I may never stop kicking myself . . .

[Fat Old Guy]

I'm sure that all of you remember that about 20 years ago there was a number of S&W M1917s that were imported from Brazil. Wholesale price was about $100.

I was kicking around the idea of buying one. Actually, I was thinking of buying a few. One to leave alone. One to make into a Fitz special. One to put a bull barrel and dot sight on it for pin shooting.

How many did I buy? NONE. Why? I'm not really sure. I just know that I didn't buy any.

At night I stay up late tossing and turning and fuming over this issue.

 

[Pef]

Well, since you opened the confessional - I once bought a 1974 Model 60. Not pristine, mind you, but it had character.



I traded it for a .22 Ruger Single Six.



I will NEVER get rid of any of my SW snubbies again (unless I need to feed my children).

 

[hittman77]

I've had more regrets over guns I did NOT buy than those I did.

 

[DCWilson]

Oh goodie! A "Kick Me" thread!

On my 16th birthday in 1961, and with my parents' permission, I bought a Colt Python new in its box for $100.

About 16 years later, when a lot of other things were more important in my life, I let that one get away along with a half dozen other guns of no particular distinction, but one or two of which I probably should have kept along with the Python.

I dreamed about the Python for 40 years and didn't stop until I got back into guns again about five years ago.

Still, I wish it was in my safe today.

 

[tops]

I am older than you and I remember when $30 dollars would catch one. I was making $1.25 an hour so I guess that really the price is the same. Larry

 

[Green Frog]

Then there was the 6" Model 16-4 I bought when they first came back into production. I shot it a couple of hundred shots then told myself that I really needed to be spending my money on a Winchester High-Wall. I think I still have the 'wall, but I really wish I hadn't let that latter-day K32 get away!

Froggie

 

[Reddog]

I bought a K-32 for $70 back in about 1965. I traded it for an M-1 Carbine which wouldn't shoot my lead bullet reloads very well so I got rid of it. Don't know what was next? If I'd have kept that K-32 I'd have all three Ks, now!
Dick

 

[smokey]

I'm sure that all of you remember that about 20 years ago there was a number of S&W M1917s that were imported from Brazil. Wholesale price was about $100.

I was kicking around the idea of buying one. Actually, I was thinking of buying a few. One to leave alone. One to make into a Fitz special. One to put a bull barrel and dot sight on it for pin shooting.

How many did I buy? NONE. Why? I'm not really sure. I just know that I didn't buy any.

At night I stay up late tossing and turning and fuming over this issue.

Yes, i remember them all to well, went to a show in Lexington with the intention of getting one,they were a little rougher than expected, and i passed,wish i would have spent some time looking through the piles of them now.of course M1 Carbines were $165 each back then to, and yes they were rough to, and no i didn't buy anything that day, im going to go kick myself now, thanks for reminding me.

 

[olskool]

man i am sick just thinking about all the ones i let go. a model 27 in the wood presentation box. a model 57 in the wood box, and all three barrel length's of model 25-5 - 4in 6in 8 3/8 in and other's i don't want to remember.

 

[red9]

In the late 1980's, I traded a model 544 Wagon Train (which, by the way, I still feel is undervalued as one of the few S&W's in .44-40) for a refinished Schofield with scrimshaw ivory grips. It had a name inscribed on the backstrap, Maj. C. Goddard. Didn't mean anything to the seller, but Goddard was one of the first forensic firearms examiners, identifying the evidence in the St. Valentine's Day massacre as well as other famous cases. When I needed money, I sold it to Cal Norton, and have been trying to track it down since he passed away.

Bob

 

[NFrameFred]

My 'Kick Me' moment . . . the snub Python I let my "buddy" who 'just had to have one' have at a VERY reasonable price 15 years ago that he turned around and sold for a substantial profit two weeks later. Of course, when I sold it to him he promised that IF he ever got rid of it he'd offer it back to me first . . . . and, of course, it never happened. Fool me once . . .

 

[Bill_in_fl]

Back in the late '70's or early 80's I had a beautiful S&W 1917 that had the nicest aftermarket high polish royal blue finish of any 1917 I've ever seen. I regret ever selling it and think of it often. Then there was my Steyr Mannlicher M1901 that was in pristine condition that I also sold for a fraction of what it would bring today. Then there was my SAFN model 49 rifle that was very accurate that I also sold. Then there was my 1969 R69S BMW motorcycle that I rode while in the Marines and for a few years afterwards too. Sold it for $1000.00 and today it is a collector's item selling for big bucks. Those are the only four things I let go that I have regrets over, but those four regrets are bad enough!


.

 

[delta-419]

Regrets

In 1985 I was working for the Army in Grafenphor (sp) gunnery range Germany. Belonged to the local Rod & Gun Club in Graph and Nurenberg and bought several nice German Hyme rifles and put out the word I wanted a nice Luger. Months went by and finally one day I got a call from the club in Nurenberg. We have Lugers! I beat feet to the club a couple of days later and was informed that they were not unpacked as yet! Was told to go in the backroom and pick out one and bring it up front. Entrance to the "candy store"!!! Two Nazi crates OD green with 12 Lugers each crate, packed in grease. Be still my heart!!! I ended up with 2 Lugers at $179 each, 1 Mauser banner model and 1 Erfurt, both mint! Mags did not match. I sold them to a couple of GIs before I left Germany. Regrets!!!!

 

[chuck17]

Let it go, man! You will be happier and live longer without the stress of thinking about the good deals that you missed for whatever reason. Things happen for a reason, and it just wasn't your "time."

There are bargains all around us, all the time. You just have to keep your eyes open. As the bus saying goes, if you miss a bargain another one will be along in twenty minutes!

 

[ditrina]

Every nite when I lay down I think of the two I let slip thur my fingers...

A 3 1/2" Reg. Mag. in the box with all the goodies including the reg. in the tube.

Back before '86, a 1928 Thompson in the case with a couple of drums and
a couple hand full of sticks...Marked ILL State Police on the butt stock.


Passed on the RM at five hundred and the tommy gun at two grand.

On sum nites...Sleep don't come too easy atall.


Su Amigo,
Dave

OUCH!!!!!!!!!

 

[4-Screw]

^^^^^

Ouch is right. The Luger story stung me a bit too.

1993...walked into Shore's Galleries in Illinois. I was 23 years old, and I was looking for a .44 Magnum.

In the case:
4" .44 Magnum, 5-screw, presentation case, tools, 99%, $800 (I think)
6.5", .44 Magnum, 5-screw, case and tools, 99%, $750

I hesitated because all of the other .44 Magnums that I was looking, i.e. 29-2's and -3's, were in the $400 range. I said, "Why would I pay so much for one of those?"

I did walk out with a 1961 4-screw K-22, factory rosewoods, RR/WO, TH/TT, 8 3/8", in the correct/original box, tools, literature, 99%+, for $379.

 

[phubai8]

chuck17 has it right. You have to let it go. I've lost so many it would take a couple of rooms to store them all. When I got the urge for a hot new item, I'd have to sell something to help pay for it. Then there was the time my second ex-wife's lawyer had the locks drilled on my gun lockers and took all of them to her office and threw (litterally threw) them all in the celler under her office. Choices were cry, put out a contract or let it go. I've stopped crying by now, my ex is still around (and collecting 30% of my retirement) and life is good.

 

[dave_g]

I remember the Brazilian 1917's. J&G Sales had them. At the time I lived in Phoenix and really couldn't afford the gas to get to Prescott let alone the price of the gun.

I also had to pass on surplus 7.62x39 when it was $69 a case and a lot of other deals that we'll never see again. Being young and poor was a drag.

The real question is what should we be buying now so we won't regret it later?

 

[4-Screw]

I remember the Brazilian 1917's. J&G Sales had them. At the time I lived in Phoenix and really couldn't afford the gas to get to Prescott let alone the price of the gun.

I also had to pass on surplus 7.62x39 when it was $69 a case and a lot of other deals that we'll never see again. Being young and poor was a drag.

The real question is what should we be buying now so we won't regret it later?

Buy whatever you like...don't buy it because you think it will be worth more at a later date...it usually never is. It is typically the things that were not popular at the current time become worth more later. I can think of hundreds of things like that...Buy it, use it and enjoy it.

 

[JSR III]

Fortunately, I don't have those regrets. I have never sold any gun that I acquired and therefore I sleep like a baby. I feel for those that let things go and can't get them back.