Regrets

[Ol' Deadeye]

When my son was born in 2000, I only had one gun. It was my dad's Model 15. I had a stage I went through and was scared to have the gun even in the house. I guess I had some kind of breakdown because I concluded I would sell that gun which I did.

Now, I could bump myself for that. Ol' Bullseye (I call him) can pretty much out-shoot me most of the time and we have several guns now. He has his own 20 gauge shotgun and .22 LR. He'll be 12 in June.

I mourn my decision back on that day to sell my daddy's gun.

Anybody else have a story like that?

 

[sigp220.45]

Yup.

My first handgun was a four inch Model 28, laboriously paid for with paper route money while laid away at Frank's Sports Shop in Decatur, Illinois. I was 15, but my Dad did the paperwork and old Frank didn't care.

When I was 21 my college roommate got married and I was his best man. I didn't have any money to buy him a wedding present, so I gave him the Highway Patrolman.

We were great pals and intended to conquer the world together. Then we graduated, went our separate ways, and now I couldn't pick him out of a lineup.

I sure miss that Model 28, and deeply regret not giving him a pet rock or something.

 

[delta-419]

Over the years, for a lot of reasons, I have had to sell my guns. Illiness, college, "bad times", have all played their part in my life. There is only one gun that has lasted since I was 13, my dad's old Nitro Hunter 12ga single shot. Last patent date 1891. It was completely worn out when I got it and I know that it was handed down to my dad by way of his uncle. Often times it failed to shoot when you pulled the trigger and it was loose as a goose! It weighed a ton! No finish, no front sight, and a piece of brass brazed on the end of the hammer. My dad was not a gun person, but during the Great Depression it put meat on the table in rual Louisiana. I shot ducks with it during my college years at LSU until I could afford a "real gun", a model 12 Winchester. It was always the last gun on the list to be sold, but nobody wanted it. For that I am thankful, it hanges on the wall in my gunroom in a place of honor never to be shot again. Like me, its retired, it reminds me of my dad everytime I look up and see it there. My advice, buy another revolver just like the one you sold and enjoy it with your son and create new memories that will last a lifetime.

 

[PA Reb]

Life's regrets are merely lessons we learn while traveling "the path" and I, like so many others, have many regrets in my life. One of the biggest was the loss through theft of a rifle and other valuables that belonged to my dad. Its a long and complicated story but the short of it is I should have been more protective and taken proper precautions before the horse was out of the fence. But, I learned some very valuable lessons because of that loss.

Maybe you should have just removed the gun from your home until the "breakdown" passed but you did what you felt was necessary at the time to protect "Ol' Bullseye" be it the right or, as is now seen in 20/20 hindsight, the wrong choice. 20/20 hindsight makes us all think more rationally about the "maybe ifs" we encounter after the fact.

So, I have to agree with the last sentence in "delta-419"s post above and add you can't change the past but you can surely put a patch on it. Your dad would be proud that you feel the way you do but he'd probably also tell you something like "don't worry about that old gun and go get another one just like it for you and my grandson Ol' Bullseye to enjoy!"

 

[LOM Ranger]

"Life's regrets are merely lessons we learn while traveling "the path" and I, like so many others, have many regrets in my life. One of the biggest was the loss through theft of a rifle and other valuables that belonged to my dad. Its a long and complicated story but the short of it is I should have been more protective and taken proper precautions before the horse was out of the fence. But, I learned some very valuable lessons because of that loss."

I learned not to use the only pistol my dad left me as my carry weapon when it was stolen out of my vehicle a few years ago. It wasn't much, an old Chief's Special, but its memories were priceless. At least they couldn't steal those too.

 

[DCWilson]

In general, I don't do regrets. I try my darndest to make good decisions at the time they need to be made, and if it turns out later that the chosen course of action was disadvantageous in an unforeseen way, so what? I don't need to be right all the time, and if I'm right most of the time I am ahead of a flipped coin.

That said, I sometimes wonder if there is a way to track down the Colt Python I bought new on my 16th birthday in 1961. Serial number in the low 'teens, but my memory won't give it up. Somewhere in the bankers boxes that contain 50 years worth of records is a slip of paper with the serial number on it. I wonder if I could even find that, let alone the gun.

I let that one go (as well as four or five others that weren't as nice) at a time when guns didn't seem as important. Half a century later this one feels like an error.

 

[Silver77]

I have my Grand Dad's dbl/bbl 12 ga. Hunter, AKA L. C. Smith made in 1910 and my Dad's single shot 12 ga. Volunteer Arms (no Serial #). Wouldn't sell either for the bank. Just got my Grand Dad.s old 1905 Ball Railroad watch back from being cleaned, oiled and regulated from a watch maker 202 miles away.

That single barrel 12 would give me a headache when I was 8-10 years old. My wife and I love old family things!

 

[GyMac]

S&W Models 19, 28 and 586. Colts Python and Detective Special. Dan Wesson .357 Magnum. Traded and sold when I was young and foolish. I may still be foolish, but I seldom get rid of guns anymore.

 

[CajunBass]

Can't say I ever have. I don't get sentimental about "things." Things are to be bought, sold and traded. At one time I was sorry I sold my first handgun (a Model 19) or my first shotgun, but I've learned there is always another one just like it out there somewhere.

 

[Camster]

My only regret is that I should have pulled another 50 or 100 from some that I sold.In the big scheme of things,that's nothing- a mere drop compared to losses on the market,etc.I'm still comfortable,with three squares and a roof over my head,so even those losses don't mean that much.

 

[Gunsandguitars]

In my younger years, I got shed of more than a few guns...some really great ones. Model 29's/629', 66 2.5",66 4", 4" Python (blue)...so many guns. But the majority were sold due to family necessities. Young E-4/E-5, three kids; a washer or dryer would break, car would need repairs, you do what you have to.

Hell, I sold a Stevie Ray Vaughn Signature Strat to help pay for one of my daughter's weddings. That was just 12 years ago, but I wasn't making much as Deputy Sheriff then (that has changed, thankfully), and again, you do what you gotta do.

Regrets? Oh, a little wistful now and then, but I wouldn't change anything. I couldn't look my wife or kids in the eye knowing I hung onto my "toys" while they needed something.

 

[GyMac]

At one time I was sorry I sold my first handgun (a Model 19) or my first shotgun, but I've learned there is always another one just like it out there somewhere.

Ah, this may be true, but my ability to replace my former handguns and remain married are two different things.

 

[Black Knight]

To me it sounds as though you sold it based on a fear for the safety of your son and you. If you do something in order to make the home safe for small children no one should say you were wrong. As gun owners we should be concerned for the safety of those around us. You may regret selling your dad's gun and that is understandable but imagine the regret if some accident had occurred with that gun. Yes there are ways to guard against those accidents but they do happen. If you know who has the gun currently you may wish to try to buy it from them. If you do I wish you good luck. Passing a gun on to the next generation is something special among us. Your son is safe today and able to enjoy these activities because of your decision. To me that is what it is all about.

 

[Joe in SC]

I think we all have sold a gun or two and regretted it latter on. I learned from these experiences and even bought a few over the years and made some money to buy some of the guns I wanted.

 

[CoronaDan]

Life is the sum of all the choices we make. Some are good, some aren't and there are few do-overs. But each choice is a chance...and nothing ventured, nothing gained. And so we move on, hopefully richer for the choices we made, for the chances we took. But wiser nonetheless.

My story is a little different. I wasn't raised with guns and really didn't have much of an interest in them. Ten years ago my father in law, a vet from the Battle of the Bulge, passed away and left me his old 22 rifle and an old shotgun. And they stayed in storage until this past summer.

Out of curiosity more an anything I unpack them both. The shotgun was an old double barrel 12 gauge Stevens model, probably made around 1911. It was not a valuable piece and, as it turned out, had a split in the right barrel. Not safe to shoot but perfectly at home hanging above the fireplace.

The other was an old Mossberg 22 trainer, WW II era. Figuring, what the hell, I took it out for an hour of shooting. Now this rifle hadn't been fired in 60 years. And it shot like a champ. I picked up just a couple of pieces - an aperture for the original Lyman sights and a 14 round magazine - and smiled every time it went bang.

Then I convinced my wife she had to come with me to shoot her daddy's rifle. Darlin, it's like shooting history...and it was your father's rifle. She was kind enough to humor me and it didn't hurt that her first shot from 50 yds off the bench was a bullseye. (I had already - and joyfully - zeroed the Lyman from that distance.)

She smiled broadly with her achievement and the memories of her dad. She must have burned thru 100 rounds that afternoon. Our kids live far away but I can't wait to get them out to shoot their grandfather's rifle.

My regret? That I waited so long. The memories I have of the old man are wonderful ones and they all rush back when I handles these guns.

But I wish I had been interested enough at the time to ask him about them, particularly the old Stevens. I'm sure he would have had hunting stories...about his dad, his brother, and growing up in west Texas. Probably shot as many snakes as birds.

A regret, yes. A lost opportunity, for sure. But each time I pick up those old guns we remember him and cherish the memories.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

My first handgun was a Browning P35 that I put on layaway in 1971 and paid a few dollars a week until it was mine. Retail price then was $111.00. Still have it. Have my dad's Model 12, 32/20 HE and beretta .22. When I use them I feel that he's close by.
Never had to sell one because I needed $. I've been blessed.

 

[CH47gunner]

Over the years my younger brother Brett has stayed much closer to the family than I.
I had taken off, joined the Army and ultimately settled down in California. Brett stayed home, went to work on the railroad (Pops retired from the Great Northern after 46 years) and generally was there for the "oldman".
I paid Brett a visit a couple of years ago, in Pasco Washington, in his gun-room were all the firearms that I had grown up with. I don't begrudge him the guns instead I believe that he had earned them by staying home and dealing with the family.
Brett dug around in the back of one of his safes and pulled out my old Daisy BB gun that I'd gotten sometime around 1959. He said "here, I rescued this out of the Old Man's garage and thought you'd like to have it." I'm good with that.
Regrets - I've had to sell some that I regret but, the ones I grew-up with went to a good home.

Bruce

 

[fyimo]

I've owned and lot of guns in my 68 years and I've bought and sold a lot but my only regret is ever selling my mint Browning Hi Power that I loved to shoot or just sit and hold and glaze at it as it was perfection in my hand and mind.

 

[oldandfatonaharley]

A Model 66 snub nose...

The action was smooth as glass, and it was surprisingly accurate for as short as the barrel was, and as short as the sight radius was. Sold it to raise cash, because the live-in girlfriend at the time had turned herself into a seriously unstable meth abuser, and it seemed best to quickly and quietly escape the situation. If I had it to do over again, maybe I'd have stood on the side of a freeway offramp waving one of those "Will work for malt liquor" signs instead.

 

[williamlayton]

Regrets---HUMMMM!
If I had a penny for ever regret I would be well off.
I, also, do not do regrets---what is done is done.
I have done enough stupid things.
I did do something right back in 19&54---but I don't remember what it was.
Blessings