Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best gun deal stories

I got to thinking after reading the better deal post about all the gun deals I have happened across. I know that I am always looking out for good gun deals and I have run across a few really good deals in my day. I would have to say the best deal, value wise, I have ever run across was a Century arms mauser in 30/06.

I picked it up at a local pawn shop while looking for an action to have rebarreled to 35 whelen for a birthday gift to my father. When I saw this mauser I figured it would be perfect. Century arms had already done most of the work all it would need was a new barrel. It had a cheap looking hollow plastic stock and a small scope that had been painted black. The rifle looked brand new. I took it home and checked it out. The rifle was spotless, the blueing looked brand new and the bore was pristine, bright and shiny. The scope turned out to be a Leupold 2-7x33 VX II that had been spray painted black. It was a pretty handy little rifle, just under 7lbs. I figured I had better shoot it before I had anything done with it. Took it out and shot it with the cheapest box of 180gr ammo I could find, federal classic 180gr Grand Slam. The first three shot were two touching and one about 1/2" to the side. At first I figured it must have been a fluke so I shot two more. This averaged the group out to just over 3/4" group. I adjusted the scope to hit 2.5" high at 100 yards and shot several more groups. None were as good as that first group but they were all right around an inch to an inch and a quater. I couldn't very well mess with a gun that shot that well.

The best thing about it was the price. $250 out the door, easily the best bang for my buck I've ever had. I've kept this rifle for several years now and have only hunted with it once. I've used it mainly as a loaner ro spare rifle, or left it behind the seat of my truck along with a box of ammo.



What are some of your best deal stories? I have a feeling everyone has run into some killler deals at one tome or another.

A friend of mine inherited a bunch of guns from his dad, who had died around 1990. His dad was a lefty, so all of his guns were ambidextorous or left handed. He was tired of them taking up room in his safe, so decided to unload them. I bought a Ruger #1B, Liberty model, 22-250, with the most beautiful piece of wood, for $300. The gun was in pristine condition.

My dad, who is a lefty, bought from the same guy, a LH Weatherby Mark V deluxe, 30-06 and a Colt Gold cup 45 for $950.

Just before leaving on this deployment, I ran across a Win 94, 307 Win on consignment at a gun shop. Pretty wood, no handling marks, pristine shape for $395. I thought about it for a night and went back the next day to buy it. Not on the rack. Asked if it was sold. Nope, in the back, going on gunbroker.com in 2 hours for $600. Asked if I could still buy it for $395. They agreed and I walked out with it.

Well, My best gun deal actually revolves around what a lot campers consider an inferior rifle- a savage bolt action. Always one interested in home gunsmithing, I'd read about the supposed ease with which one can utilize the savage actions as a switch barrel gun. So, with a bit of scratch saved up, I started looking for one.
None of the local funstores had much for short actions (my goal was to build a 260 Remington/6mm BR), so I started looking online. It was on GunBroker.com that I found my "prize". Savage M10 Sierra, chambered in 7mm/08. The Rifle had a starting bid of $450, and a Buy It Now price of $500. When I read the text of the add, and looked at the photos to confirm it, I immediately checked the balance of my checkbook. The rifle came with a sling, case, Harris Bipod, AND a Leupold Vari x III 6.5x20 Scope.

The way that I figure it, I either bought a $300 rifle and got a $400 scope for an extra 200, or I bought a $400 scope and got a rifle for $100. Either way I came out ahead on that deal. The savage action is currently awaiting headspacing as a 6mm Br, the leupold now resides atop my Remington 7mm Rem Mag Sendero (Se-exy).

I also have a .223 700 ADL on a payment Schedule at the funstore that I found for $279, which I consider a good buy. I also have a 3006 ADL (another lay-away) and a 257 Bob ADL that i found for $299. I feel any time that I can get a functioning centerfire firearm in useful caliber, in good to excellent shape, for $300 or under, I'm getting a good buy.

The Kaiser

The Kaiser

See "Laredo 70" post below.

I swapped out scopes from one rifle to the other, and the guy GAVE me the old rifle, a heavy barrelled Savage .25/06, does that count? Sure, it took two days soaking, to get the copper out of the barrel, and the throat was pretty LOOOONNNNGGG, but it still shot pretty good, for all that. He'd used it PDogging a lot, and it was shot hard, but it was still a free rifle!

In the early 1980's, When my children were toddlers and I was flat broke, Christmas was coming up with no way to buy a present for anyone. I stopped in at a pawn shop and when I saw no guns I asked if they were now out of the gun business. The manager told me they were getting out but had three 30/30 rifles for sale. I asked how much and could I see them. He said $125.00 each and proceeded to bring out a pristine 4 digit serial number octgon barrel Winchester 1894, a five digit 30/30 and a five digit 32SPCL!! I asked if he would take $300.00 for the pile, he allowed as he would. I drove home and spent the next hour or so explaining to my wife why she should give me our entire months grocery money to go and buy three GUNS! It was one of the best sales jobs I ever pulled off! I bought the three guns, sold the octagon barrel model that afternoon to an aquaintance for $600.00 and immediately returned the $300.00 to my wife for groceries. I then asked the pawn shop manager if he had anything else for sale. Just two old pump 12 guage shotguns, $125ea. He showed me a 1950's vintage model 12 duck gun special with a 3" chamber and a clean model 1897! I offered him $200.00 for the pair, he took it, I took my pile of treasure to a gun show that weekend and I ended up with over 1,000.00 in profit. It was one of many times that God provided for me and my young family during tough times. He is good and he is faithful. We had a very merry Christmas, I hope and pray the same for all of you.

Colt .38 Super for $100 in the late 70's early 80's, too young and dumb and naive back then. But these days I wonder if it was stolen. Sweet shooter, great caliber that finally got some of the recognition it was due with the comp shooters. I sold it for $325 before I made the road trip to AK. Wish I'd kept it.

How about walking into a local drugstore and seeing an entire line of Weatherby Mk V deluxe marked $325.00. Yep, the whole line, up to and including the 340Wea; take your pick, $325 each.

The line started with a 224 Wea and a 22-250 in that sweet little Varmintmaster action, and included a 240 Wea, 257 Wea, 270 Wea, 7mm Wea, 300 Wea, and a 340 Wea.

Admittedly, the regular price on these beauties was only $650 at that time. But it was still a heck of a deal.

I, as a struggling student, trying to work my way through college, could only afford one. I had to borrow the money from a finance company at an usurious rate, but I took the 22-250 home.

I've had a three rifles given to me; two Pre-64 Model 70's in .270 WCF and .300 H&H and a 1968 Belgium Browning ATD .22lr, but a couple that I actually paid for that really stand out are a Remington 788 .222 and a stainless Remington ADL Mountain Rifle in .270 WCF.

I paid $325.00 shipped for the 788 .222 with a Lyman All American 20x target scope. Pulled the scope off and sold it on Ebay for $260.00. I found the Mountain Rifle for $215.00 at a local pawn shop. Like an idiot, I sold them both later on when something else caught my eye......

Bought a model 97 12 guage takedown model made in 1931 from the trunk of a guys car for $100 Canadian dollars. Serial # checked clean, and the guy was leaving town and needed gas money. I think it is worth more than $100. Sure is in nice shape.

Have stumbled into a bunch of good deals over the years... been led by the hand/nose to others. The Wal-Mart gun department manager for a while lived across the street. He called one day with news they had a ton of 700ADLs for 240 each. I drove there immediately as he said he could not hold them all for me. When I got there a guy had just said he would take them all! Twenty thousand dollars worth of 700s. He was kind enough to leave me three that had been opened, a 270, 243 and a 30-06.

He later sold me a pair of Marlin 444P levers for about the same money.

There have been a few other deals simply too good to admit to...
art

I bought my go to gun about 3yrs ago--Got to the gun show right when it opened first table guy had a bunch of shotguns and i rifle -a prewar mod-70 300 h-h the barrell said 300 magnum-he said he was sure it was 300 win mag wanted 600 i told him all i had was 450 he said ok. I had 700 with me and knew it was 300h-h at worst bored out to weatherby--its a great300h-h only thing not original was d-t and recoil pad.

Last year I visited a local gun shop just before Christmas and ended up with four rifles from a huge estate sale. No serious individual steals but very good deals on each that, in aggregate, mark my best single buying experience.

They included:

A Ruger 1B in 7mm RM with a fantastic custom stock and some of the finest checkering I have seen outside a museum for $560.

Two MarK X Whitworths -- a .30-06 in a nicely marked stock (now a .338.06) with SAKO mounts and a .375 H&H -- the former in like new condition and the latter with safe scuffs but still with the factory cardboard seals around the sling swivels for $350 each.

A like NIB #1 RSI in in 7x57 with box and papers for $475.

And to this day, I regret passing on a Belgian FN in 300 H&H for about $450.

1B

If you want to hear some really great gun deal stories, just ask the people that I've sold guns to. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

I took a pristine pre-64 ('54) M70 Fwt. in 30.06 for $575 and a Ruger Redhawk in 44 mag for $329 out of that same sale. BTW 2 weeks ago there was a never-seen-the-woods Ruger M77, tang, with rifle sights in 7 mag for $325... had a real hard time handing that one back over the counter after I inspected it...probably still there

I bought a Grade II, Browning BAR made in Belgium last year for $450 new in the box. Best deal I have ever had.

I recently trade a NIB Remington 700 ADL synthetic that I paid $317 for, for a minty Savage 99 R in 243 with a Leupold 8x Westerner in Leupold adjusto-mounts. I was happy.

The king of good deals is Bearrr264. I've seen him stop at a yard sale and come away with a Marlin 336 in 219 Zipper and a special order Winchester 1873 for less than $1,000. He bought a Savage 1899CD in 32-40 that had several special order features for $1,500 from a guy who heard him talking to a clerk in a gun shop in Norway, Maine. The old guy stopped him outside the store and ended up selling him $30,000 worth of nice pre-WW2 guns for less than $10,000.

Jeff

I made friends with an old electrician that worked at the same dam I did. We were on break one day swapping hunting stories, when he said he had a gun he wanted to sell me. I was pretty broke at the time, and told him so, but he said to come over and take a look at it anyway. When asked what it was, he said, "just an old .308 I bought new for my wife a long time ago". His wife had died about three years before. Well, I went to his house about two weeks later, and he came out of the back room with the cleanest Remington 600 I've ever seen. The bluing wasn't even worn off the muzzle from firing. I asked him if the rifle had even been shot. He went back into the back room and came back with an ancient box of .308 rounds. There were three empty casings in the box, the rest were untouched. "Yep, she shot it three times. Kicked her so bad she wouldn't touch it after that. Don't really know why I kept it". I asked him how much he wanted for it, and he said, "Same price I paid for it, 85 dollars". I about wet myself. "that gun is worth alot more than that, Bob", says I. " I know, but I also know you will take good care of it, so I won't be losing anything by selling it for what I bought it for". Bob retired that year, but died only a year after. I still have that gun, thought it's got some hunting "character" to it now.

Every damn gun I sold during my divorce in 93 was a good gun deal story for a bunch of fellows.....

I walked into a pawnshop about 4 years ago and was checking
out the handguns, they had about 40-50 on display. I was
checking out a S&W K-22 priced at 359.95 and wasnt really
interested in buying a gun, but told the clerk if they would
take 200 dollars for it. She went and talked to the mgr for
a couple of minutes and told me they would sell it for that
price. I was kind of shocked, but bought it anyway and gave
it to a relative as a gift.