turns out he had bought it a couple of years earlier from an old man he knew who was quitting hunting. $200 was all the old guy wanted, so he felt so guilty about that purchase that he refused to profit from it. He wasn't a hunter himself and only had a couple of guns. He was getting ready to move overseas and didn't want to lug it or store it. He wanted it to go to a good home where it would be used and appreciated. It was!

Got a S&W Reg Mag, 95%, and all original in a pawnshop in Laramie, WY in 1997 for $225.

__________________
Everybody could shoot

In 1994 I bought a S&W 29-5 Classic DX 5" new for 560.00 OTD. I subsequently found out that there were less than 200 made. I have been offered as much as 3500.00 for it

__________________
Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

For those who like antiques, this Marlin XX 1873 pocket pistol was $10 at a local auction. Guess the guys there just wanted the new stuff.

Attached Images

IMG_3816.jpeg (35.0 KB, 39 views)

Either the 3rd gen Woodsman Match Target for $125 (mint, no box) around 1989, or the unfired (again, no box) 3" Colt Python lettered to 1988 for $1000 around 2002ish.

A friend of a friend was getting a divorce back in late 90s. I got a 6” 686 no dash, Sterling .22 pocket pistol, Ithaca lever action .22 (forgot model) and a Mossberg 500 all for $400. I sold everything but the 686 for more than $400. My son now has the 686. He got it for free but I got money for taking it.

A mint 60s era 4” Python for $900 before prices skyrocketed.I thought I over paid lol.An early 80s dirty model 60 wearing pachs for $175.It cleaned up nicely and the correct stocks cost me $35.Still have the model 60,but the chance to triple my money on the Python a few years later was too tempting ;-)

I think WYO wins, a RM for $225 , even 27 years ago was quite a deal.
That gun today probably 20 or 30 times that.

If I can include a two-gun deal, my best deal would be a Model 657 No Dash snubbie with box for $500 back in 2020 or ‘21. I picked up that 657 and a Model 66-1 for $2000 from a guy and later consigned the 66-1 to someone on gunbroker. After fees and paying the consigner, I netted very close to $1500 on the sale.

Attached Images

	IMG_2600.jpg (88.9 KB, 29 views)
	IMG_2599.jpg (104.7 KB, 34 views)

__________________
USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

Several come to mind. At a gun show I spotted a Colt Detective Special marked $675…this was about five years ago. That was a fair market price at the time…the seller said it was from 1939…but I recognized something different about it. It had a square butt rather than a round butt…only very early Dick Specials in the late 1920s were like that…and WWII examples purchased by the military as they specified square butt.

The Colt serial number lookup on the company website did say it was from 1939…but Colt’s website is notoriously inaccurate on dates. I bought the revolver figuring the worst I could do is buy a gun at fair market price. I ordered a Colt Archives letter which stated it was a 1943 build and went to Army CID. So my $675 investment automatically became a nearly $2500 value.

There’s some others but that’s probably the best bargain.

Fairly ordinary Detective Special. Serial number put it in WW2. Price was $300 I think. Lettered it several years later. OSS gun, in the last batch they bought.

In my favorite gun shop about eight years ago I saw a Remington Model 81 .300 Savage with tang sight for what looked like $50. It was reblue over some pitting. I said, “Hey, you forgot the first digit on the price tag” and the store owner said No, it’s $50. I bought it, sold the tang sight for around $100, then sold the gun for $275. Don’t ask about the many times I screwed myself in other deals over the years. That’s a whole new thread.

I traded a marlin guide gun 45-70 that I bought used for a 3in 13-3, 3in65-3 and a model 60 from cop buddy. They all had box’s, holsters and all had been sent to S&W for action jobs. It worked out to about $125 per revolver. I also bought 4 22lr rifles, hi standard pump12ga, marlin 336 30-30 and six grocery bags of ammo from a very angry divorced woman for $100. I figured that I probably saved her ex husband’s life.


Oh,and lnib browning hi power for $300. There was about minutes left at a small local show and the guy didn’t want to lug it back home.

__________________
There are no bad pig parts!

I have been a frequent recipient of cries of "Stop!! Thief" while milsurp collecting. It is hard to nail down which is my best deal, so here are some candidates.

Best S&W, tie between the 686 Plus I got wholesale when Galyan's became Dick's, about $525, and the used, $300, 3" Model 65 with combat grips from CDNN.

Best modern pistol, Walther PPS M2 for $310 in my hands during a Palmetto Armory contract overrun sale. Fantastic pistol in my hands. Another candidate would be the barely used new model SCCY CPX-2 I recently picked up for $81 OTD, but I've yet to shoot it.

My best milsurp deal is hard to quantify, do I judge on money or by collectability?

Money: Finnish Mosin Model 28, listed as a 'Mauser'. Won with an $85 bid, followed by about $65 in shipping, NICS and FFL fee.

Collectability: Mauser M48 BO bearing the crest of the Iraqi royal family. Fewer than 50 are belived to be in the US.

__________________
Release the Kraken

I once got a Walter PPK .380 for free. That is fairly cheap. An acquaintance of mine left it to his wife when he passed. She didn't like it, it wouldn't even feed hardball reliably so she gave it to me. I polished and opened it up a tiny bit and I now have a functioning PPK that I never shoot because it bites me.

2,
1st Generation Colt SAA 4.75 nickel 38/40 for 225.00
And
5.5” registered magnum for 5k, later the original box , tools and paperwork for 4K.A lot of money to put out but sold the package for 20k.

__________________
S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

I've had so many good deals over the years it is hard to say the best. One good one was a package deal on 4 firearms. A Remington 870 Magnum with a factory rifle sight barrel, a West German Sig P226 from 1990 in unfired condition with a couple spare mags and a period Desantis shoulder rig, A winchester model 63 22 Semi Auto, and a like new Ruger MKII Target 6-7/8" tapered barrel. All for $1200 including several boxes of 9mm and .22 ammo, a cleaning kit, a couple of rugs, and a small range bag type duffle.

Attached Images

	DCP_4383.JPG (141.1 KB, 27 views)
	DCP_4384.JPG (145.0 KB, 26 views)
	DCP_4387.JPG (267.3 KB, 29 views)
	DCP_4388.JPG (282.8 KB, 25 views)

I was at a large auction once and the auctioneer had fell behind in trying to get through all the items. One of the items was a 1873 Winchester. He started off with who will give me $2,000, $1,500, etc. part. Like normal, the crowd was waiting for him to get down to a complete ridiculous number before bidding it through the roof. He just yelled "no sale, next item" and kept pushing thorough the estate. When I was paying for a couple of small items I'd won, I asked the clerk what the reserve was on the 1873. She checked the books and came back and said "would you give us $300?". I ended up with a nice rifle for a fraction of the value.

The best deal I ever got was on this Colt Police Positive, circa 1969.

An old friend of mine had it and needed money, quick money. Problem was that he was a bad alcoholic and spent just about everything he’d get on his pastime…not a great story…anyway…

Was up at his place on day and he was talking about needing money, pawing stuff etc.. We had just been shooting and a few handguns were laying about, I was absolutely joking when I said “fill that old Police Positive up with ammo and I’ll give ya $75”, again, just a joke. He said yeah right, I don’t think so!

It was about an hour and a half later I got up to leave, before I get to the door he said, “were you serious about that $75”.
I said bud, you really considering selling that for $75, “gimme the money and it’s yours”..

The gun is as tight as a brand new one, it hasn't been fired very much at all. Nothing to note except for a little bit of holster wear on the end of the barrel. I know the providence on the old revolver, it was first purchased by the Sheriff of Dickenson County VA in '69/'70.

I've had the old revolver for at least 40 years..

Attached Images

	2015-04-29-16h18m26.jpg (81.8 KB, 691 views)
	2015-04-29-16h18m14.jpg (79.7 KB, 674 views)

__________________
Life Member GOA and NRA

A 19-3 4” with Herrett Trooper grips OTD for $350 at a local gun show.

Best deal was a coworker was moving and sold me
Saiga AK 7.62 x39 rifle unfired but no box
Henry Arms AR-7 .22 unfired in box
Rossi large loop 16” .357 lever action used but in fantastic condition
and a S&W AR-15 16” model with ACOG scope
plus 120 rounds 7.62x39
plus 100 rounds 5.56
plus 100 rounds .357 magnum
plus a brick of .22

All for $750 total

I sold the Saiga for $750 to a friend
so got three rifles plus ammo for free

My son “borrowed” the AR when he got out of the Marines and I don’t expect it will make its way back any time soon.

Gun show in VA Beach in 1987…guy from Indiana had a pallet full of Model 29-3 .44Mags, selling for $200 each brand new. I should have bought more than one.

__________________
No good deed goes unpunished.

Sometime in the Early 1990's 4" Stainless Colt Python Very Good Condition $500

Like new 19-2 with diamond Target stocks serial numbered to gun. $249 about 7 years ago. Kid working the counter said he just bought it that morning from an elderly woman whose husband had just died and she wanted it out of the house. He probably gave her $100 for it. He said to me "nobody wants these old revolvers anymore". It was so perfect that I hated even holding it thinking I'd screw it up and I sold it for $750 a few months later. I regret that very much.

98% condition Smith & Wesson model 58 .41 Magnum from a guy at Church for $650. It was Mark San Francisco Police Department and sold it a few months later for $1550

Would have to be these two.

The 870 Wingmaster was like new for $239 shipped.

Bought the 686 off a cop for $500.

This is not my best deal , but to me it counts . A while ago a club member offer myself and my range buddy 2 Colt 1943 1911 A-1's . One was a military/civilian model , pretty rare . Both were unissued , very nice condition . My buddy took the civ/milit one , I took the other . I gave $750 for mine , my buddy gave $1300 for his . The guy wanted $1000 for both , but we were not out to steal from him . He was happy and we're more than happy . I see those civ/mil one's go for $3-4000 and mine about $2-3000 . WE told him he should put them up on GB , but he needed the cash now .

$150.00 in the late 90s for a 19-4 6 inch that needed a new rebound slide spring to replace the one that someone had taken some links off of.

I was perusing an auction site and came across a Model 41 S&W .22 with a 7 1/2" barrel and factory muzzle brake. It was set up for optical sights with an attached rail. I already had one like it without the rail and another with a 5 inch barrel that I put an optical sight on already. So since the one up for auction seemed like a combination of the two I decided for the heck of it to put in a lowball bid. There was one challenging bid that didn't exceed my bid. The auction time passed and Holy Moses I got the Gun! With my bid, buyer's premium, shipping and transfer fee I got the gun for half of retail! It's now my primary gun for our club's .22 league.

About 10 years ago I walked into a Gander Mountain and saw an N-frame in the case. It was an 8 incher which is my favorite. It was marked as a M27. Upon inspection I determined it was a pre-27 and it looked unfired.

The bad news - I wasn't carrying at the time and I didn't have my pistol permit with me. The house was 20 minutes away. With a little luck I was back in 40 minutes and was doing a 4473 straight away.

More bad news. The clerk said there was a problem with the deal. Something about the inventory record. He suggested I select another gun. I said I would wait until it was resolved.

It DID get resolved and I took it home straight away. I suspect the tag was typed wrong, but they had to sell it to me because the tag showed the price, incorrect or not.

So, that day I bought an unfired Pre27 for $299. I wonder if they fired the clerk because he should have made the tag out for $1299.

And,....the rest of the story...
A year later I bought a pre-14 from the same store for $249. It wasn't unfired, but surely a 90% gun. It even came with the box and a tooled holster.

More bad news....a year after that Gander went out of business.

$50 in 1978

Now it depends on the 'guy'. If he needs the money for his family I will help them out. If it is because the 'guy' has a gambling, drinking, drug or women problems. Well I am getting a great deal and my advice is for the 'guy' to get in a 12 Step Program.

How about the ones my LGS has given me over the years in exchange for my services?

__________________
Come and take it!!

Model 27-2 3-1/2” like new $350 I first looked at it I thought must be a model 19 closer look and I didn’t take long to lay down the 350
Also this was just a few years ago
Ted

American Arms PX-22. Walther TPX-22 copy. $100 at a local pawn shop, 35+ years ago. I needed a pocket carry, and it has been a good companion since.

__________________
Heavily armed old man.

Last year I bought a 1945 99%+ NiB remington Rand for $1600.

I've been buying, selling and trading guns since I was a teenager (many years ago LOL) including a number of years as an FFL............. Have gotten a lot of great deals and a few not so good ones. Some stand out more than others. At OGCA a couple years ago I had set up my table and went for a walk. Old guy had an N frame S&W on his table for $400, looked it over, was a WWI British contract piece, still in 455. Considering the prices I usually see on those I happily paid him and turned to leave only to have him stop me and give me three boxes of ammo that went with it! That was a very nice deal.

Still find deals, usually at the shows but sometimes in shops. Picked up a very nice Winchester model 67 at a local shop for $150 OTD a couple months ago, good gun for the grandkids. Was set up with a friend at a show in southern Ohio earlier this month. One of the other vendors had a clean Savage 1917 in 380, after looking it over I ended up getting it for $300 and found it had two factory magazines with it! Haven't seen one this nice for anywhere near that price in a long time and factory mags aren't cheap either.

Deals are out there and I'm always looking.......... Though sometimes I buy something just because I want it, deal or not LOL!