I've never really come out that good in gun trades, but have been happy with what I ended up with. The best one was probably a stainless Colt Commander for a Model 66. The Colt never endeared itself to me, as I could never get it to empty a mag without a FTF, even as the round count went up. The value of the Colt wasnt that strong at the time. Then a guy at work offered to trade me a Model 66-1 four inch, and threw in an old Buckmeyer pancake holster, a Safariland speed loader, a Cold Steel push dagger, and something like $50-75. The 66, I noted from the start had received a primo action job. The guy said it had been a cop's gun and had been worked over and probably had 1k rounds fired. No box and no factory grips. I still have the 66. I recognized at the time finding someone to duplicate that trigger job was going to be harder to find and cost a pretty penny. A few years later I traded a 37 for a 640 in 38. Still have the 640 and am content.

Best trade for me was a Springfield 1903 NRA sporting rifle that I bought at a gun store for $125. I had to replace the stock as it had been butchered, but all-in I had about $175 in it. Traded it for a arsenal rebuilt '03-A3 and a very nice 1873 Trapdoor rifle. Sold the A3 for $450 and traded the Trapdoor and $200 for a Springfield 1903 National Match rifle.

In many years of gun ownership, I've only made one gun trade. But this one trade stands out in my mind as a perfect example of a "win-win" for all involved.

First, I bought this Colt King Cobra a few years back from a co-worker who was getting married, and his bride-to-be didn't want any guns in the house. (I love guys like that). I let him name his price, and I gave him $350 for the revolver AND a Hornady single-stage press, beam scale, dies, and powder measure. I gave the reloading gear to a friend who is a community college teacher and was just scraping by, and I kept the King Cobra, still happy that I had it for $350.




That King Cobra was my only Colt in a safe with "a few" S&W's, and I never really warmed up to it very much, or shot it very much. Last year, I started to get a hankering for a model 610 and started looking into the value of the King Cobra on the used market. I was amazed at the prices they were fetching, so I offered it up in trade toward a 610 on this forum. Lo and behold, after a few months a member offered me this 610-4. We ended up doing a straight-up trade, and we were both very happy with the result. If I had to buy a 610 outright, I still don't think I'd have one to this day..........I just can't believe how expensive they are!

Lou

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NRA Certified Instructor & RSO

Last year I traded a Century C15A1 assembled from late 1970s Colt M16A1 parts on a new semi lower plus $200 for a Browning Cynergy 20ga classic field. The C15A1 was a cool retro AR, but not as accurate as I like. The Cynergy is great upland O/U

The BEST gun trade that I ever made was the one that I didn't make.

I still own all of my guns.....

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James Redfield
LM #497

made a few good trades but this one stands out,I traded a sig 239 lnib for a smith 657, 3 in.,combat grips, lnib AND a smith 422, wood grips, lnib,i got both smiths for the sig.

I bought a rusty shotgun and a rusty Chief's Special for $70 and sold the shotgun for $70 in the same day.

Still have the free Model 36, and it shoots great!

Traded a standard model Ruger MKII that I purchased for $135.00 for a Colt Trooper MKIII in .22 LR. I was happy with that one. Also traded a 3" mdl. 317 for a 4" 617.

Traded my $250 Ruger LCP for an M&P 45. Traded that stupidity for a 14-2. Good trade.

The 586 had just come out, (1980 ish[?]) they were impossible to find and, a hot item. I had one. A buddy had just found an old N frame at a pawn shop and wanted to trade even. I did. 3 1/2" 357 Magnum (pre 27). In 98%+ condition. I made the trade and he threw in the original gold box. I didn't even know about the box when I made the deal.

Well-used LE surplus Sig P220 plus $250 for a 2 1/2" 19-3, nearly immaculate. I'd wanted a P220 for the longest time, finally bought one for $500, then found I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I've gotten much more joy out of that 19-3, believe-you-me.

I'm a contractor and was doing work for another gun nut. He paid me nicely per our agreement but when he added simple little things outside our contract he would trade the work for old Smiths and various other cool guns. We did a great job for him but the deal seemed to favor me a bit. Guns for concrete work I'll do any day.

Back in 1981 I traded a slightly used stainless Walther PPK straight up for a NIB 4" Colt Python in Electroless Nickel. Turned out the guy couldn't find the box, but I agreed to make the trade anyway...

Some time back I took a risk at an live auction and bought a 14-3 that had lots of gunk on it. I think I paid $275 at the time. Started cleaning the gunk off and it was mint underneath with the exception of one small, but bad area of pitting near one of the cylinder stops. Oh well, good shooter I figured, and it was.

About 3 years ago, I found another fellow who wanted to trade a model 14 for is colt 1991. I contacted him, told him about the pitting on the cylinder and we met.

I still don't believe it, but we traded straight across. The fellow had bought this Colt, and had over $850 in custom work done to it. The last thing he did was have Tripp Research refinish it in this satin chrome finish. He told me he discovered he hated silver guns and wanted it gone. We traded, did the paperwork and everyone left happy.

I'm not the biggest fan of silver guns either, but this thing shoots so beautifully it took no time to get over it.
Uploaded at Snapagogo.com

I don't normally trade guns but I got a Ithaca Model 37 Deerslayer in A partial trade on a old Truck since I didn't need it I swapped it $ 100 for a New S&W 686m1 2 1/2" barrel this was in the Mid 80's I am sure the 686 is worth way mort now than a Ithaca 37


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You are missing out,I had the same mindset for a while.Then I realized by Horse trading I could get far better deals and in some cases get guns that where not even "for sale".

I completely agree, some of the things I've purchased I figured would likely be trade fodder down the road.

Kind of a trade....guy in the apartment building hit my parked car outside of the window where I was sitting. Fellow resident, and I caught him (HA). Not too much damage, but needless to say, I was not pleased. Of course he had no insurance and no money, and I figured he would disappear after getting his name and address. So I was determined to get something tangible to cover the repair costs. Guess what came out of his car? A beautiful Belgium Browning, first generation .22 Challenger. Still have it after 40 years....never bothered to fix the car. Great trade!

Twenty years ago at the LGS just before deer season I traded a microgroove Marlin 1894 in 44 mag + $53 for a Remington XP-100 in 223 and a mil spec box of ammo.

The Marlin couldn't hit a 5 gallon bucket at 50 yards. I still have the 5 round target I shot with the XP with the mil spec ammo at a hundred yards with a 4X scope. The 5-leaf clover is easily covered by a dime. That ammo was really loud in the the 15-1/2" barrel on the XP.

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S&WHF 366

Glock 21 for FNX .45 FDE....Even up!

I don't trade guns often. Mostly outright buying and selling for me. That said, I was recently delighted to answer a local add from a gent who wanted to trade a LNIB 642 for "something better suited for pocket carry". I offered him a KelTec P3at 380 I had picked up on a whim. ( These are hard to find n my state.) We traded even and we both left happy. ......................................
OK, Maybe trading a keltec for a S&W left me the happiest out of the deal . ;-))

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Dave

From 1998 to 2001 I was a U.S. Army Recruiter stationed in Waterville, ME. (My heart was still back with the 82nd Airborne Div at FT. Bragg.)

I struck up a friendship with the proprietor of a small gunshop in China, ME that had all sorts of specialty and collector guns as well as more commonly found items. Sometimes we shot together at the range behind his shop. He worked to find guns that his customers were looking for, and I had shown him some of my collection while we were shooting together. He had seen the Glock 26 I used as my daily CCW and a Colt Commando style carbine I had built from gunshow parts.

I used to walk into the shop and immediately go to two rifles in the rack at the back of the store: A 1944 Springfield M1 Garand that had been completely rebuilt by Miltech and a pristine, all parts matching 98% 1945 Winchester M1 Carbine. Id pick them up, handle them, look at the prices for the 1,000th time ($1,500 and $800) sigh, and put them back.

One day the dealer calls me on my cell and asks "You still have that Glock 26?" I answered yes and he said "I have a customer looking for one and willing to pay a premium (They were still new and hard to find) - do you want to trade it straight across for the Winchester M1 Carbine?" I about killed myself getting over there.

About a year later, in late 1999 many people were prepping as they thought Y2K was going to bring a disaster with the new year. AR-15 type rifles and carbines were nowhere to be found on dealers shelves in that area of ME. One day I walk in the shop and while I'm looking at that beautiful M1 Garand, the owner asks me "You still have that Commando carbine? I have customers looking for AR's." I said yes. He then replies "Bring me that carbine and some magazines and Ill trade you that Garand straight across."

Again, I set speed records back and fourth, but traded that gunshow parts gun for a real WWII veteran.

I don't know what he charged his customers for my trades and I don't care. I still have those two amazing guns from WWII.

I'm mostly handguns, and trading handguns is sort of avoided around here, for legal reasons. Best purchase I probably made was a very nice Marlin 1895 in 45/70. I still have it, it shoots nice. My brother said it was made around 1980.

Oh, and I also bought an almost new Winchester 1300 for $130, with the box. Had about 3 shells through it.

I traded a Mamiya-Sekor 35 mm camera and a zoom lens for this Model 19 in 1977. I think I had $200 into the camera equipment and my friend had given $210 for the Smith. In the long run, I think I got the WAY better deal as I still have the Model 19 and he got rid of the camera many years ago. We are still friends in spite of this!

I started out 10 years ago with a Colt Police Positive, early 20s model in .38 S&W, LNIB with period holster, for $50 cash from an old timer, who'd bought it in the 30s. Traded it for $400 credit in a gun shop. Got a mint 4 inch S&W 10-10, a M1912 Army holster for the Colt 1911 and 2 boxes of .45 ball ammo. Sold the S&W 10-10 3-4 years later for $400, bought a Glock 26 for $375 A few years after that, I sold the Glock 26 and $200 to a guy for a used/like new, Windham Weaponry WW15 with 200 rounds and some foolish accessories. Sold the accessories for $225.

It all started with $50 invested, so it's like having a free AR15 with 200 rounds at the end of the day! Come to think of it, I still have the .45 holster and ball ammo.

Mine was trading a Taurus PT99 even up for a nickle 19-3 in 98% condition.

Easier to say which is more regrettable... sold 1969 Colt Python 6" to buy 1969 S&W M60 (no dash) stainless which is holstered on my belt as I type. The M60 has been my constant companion ever since.


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Everyone should have a friend like that.

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Don

I traded a 686+ in 2" for a M19 4" in nickel with really nice factory target grips. I miss the 686, but I LOVE the M19.

The best trade I ever made was when I traded $1300 for an early Springfield Armory M1A Super Match about 3 years ago.

Purchased a real nice Wingmaster for $200 + tax. A neighbor just had to have it, so he traded me a S&W Sigma .40 w/box, papers, ammo, etc., and a couple holsters. I could not hit anything with that Sigma (and I consider myself a pretty decent shot), and was kinda bummed. UNTIL another buddy wanted a .40 because he couldn`t hit anything with his Ruger P345 (box, papers, ammo, etc). Swap was made. He`s happy, and I have a like new P345 that hits where I aim for $212.
Another good trade was a Springfield mix-master M1 for a International Harvester M1 (that buddy didn`t care about "brand names".
beerbelly

I traded a model 60-1 for a 25-2 in presentation case. (The 25-2 was too large for the wife to shoot)

*Sorry if this is inappropriate since they belong in the 1896-1961 section*

I found this locally and bought it for a good price:


Traded with a forum member for the front one in this photo plus the cost of the above:


I don't like long barrels and he did/does. I think we both came away happy - I know I was tickled
pink - I'd walked into Cabela's that day hoping to find a vintage Combat Masterpiece. It wasn't a
direct find but I ended up getting where I'd wanted to go in the long run.

My best ever was trading a used 3 point hitch fertilizer spreader for a deluxe Marlin model 1897 22 caliber rifle. The rifle had at least XXX wood with 32 lines per inch checking. It also had special order sights. Besides the gun, I got $100 boot. O, forgot to mention, the Marlin was case colored.

I don't trade guns much. I only buy, not sell. I bought a new BG 38 with laser. Light weight, good sights. This was to replace my model 36 chiefs special. I shot the BG 38 quite a bit. It got loose in a couple months. I sent it back and S & W fixed it real quick. It got loose again in a couple months. I traded it for a 637 which I have now. It shoots great and has not loosened up at all. I like the grip better and feel much more secure firing +p from it.
I still have the Chiefs Special.

David

In 1993, I traded one of these...



For this... a M57 no-dash 8-3/8 bbl.

What can I say? The guy was lusting for a Sigma 40 when they came out... and I was happy to part with it after only owning it for about 6 months.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

I traded a Ruger P89 for a Smith 629, 5 years later traded it off for a NIB Colt Diamondback. I still have it and haven't fired it.

Just found this sight tonight and am really enjoying it. My best trade ever was swapping an all original, nice Wheel Horse 657 mower and $200 for a 1902 Colt military in about 95% condition.
It still took me 2 hours to make up my mind....I really liked that mower!