Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Guns you should have grabbed, but walked.

Looking back, have you ever looked at or handled a gun and laid it back down and walked away only to wish later you had grabbed it? Either a good price or a hard to find piece.

Yes, now if they wink at me their coming home with me.

You can always sell them if they don’t workout.

A few years ago, I found a Holland and Holland , .30 Super Magazine Rifle at a gun show on a Sunday, far from home, for 2,500 in pristine condition. I tried everything under the sun to round up 2,500 bucks on a Sunday afternoon, to no avail. Returned after raiding every ATM in the town, and the guy had left. Oh well, lesson learned, never went to a show again without a roll.

Pretty much all the under $300 Smith & Wessons I passed on back in the day still bother me.Two examples would be a M1937 Brazilian contract for $250, and a post-war pre model # 38/44 Heavy Duty for $300. Neither were minty, but they were nice.

Closeout Steyr Professionals for $300 just prior to the release of the Steyr SBS. Late '90's.

A 20Ga Merkel 47 for $1,200 circa 2002-2003

2 or 3 unfired M70 SS Classic 375 H&H's for $400 when Gander Mountain opened in the early 2000's.

A M70 Classic featherweight 6.5x55 sat at my LGS for a few years with no takers. I kept looking and looking. Went to the store two days after I learned of New Haven closing, and it had disappeared.

Remington 7600 carbine chambered in 35 Remington
Remington 760 chambered in 35 Remington
Winchester 64 chambered in 30-30

Those are the three that I think about the most.

A Colt Cobra in 32NP for $200. At the time I wasn’t interested in Colts or 32s.

A 6.5” 38/44 Heavy Duty for $400. I had bought a 4” earlier that week for the same price and though I had the money I didn’t have any interest in a 6.5”. Now I wish like heck I’d have bought it.

The only ones I can think of those that showed up after i bought something else or didn't have the money for another reason.

Biggest Regret

Colt Delta Elite SS, 10 mm.... $ 400.00

@ 1990
I would have loaded to 40 S&W spec.

I bought a S&W 6906, I still have.

Jerry

Currently I am eyeballing an HK SL-7... I'll likely head back in a couple of days so we shall see.

i could say the same thing about cars , land , jobs and ladies too its all part of a learning curve in life

Yep - any of those would be pretty sweet to own

Why yes, there's one regret from about ten years ago: What I am now convinced was a Mauser type B .30-06, but at the time thought was some sort of nicely done sporterized mauser. For all of about $500 at a shop far away while I was traveling for work. Ugh.

Back when sporting goods stores actually carried firearms, there was a small shop in a mall in CR that carried Ithaca 37s. They were going out of business at that location and had things on sale. There was a beautiful English model 20 gauge that I didn't think I should spend the money on. I should have.

How about a Mannlicher-Shoenauer MCA .358 Winchester Stutzen? He wanted $1100 and I didn't want to put more than $1000 in it. Bullheadedness triumphs again!

Back in the late 1980's I was offered 6 NIB Savage 99s for $4500, 3x PE and 3x DE, 1 of each style in 243, 284, and 308.

We had just finished grad school and had a combined income of only $62K per year, just not enough discretionary income to justify buying them. Exercising 20/20 hindsight about what might hve been is just a waste of time. Coulda, shoulda, woulda is meaningless bullchit.

Several old Sako L-61’s

Many. I simply didn't have the money at that point in life but I'm still regretting their escape.

1) Ruger .357 Maxi .. 7-1/2" barrel.
2) Ruger 10-1/2" super blackhawk with the tapered barrel and ramp front.
3) Dan Wesson 10" (?) .44
4) McMillan single shot .50 BMG
5) S&W 16-4 8-3/8" .32 mag
6) Browning and Marlin lever actions in .218 bee, .25-20, and .32-20
7) Never saw one, but I should have ordered a Marlin 336 Cowboy in .30-30 when they were available

I should’ve grabbed a Winchester model 71 back before they went out of sight. And even though I’m not much of a shotgun man, I had several chances at a few Ithaca 37 Deerslayers that were in excellent shape, and dirt cheap.