Silliest reason you've bought a gun? I'll go first.....

[sigp220.45]

I just bought this....

....because 40 years ago I had this:

Now I've got a .32 as large as some .45s.

It did come with the box, spare mag, and booklet, though:

The story was that a guy bought it for his wife years ago, but she never liked it because the slide was too hard to retract. He finally brought it into a local pawnshop and traded it for something else. I strolled in just as it was going into the case. Overcome with memories of my carefree boyhood, I just had to have it.

I'm not sure its ever been shot, but that point will be moot as soon as I dig out some .32 ACP from my stash.

Its not a Smith, but it sure is well made.

Top that!

 

[Andy Griffith]

Ever had one speak to you and want you to buy it so someone else wouldn't get it? I have.

 

[Bruce51]

I had a scope that needed a home.

I was given some bullets and did not have a suitable rifle to test their potential.

I solved both problems by purchasing a Winchester model 70 in .223.

Bruce

 

[Xfuzz]

This.....

For the same reason as the OP.
Had a cap gun like it as a kid.

 

[625smith]

572 Smooth bore

I bought 75 boxes of Winchester .22 bird shot for a great price. So I just had to buy a Remington 572 smooth bore to shoot the bird shot! It is just the ticket for shooting flying grasshoppers or mice in the garage.

 

[ditrina]

'cause I had bought a really cool set of grips.. FIRST!!

 

[NKJ nut]

"Now I've got a .32 as large as some .45s. "

Here you are all of a sudden trying to look at things in a logical way. Just take your big ol' 32 and enjoy it (LOL)

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Rooting through the used holster bin, come up with a really nice holster cheap, get gun to fit holster!

 

[GF]

'cause I had bought a really cool set of grips.. FIRST!!

I've done that more times than I care to remember. Last time it was a nickel 29 to go with a set of rosewoods.

But.... I NEEDED another 29 anyway!

GF

 

[Engineer1911]

Janet Reno had a press conference in the mid-90's. Her answer to the cause of: drug use, increased crime, increasing number of un-wed mothers, violence in cities, rising number of homicides, failure to graduate from high school, and drunk driving was semi-automatic assult weapons. On the table in front of her were several AR-15s.

After the Air Force, the last thing I wanted to own was an AR. After several phone conversations, I had a 26" V-Match Bushmaster, aluminum hand guard, flat top receiver without sights on order for the obscene price of $900. There was a new gun shop / indoor pistol range in town, and we made a deal. I paid up front, ordered the rifle at his cost, and I would let it sit on the shelf for a month before I took it home. It was the most expensive firearm he sold for the first 2 years he was in business.

During the post ban hysteria I said no to two different offers of $1,800. 3/8" groups at 100 yards are easy. 90 prairie dogs in 15 minutes at ranges between 100 and 250 yards just required rapid mag refills and consumed 100 rounds.

Thank you Janet. This semi-automatic assault rifle does have a sporting purpose.

 

[Wheelgunner840]

Had a box of 30-30 ammo turn up in a package deal I made. I didn't have a rifle that chambered that, so I HAD to get a Winchester model 94. Is there any other 30-30?

I won a Karma here on a set of J-Frame diamond magnas. Yep, had to find a model 36 that would fit them.


FWIW, I don't find any of these reasons, nor any of the reasons above to be "silly". Seems like perfectly normal behavior to me!


WG840

 

[pete-driver]

My uncle gave me a bayonet for an M1. I now have several M1's.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

My first revolver was a Colt Trooper .357 because one of my favorite cap pistols as a kid was a Hubley Trooper. I have bought some firearms that I really didn't from estate sales mainly to help someone out.
One acquaintance was born in Japan, now a U.S. citizen, he told me has gotten the real versions of the model hand guns of his youth.

 

[ia1727]

Ever buy guns just to get the grips then quickly roll the gun over for another gun or more grips ? I have and I have to stop--drivin' the wife nuts--she's ready to have me committed.

Steve

 

[kenster]

I went to the gun shop to buy a M&P 40 and ended up buying a Dan Wesson .357 in the used case. I had one 25 years and kicked myself for ever getting rid of it. The Dan Wesson is an early issue in .357 in perfect foam box and cardboard sleeve, never fired. Now I can't bring myself to shoot it. Now looking for a Dan Wesson shooter.

Silly Me...

 

[Mike1957]

You need a reason??? Silly or otherwise????

 

[TACC1]

I have, on several occasions, gotten new toys just because I still had ammo for guns I's gotten rid of. TACC1

 

[BUFF]

I have a S&W M-500 with a 4 inch barrel. And speedloaders for it!

I bought an Interarms Mark something (X?) Mauser in .458 Win Mag. I have absolutely no use for one, never did and never will.

The novelty of shooting that one at paper soon wore off.

I had another one in .375 H&H but at least it was somewhat reasonable to use as an elk rifle.

 

[raisedin99]

Since I take my vows seriously and I did vow to protect my wife when we were married, I had no choice but to buy a Ruger model 77 safari in .416 Rigby.

How on earth could I honor my vow to protect her with my .22 squirrel rifle from a rogue elephant bent on running her down while she was in the garden hoeing weeds or in the lawn mowing the grass.

I will never forget the joy she displayed as she rolled her eyes and shook her head when I showed her that rifle and told her what I did for her...

 

[kscardsfan]

Ever had one speak to you and want you to buy it so someone else wouldn't get it? I have.

Did that about a month ago with an Ithacha model 37 16 ga with a fixed modified choke lol.

 

[walnutred]

I once bought a Ruger 77 in 458 because I'd read am article on the joys of shooting large appliances at the landfill with elephant guns. The article did not exaggerate. Watching an upright freezer slowly topple over after a solid hit with a 458 was strangely satisfying.

 

[Bullseye 2620]

Like others of you, a "free gift" of this. . .

. . .has led to the pending acquisition of this. . .

Bullseye

 

[moonclip]

During the Clinton/Reno assault on "Saturday Night Specials", I went to my favorite shop and asked for the biggest handgun they had in the store. I wound up with a beautiful 6-1/2" Model 29-2. I guess I showed them.

......moon

 

[vico512]

I once bought a Ruger 77 in 458 because I'd read am article on the joys of shooting large appliances at the landfill with elephant guns. The article did not exaggerate. Watching an upright freezer slowly topple over after a solid hit with a 458 was strangely satisfying.

I bought a Model 70 in .458 while living in Fairbanks, mostly for grizz protection, but also just because I was enamored with thought of shooting an "African" gun. Shooting at old mining equipment out in the abandoned tailings was similar to shooting appliances, but the challenge was in keeping myself from toppling over -- the 510 gr factory loads were brutal! Still own that puppy -- unfired since 1976.

 

[Len]

Bought my first gun, a Ruger 41 mag, because I saw an episode of the old show, "American Sportsman" hosted by Curt Gowdy, where a guy in Alaska took on a grizzly with one. [FWIW, it took the guy five shots, IIRC, and the bear dropped about twenty feet in front of him...and you did not see the "backup shooter" off camera with the 12G slug gun!]

Not a great reason to buy, not a great caliber to learn how to shoot handguns for the first time, but I still have it and treasure it.

Len

 

[M29since14]

That IS a cool old Beretta. I like it... for some reason.

The silliest things I do in gun buying are: buying duplicates (which I like to call "back-ups") of guns I particularly like, and falling victim to the old "helping a friend out" ploy of buying a gun I probably wouldn't buy otherwise, but do it anyway because I convince myself it is a fair deal, it is something I might want to toy around with, and he needs the money.

Only slightly less silly purchases have been: replacing guns I never should have sold with better and even more expensive versions of the same thing that I made a decision years ago that I didn't need, and buying a similar gun to one I already have, hoping to get a more accurate one - and ending up with two that shoot virtually the same.

I guess I could make quite a long list of silly reasons I have bought various guns.

 

[Iggy]

Seecamp .32 ACP


Yup, this is the silliest gun I ever bought. I think that every morning when I stick in my pants pocket

 

[walnutred]

Shooting at old mining equipment out in the abandoned tailings was similar to shooting appliances, but the challenge was in keeping myself from toppling over -- the 510 gr factory loads were brutal! Still own that puppy -- unfired since 1976.

After the first box of factory ammo I mostly shot reloads. I still consider the 458 a VERY versatile ctg when reloaded. I essentially used the top end Marlin/Ruger load data for 45-70 and cast bullets to get my 458 "Plinking" loads.

 

[Alpo]

I once bought a Ruger 77 in 458 because I'd read am article on the joys of shooting large appliances at the landfill with elephant guns. The article did not exaggerate. Watching an upright freezer slowly topple over after a solid hit with a 458 was strangely satisfying.

I remember that article. "This is my elephant gun." "What do you shoot with THAT!?" "Refrigerators."

Kinda like raisedin99, I bought my CZ 375 H&H, in case the neighborhood was ever attacked by rogue elephants. Word musta gotten out, 'cause the elly-fants have all stayed away, so far. But I'm ready, justin case.

 

[shooboy]

I went and bought an Rock Island Armory 1911 .45 because my wife came home with a bag from Victoria's Secret. Guess I win on both counts !!! Guess I showed her !!! Shoo