The One That Got Away Before You Knew What You Were Doing

[hittman77]

First 2 that come to mind are ones I failed to buy.

A Freedom Arms 44 Magnum, with 5.5 inch barrel I think. It had the box and all that. I just wasn't into single actions and had never heard of Freedom Arms. Besides, they wanted almost $500.00 for it. ( LOL ) This was about 10 years ago.

Then a super nice Ruger Mini 14. I mean who would want one chambered in .222, right?

Also about 10 years back, it was priced at $450.

 

[jimmyj]

Two tales out of many:
1. 1962 starting my 45 year LEO career, I had to furnish my own service revolver. I went to a local pawn shop with a 1915 DWM Luger with all matching numbers including the magazine, holster, magazine loader, and cleaning rod. The shop owner traded me even for a used blued 4" .38spl. Colt Trooper.

2. Police Pistol Range got in two NIB Dayton Combat Masterpieces. One Blued, one Nickeled. Purchased the Blued one. Returned Home to the news my bride was pregnant with twins. The rangemaster kindly refunded my money and sold it to a weathly friend of his.

 

[panther]

Had the Swedish copy of the L-35 Lahti, the Husqvarna m/40, that had Danish police markings and a serial number that was in the range of the guns supplied to the Danish resistance.

I let it go for the latest Walther plastic fantastic that was a lot more "useable" but ugh, what a dummy I was.

About 11 years ago I found one of these Lahtis at a table in a gun show. The guy was willing to take $379 for it. I had it for about 2 months and traded it off for the money I had in it. They sell over a grand now.
Before that I had a chance to buy a police marked German Luger for $400. I passed on it.

 

[jimmyj]

Notice how great gun deals happen when one is cash strapped

 

[foxy320]

Back maybe 10 or so years ago when I was cash poor saw a S&W Model 547 9mm unfired with box & all accessories at a gun show for $175. As above post stated that's when you find the deals

 

[CajunBass]

Let me count the ways...Colt 1911 Ace with a 3 digit serial

I didn't have a chance to buy it, but I saw one of those once. I was a security guard at a private campground that had a shooting range. There was a fellow shooting one day (almost no one used the range) and I stopped to chat. One of his guns he showed me was a Colt Ace with three digit S/N...In the 750 range IIRC. Beautiful gun...looked like brand new.

 

[Engineer1911]

On three occasions, I was the guy with cash listening to the "I have a gun for sale and need the money." Because of 'shame', I'll stop now.

 

[Echo40]

December 2015, a Smith & Wesson Model 629-1 went up for sale at my LGS on consignment for a mere $260 in Very Good Condition. I couldn't afford it at the time, so I let it pass. In hindsight, I should have found a way to scrape the funds together, even if it meant selling my bodily fluids.

 

[RM Vivas]

Took a $400 pass on a single shot .22.Wan't smart enough to recognize a martially marked Winder musket.

Sold my Mexican Target Model of 1948 that went as a one gun shipment to Frank Jonas.

Passed on a cheap Springfield Armory M1911 with NRA stamp because I had a mortgage payment due.

Sold a Colt .22-45 conversion kit, complete in box, that lettered to USMC, Pearl Harbor, 1941.

Sold a '60 Army engraved to a PA Vol. Cav. CApt who was killed in battle and the Sgt who retrieved the body won an MOH for doing so. Didn't collect civil war stuff so.....

Had a guy bring two boxes that were the size of a small desk, filled to the top with Civil War and Span-Am War gear. CW sabre belts with officier buckles, paper cartrdige pouches with the big gilded lead insignia, dozens of Mills belts in all sorts of military configurations. Original Schoefield and Colt holsters.

The longer your in this world, the longer the list gets.

This posts needs a correlating thread, Best Deals I Ever Made.

 

[Rubone]

My worst was probably the pre 29 5-screw that I bought cheap in the late '70s, used little, and decided it wasn't a big deal and I could easily replace it later, so sold it for what I paid for it, about $200.....

 

[kbm6893]

Traded right here on this forum, about 8-9 years ago, a 686 No Dash 2.5" with factory Combat stocks for a LNIB 5906. I wasn't much into revolvers at the time and figured I'd never carry it.

If whoever traded me is reading this, I hope you haven't gotten ONE good night of sleep since then! You knew you were taking advantage!!

 

[HOUSTON RICK]

There are two or three buys that I missed:
A TALO 686
and the Billboard 1911
a K22 Masterpiece in Louisiana

 

[smoothshooter]

When I saw the thread title, I didn't know if you were talking about women or guns . . . .

 

[Chukar60]

Not a missed purchase, but I once managed to buy a 4" 27-2 that was quite minty. I was not versed in the least on S&W's at the time but after a year of owning I decided that a smaller framed 357 needed to replace that gun.
Off to the gun show and found a really nice 66-1 4". Oddly the man who had the table the 66 was on was more than happy to trade me straight across. He probably still smiles when he thinks of that deal.

 

[jmace57]

About 25 years ago, my Dad offered to GIVE me a Model 17-2 that was NIB that he had gotten from my Uncle's pawn shop. It was years before I got into gun collecting, and I just said "nah" and he sold it. I still kick myself.

 

[LVSteve]

This posts needs a correlating thread, Best Deals I Ever Made.

I have confessed most of those deals over on the milsurp areas of gunboards. I say confessed because some of them can definitely be considered as theft. Strange thing is a couple of them were in total ignorance because I thought the rifle was something else from the pictures on the Web. One was a Yugoslav k98k rebuild marked in a particular way. Fewer than 20 are known in the US. I thought I was buying a Russian capture at a good price. Terribly run auction with awful pictures.

I have also been the happy camper who got deals others missed. Somebody bid against me on what was listed as an Enfield No4 but dropped out at about $350. It was actually an Enfield No1 MkVI rebuilt as a No4 early in WWII, one of less than ~1500 ever made.

Recently, the other guy dropped out at $300 on what was listed as a Yugoslav M48. The rifle is a M48BO marked with the crest of the Iraqi royal house. "A few tens" of these turned up in a milsurp shipment out of Israel, so I'm guessing there are less than 50 in the US. We probably crushed crates of them in 2003.