Gun regret

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
What is the gun that most regret getting rid of?

For me it is the first Remington M700 Mtn Rifle in 280 Remington that I had. It was a lights out shooter with any ammo I ever fed it. It especially liked the 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip.

Someone came along that wanted that gun more than I did at the time.... afterwards I missed it terribly, so I bought another one. It was a fair shooter, but somehow fell short of my first one.


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darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
Remington SP-10. Coming from a guy who pretty much only shoots 28 gauges now but I just wished I’d held onto it.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I saved up money and bought my first gun at age 15, it was an old Remmy 870 Wingmaster. It already had plenty of use and wasn't the fancy version to start with.
I used that gun for everything from quail, duck, turkey, deer and whatever for years.
I traded that for a old octagon barreled .22 Winchester pump that now just sits in the gun safe and probably hasn't been shot a dozen times since I traded for it 20+ years ago. Sure, the old Winchester is worth more monetarily, but that old Remmy can never be replaced.
 

41magfan

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
If I had any inkling (back then) that people would have gone as crazy as they have over pre-lock S&W revolvers, I would have held onto the twenty or so J, K L and N-Frames I no longer own.

I'm sure there are others, but these immediately come to mind;

- Ruger #1A Light Sporter in 7 x 57 ..... killed 13 bucks with 14 shots from that rifle.
- One of the first S&W Mod 629's ever shipped.
- 40's era S&W .32 Hand Ejector (3rd Mod) that had probably been fired less than 50 times.
- My first AR .... a Colt SP1 Carbine.
- Daisy Heddon VL .22 Rifle
- Remington 700 Classic Limited in .250 Savage
- Ruger M77 (w/Tang Safety) in 6.5 Rem Mag
- Ruger MK1 - 6" barrel with factory checkered walnut grips (my first .22 pistol - $69 brand new)
 
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Weekender

Twelve Pointer
Stevens double barrel 12 gauge my father gave me in 1985. Had to pay for grad school tuition, buy groceries for a family, etc.
 

45/70 hunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Browning BAR MKII 30-06 BOSS. It had beautiful wood. I had it shooting into one ragged hole at 100 yards, and 3/4" 200 yard 3 shot groups with my handloads.
 

Part-time hunter

Ten Pointer
Well I didn't really give it away but it was a bolt action 22 rifle that my dad had as a kid. It had a wheel like hammer that was pulled back to cock it. When I was considered too young by my dad I still would sneak it out when he was at work and take it into the woods behind our neighborhood and plink with it. When I got older I stopped doing that but my younger brother started doing it. I guess he might've learned it from me. Anyway, he snuck it out one day and my parents came home early as he was coming home with the rifle. Rather than try to sneak it in while they were there he stuck it down in the burn barrel on the back corner of our yard planning to get it after it got dark and sneak it back into dad's closet the next day. He forgot what he'd done and the next morning the "trash man" came through the neighborhood, saw the rifle in the barrel and figured someone was throwing it away. I don't care what it might be worth today but it was my dad's, who sadly passed when I was 29. To make matters worse when my brother eventually had to fess up the little rat told my dad he thought it was ok because I'd been doing it for years! I guess that's what brothers do.
 

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I also regret having let go of several of the old Ruger .44 carbines. Best woods gun ever made IMO

I have since reacquired one of the ones I had gotten rid of and an additional one, but I wish I still had every one I ever had, especially the rarer ones


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BattleBornNV

Button Buck
An Ithaca model 37* in 20ga.
Got rid of it when I was 23 and haven’t hit a bird, Clay pigeon or even the sky since unless it’s absolute luck. No matter how much money I spend on shotguns they all have bent barrels.


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nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Well there was this Mdl 12 magnum, then there was the citori with the complete set of barrels from .410 -12ga., not to mention several .44s ruger carbines and one marlin lever, the .20 ga parker, I could go on and on.
 

mikep7m10

Six Pointer
My HK P7M13. I managed to get another P7M8 after selling my first one. And I still have one of my P7M10's. But I need another P7M13 to have a set of squeeze cockers.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Man I tell y’all it’s funny to see all the guys regretting selling the Ruger 44 carbines, since everyone I’ve owned shot so bad I couldn’t wait to get rid of it.


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Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Lol, the list is long and not so distinguished but probably the one I regret most was a 16" TC Contender chambered in 45/70. Factory muzzle brake with a 1 1/4-4 Variable Leupold scope sitting on it, no telling how many hogs dropped in front of that pistol. Most of them never even twitched.....
 

nccatfisher

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Man I tell y’all it’s funny to see all the guys regretting selling the Ruger 44 carbines, since everyone I’ve owned shot so bad I couldn’t wait to get rid of it.


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I have never had one that wouldn't shoot better than 2" at 100. Most would shoot an inch. But I don't remember ever shooting factory loads in any but one and I was in a pinch for brass, that was the old Remington 240 gr stuff and it loved them.
 

pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Man I tell y’all it’s funny to see all the guys regretting selling the Ruger 44 carbines, since everyone I’ve owned shot so bad I couldn’t wait to get rid of it.


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I’ve never owned one that shot a group bigger than 1” at 100 yards with just about any factory 240 gr HP I ever shot through them, they shot handloads even better


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pcbuckhunter

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Man I tell y’all it’s funny to see all the guys regretting selling the Ruger 44 carbines, since everyone I’ve owned shot so bad I couldn’t wait to get rid of it.


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I have never had one that wouldn't shoot better than 2" at 100. Most would shoot an inch. But I don't remember ever shooting factory loads in any but one and I was in a pinch for brass, that was the old Remington 240 gr stuff and it loved them.

The old Remington 240 gr stuff was the best factory load you could put through those Rugers!!!


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RKBJR

Button Buck
I regret selling a really clean Marlin 444T last year. I do not regret keeping my Ruger 44 carbine.
 

Raging Bull

Four Pointer
I have sold my fair share of guns in the past. Nothing stands out that I regret. I do however regret not buying several that come to mind.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
my first centerfire rifle was a 6.5mm Italian carcano,,,,bolt action, fixed sights, only ammo available was Norma when you could find it,,,my stepdad bought it for me in the spring of 74 from a barrel of the same at teh Coast to Coast hardware store,,,,paid $25 bucks for it,,,,killed my first deer with it that fall. I was 12 years old. the next year I took most of my earned money (from sugaring and haying) and bought a Rem 788 in 308,,,,hunted deer with it from then till I graduated highschool. Still had the carcano.

Along about 1976 or 77 I was at a friends house, and he showed me his deer gun,,,it was a Winchester model 43 in .218 Bee.

I explained how the .218 Bee wasn't much of a deer rifle, but I would love to have it for fox hunting and such. Told him I'd trade that carcano, deer killer extraordinaire, even up for that Model 43,,,he took the deal.

cool gun

a year later I traded it a the gunshop in Merrill Wis for a Marlin 30-30,,,stupid trade,,,

always regretted that trade, especially when you look up what a 43 in that caliber is now selling for,,,,
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
my first centerfire rifle was a 6.5mm Italian carcano,,,,bolt action, fixed sights, only ammo available was Norma when you could find it,,,my stepdad bought it for me in the spring of 74 from a barrel of the same at teh Coast to Coast hardware store,,,,paid $25 bucks for it,,,,killed my first deer with it that fall. I was 12 years old. the next year I took most of my earned money (from sugaring and haying) and bought a Rem 788 in 308,,,,hunted deer with it from then till I graduated highschool. Still had the carcano.

Along about 1976 or 77 I was at a friends house, and he showed me his deer gun,,,it was a Winchester model 43 in .218 Bee.

I explained how the .218 Bee wasn't much of a deer rifle, but I would love to have it for fox hunting and such. Told him I'd trade that carcano, deer killer extraordinaire, even up for that Model 43,,,he took the deal.

cool gun

a year later I traded it a the gunshop in Merrill Wis for a Marlin 30-30,,,stupid trade,,,

always regretted that trade, especially when you look up what a 43 in that caliber is now selling for,,,,
I remember when Sears sold military surplus rifles, the Carcano was one of those. How that rifle killed a POTUS I have no idea. The one's I've seen wouldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside, but of course there are exceptions and YMMV. ;)
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
that carcano I had was a nice shooting rifle,,,lucky though as the sights were basically non-adjustable.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
that carcano I had was a nice shooting rifle,,,lucky though as the sights were basically non-adjustable.
I had several folks bring me their Carcanos to try and fit a scope mount on them so that they could hunt with them. They do make a drill to fit mount for them, but adding a scope rarely helped with the accuracy of that round at any distance. I think a lot of it had to do with the design of the cartridge and not so much the rifle itself.
You must have gotten a good one, I'm sure they are out there.
 

woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
well it was all 100 yds and in shooting - no great expectations other than "can it hit a deer" which it did

but that Model 43 was SWEET,,,,
 

Downeast

Twelve Pointer
Since I only get rid of a gun to get another gun I can't think of any that I regret getting rid off. :confused:
 

timekiller13

Old Mossy Horns
Only gun I regret selling was a Marlin 1895 guide gun 45-70. It was SS, laminate stock, JM stamped barrel. I bought it used off a guy needing money for a steal. About a year later, I needed some quick cash myself and knew someone who was willing to pay me about $300 more than what I had in the gun. So I sold it. I regret it because I can't replace it for what I sold it for.

Only other gun I kind of regret selling was a Ruger 300 win mag. Don't really regret selling the gun, just regret the way the whole thing went down. A young co-worker wanted a deer rifle. I offered my 300 mag to him. I told him I would sell it to him for $450. He had $250 cash on him, we shook hands on a deal that he would pay me the $250 cash now, take the gun now and pay the rest in 2 weeks. Three days later he quit work and dropped off the face of the Earth. I tracked him a down a few months later. Told him I wanted my gun back. He said he had pawned it off. I then told him I wanted the $200 he owed me. He slammed the door in my face. Wouldn't answer calls, emails or texts for months. Finally took him to small claims court (more out of spite). He never showed, got a claim against that he never paid. That bit him in the butt real bad when he decided he wanted to become a cop a few years down the road. I got a facebook message about 5 years after all of this, cussing me up and down because I had taken him to small claims court over something so trivial and he couldn't get a department to hire him. I told him to send me $200 and it would be over. No money ever sent to me. Last I heard he was a DOC officer because no department would hire him. I really doubt the unpaid claim was really what hurt him. It was probably the multiple fraudulent checks he wrote.
 

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
I regret selling my Savage 111 270 to my brother. My Remington 270 is good but it doesn’t shoot like that Savage would
 

shotgunner

Ten Pointer
A Remington 870 Wingmaster I grew up hunting with. Hunted everything with it and killed most everything with it. But had to have something newer and fancier. I sold it to a guy and later on realized my mistake. Went and bought it back only to find out he had the barrel sawed off and Colonial chokes installed. Sad day.
 
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