Originally Posted by Speedo2

S&W Pre-29, 6-1/2”; 1st year production; ANIB w/ Jinks letter and all tools
Browning Medalist 22; ANIB w/ tools
Colt Match Target 22; ANIB w/ original grip adapters
Marbel’s Game-Getter 22/410 w/ folding stock & original holster
S&W Pre-27 3-1/2”; ANIB, no tools
Luger DMW 1916; WW-1 imperial markings
Walther P-38 AC41, WW-2
High Standard Sports King 22; ANIB
Colt Python, 8” 357; near 100%
Walther TPH 22; ANIB
S&W Outdoorsman 38/44; pre-war w/ original magnas
S&W Pre-15, 4” 5-screw; near 100%
Mossberg 352KB 22 w/folding for-end
Savage M24 22/410
S&W Pre-28, 357, 6”, 5-screw; ANIB
Remington-Rand 1911; WW-2 issue
S&W Pre-27; 357, 6-1/2”, 5-screw

This has been a thought-provoking and difficult post for me to respond to (….I know, hard to believe, but true). I’ve bought and sold many guns over the past 15-to-20 years. Most sales have been done to acquire something that was fleetingly more appealing at the time (my erstwhile “upgrades”), or in a darker truth to either finance a gambling junket or to pay off a gambling debt. Now, as cheesy as that sounds, and before you all write me off as a itinerate gambler and reprobate, please know that I have managed to generally expand my somewhat eclectic accumulation of shootin’ irons over the years and that I’ve funded it mostly from within my poker fund. My house is paid for; my kids have all been put through college, and my wife doesn’t hate me. However, she does on occasion question my sanity with regard to time (and money) spent with Smith & Wessons and has also wondered aloud if the gun safe will eventually crash through the garage ceiling. I’d like to believe that my penchant for fame and fortune on the green felt adds a certain panache and mystique to an otherwise dull and unthreatening existence; that I am otherwise considered to be a pillar of my community, as I’m sure are most of you.

Now, having prefaced my “list of shame” with the above soul-cleansing confessional; upon review of my list, it strikes me that most of the listed guns were (for me anyway) moderately “high end” and glamorous things that were easily recognized as collectibles and were therefore easily disposed of. However, there are several that are rather plain and pedestrian. These, once again in all truth, are the ones that I regret the most because they were sold not at a time of need, but rather they were disposed of in a state of ignorance and/or stupidity.

That pre-15 that my dad gave me and the Mossberg 22 that I bought as a kid (back when kids could actually do such things) now have a much greater significance to me than when they were gotten rid of. I know that in the end they are just things, and we can’t have them all, we can’t take them with us, and that we’re really just temporary care takers. But some of them did really have a spirit that came from historical connections and personal enjoyment. That’s where the regret comes from.

My list is not a complete inventory of all of the guns that I’ve ever sold; not by a long shot. However, in no particular order these were the ones that came to mind as regrets; some more severe and painful than others. Do I wish that I could have kept them all? Hell no! Garage ceilings (and gambling debts) are expensive. –S2

Originally Posted by quinn

This is gonna be strange in this forum, but the ones I regret selling the most:
M3 Grease Gun (registered and transferable)
Remington Hepburn original Creedmore gun (ca 1885 factory 1000 yd target gun)
M7-9 Vietnam era Flame Thrower (operational)