Having Patience is hard....what is the longest u looked for the gun u wanted

I guess I'm the opposite of you guys. I'm on so many lists that I get the guns to come to me. Then I figure out how badly I want it.

Longest wait for a gun I ended up actually getting? I've wanted a Marlin 1895SBL in beat up used condition (because I wanted to bead blast) since 2012 and got one about 2 months ago.

I'm hoping to stumble across all the usual S&Ws that most of us want to find. I found a prewar K-22 this summer that wasn't really "on the list" but was too good to pass up.

Been looking for an IMI Timberwolf pump rifle in .357 or .44 since the '90s. Same with a Medusa. HK91.
 
looked for a couple of years for a 65 3"bbl. stumbled upon my 57-5 mountain gun... didn't know how long i was looking for that one, or that i was even looking, but it felt soooo good to get it!
 
well how this all started...My Dad had a 8 3/8" model 29 that he recently traded for a 29-2 4" that i really like the feel in my hand...he had a mountain gun years ago and i love the way that felt in my hand too...and i remember that 24-3 Lew Horton he had so it got all of this started again...i have been a avid automatic guy for a long time and i wanted to get back to my roots with a revolver again....i have a very old 1961 model 38 which i carry...but that is my only smith revolver i have had since i was young....i just had no idea that this would be hard as it has been....but like most of you have said...it will be well worth it in the end...i have finally settled on two models that i want...the 29-3 3" would be the easiest as i already am setup for the 44mag and have them already loaded too...but i can always buy brass and get a good 44 special load too...and the 24-3 3"...this will be my new carry gun so i want it to be just so too...God Bless John
 
Been scouting for a Marlin 1895 in 41Mag @ a price I'm willing to pay for 25 years. They have gone out of sight in the last couple of years. If "RemLin" even makes a run of lever guns in 41M I'm inclined to buy 2 [emoji379]
 
I had been saving 44 special range brass for years and had a one gallon bag almost full. My buddy got one of the Ruger/Lipseys in 44 special so I gave him the whole bag. At that point I had just about given up trying to find a S&W 44 special. Don't you know next show I find a 6.5" bbld 624 in the box with all the goodies. And had to source some starline brass to shoot in it. So sometimes your search can be a few months or a few years. After the 624, in about a years time I had a 24-3 3"bbl and a 24-3 4" bbl revolvers. Sometimes you find it when you aren't looking and sometimes it finds you. Frank


What range do you go to that people leave .44 Special brass? I gotta go there.
 
I started looking for a S&W model 940 in 1995. I never saw one until 2011 and bought it immediately Though I paid too much ar $750, but I've never seen another one and I'll never sell this one
 
Been wanting a Model 57 for about 10 years, Unfortunately prices seem much higher than I can justify.

Also a 20 or 16 gauge A.H. Fox.

I just keep looking, one day will find the right one.

RSD
 
Maybe a few weeks. With a couple exceptions, whenever I have something on my mind it seems to find me.
 
625 SAC

I had a chance to buy this one new. Looked at it in a gun shop held it in my hands. Left the shop went back the next day and yep sold. Looked for 15+ years and found this one on Gunbroker and I am glad to have it!



 
I looked for a TRR8 or M&P R8 for almost 2 years. A new store opened near me and he had only a few handguns on opening day. He asked if there was something he could help me find. My first inclination was to not bother but I changed my mind and thought, "Why not?" He called me within a week and about a week later I had an R8. The price was only a little below msrp but I was tired of waiting.

I waited about 2 years for a Kel Tec KSG and my favorite LGS came through with one at a very good price. (I don't buy from on-line sources. I found a KSG earlier from another store but he wanted more than MSR. At the time I was willing to wait to save almost $200.)
 
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8 years for me...I like Custom-action German Weatherby Mk Vs (not the gawdy crown customs), but they have to have factory 26" bbls (most Weatherbys have 24") and be unported. I've heard from serious Weatherby guys that they mfg'd 1 custom-action gun for every 100 Deluxes so they're scarce. Bought my 1st one (a 1971 mfg .378) at the Tulsa show back in 2006 and have looked for the other calibers ever since. Finally found one in .300 Wby last October and am now looking for a .257, .270, or 7mm. When I run across custom-action Mk Vs they usually turn out to be 24" guns or Japanese mfg'd.
 
Don't look if you don't like ugly, weird, or unusual stuff.

At one time I was going through a "Kalashnikov phase" and had been looking for the below carbine for a few years. The rare auction for one always escalated beyond my budget or comfort level. I had never seen one in person. I gave up looking after a few years. Then, when obtaining one was largely out of my mind, at a large gun show, while looking at a standing rifle rack on a table, this was at the back of the rack, barely visible. It was nearly hidden. I did a double-take. Initially I did not get very excited because I guessed it would be overpriced so when I asked price and was given a very reasonable number I got a little juiced up. When I asked it had the box and was told yes and with all the accessories and in good condition it was getting too good to be true and upon allowing me to take it apart and finding it all appropriate, numbers matching, and apparently unfired .......... well ............ it was a good day.

Norinco 86-S bullpup derivative of AK-47 circa mid to late 1980's.
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Started shooting handguns of my own when I turned 18 in 1970. After buying an 18 and a 19 became interested in a 53 but had to have the extra .22 Rimfire cylinder...took till 1994 to find one....I still own it.

There are only a few things left on my bucket list. I think what I am doing is "inactively" looking for something...in other words it is something that is on the bucket list but I am not actively searching for it but when I stumble across one I buy it.

This happened last month. I was in a large shop near my house and there in the rack was a Remington Nylon 11 bolt action rifle. I had had the Nylon 66 semi auto but sold it and always wanted to try one of the bolt guns. That was the first one I had seen in 25 years.

I also have to be very careful what I wish for. Two times in a row going to this same shop I said to myself "Gee I'ld like to find a nice ----" and upon arriving at the shop found they had just taken one in...scary.

In this day of the internet it usually isn't the problem of finding the gun I want...it is finding one at a reasonable price... One of my Grail guns was the 57 10" Silhouette...S&W made two, maybe three... One came up for sale last year and needless to say it was well beyond my budget....

It is always fun to search however....Bob
 
ive been looking for over a year for a shooter grade Baby Chief with the round sight that hasnt been refinished. its going to be a long term search i see.
 
Five years searching for a 27-2 6 1/2" blue at least 98 per cent , had a shot last year at a 95 per cent probably should have bought it .
 
Fell in love with the Combat Magnum/Model 19 back in 1966. Finally found myself in the position to buy one in 2001. I've got 3 now and gave one to my son last week.
 
I looked for a M586 with a 2-1/2" barrel for about a year. When I saw one unfired in the box I just pressed the 'Buy Now' button. Second revolver was a M629 square butt with a 7-1/2" barrel and unfluted cylinder. I looked for 9 months and never saw one that was affordable, then in the space of 3 weeks there were three for sale on GB. I won the cheap auction. It was another happy day.
 
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In 1981 I read a article in Combat handguns magazine about a custom Ruger Speed Six in 44 spc made by ASP.

Had to have one.

I have bought and sold 100's of guns since.

I had never even saw one "in the flesh" in all these years.

A few months ago a local shop that is well know for Colts posted a gun up on their webpage.

"Ruger Speed Six, stainless, 5 shot, 44 spc, Custom"

Almost broke my fingers sending a email to ask them to hold it for me.
Was at their door a half hour before they opened.

Tried not to slather on it as I did the 4473, someone walked into the shop and looked at it laying on the counter.
"Do you know what that is?" he said as he was typing into his smart phone.

Yes I said (and SHUT UP I thought)

"That's an ASP" the last one sold at auction for $$$ (showed shop owner the webpage).

The shop owner looked at me, I looked at him, counted 600.00 (the price we had already agreed upon) out on the counter and left.

30 years is a long time to wait, but she shoots straight and is tight as a drum.
 
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Took me 35 years to find a Darne shotgun that I could afford.

Most folks probably dont know what the darn things are. Funny years ago when I was into Parker and real Fox shotguns I turned down several Darnes that were dirt cheap. Later I wanted one and they were not to be found or were expensive.
 
When my brother and I divided Dads guns. He had 1st choice an as he is into native american axes etc, he took a nice one our paternal grandpa foind on his farm in Iowa. I chose the model 70 pre 64 Win and he knew he die if he chose it. He then cjose Dads S&W no dash 6" 586. I had Pythons but loved that 586. I looked fofever for a 4 inch 586 without luck. A couple of years ago a friend of my broters offered him a 4 inch Smith 357 mag, nickle cheap, 200 plus range. He did not know what it was, thought it was stainless. I had him put on his glasses, yep nickle 586 in 4", no dash that had been sent for the recall. He would not sell it.

After several more years I ended up buying a brand new stainless 686 in 4". Nope its not Dads but works very well and ive grown attached to it over the last year.

So it was 14 or 15 years.
 
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