Some here never trade or sell guns. Unfortunately, when I was younger, many got traded or sold simply to try something new. We've done this exercise before, but its been awhile, I think. Top ten guns I wish I had back.

01. AR-15 SP1...Colt's copy of the M-16A1 in Vietnam issue trim. I bought my first in 1983 IIRC. $425, I think. I refuse to pay $2000 for one though since they're arguably inferior to most of them being made today.

02. Colt New Frontier 44-40. Had one in pristine condition. Wish I'd never traded mine off. Had a 45 Colt model that was nearly identical, but would rather have the rarer caliber.

03. Colt SAA 32-20. Had a 1st generation a lot like one Skeeter described. Somebody had modified it with a King's rear sight. Nice gun though not fully and completely original. Still had quite a lot of condition left.

04. Winchester 2nd model 1873. Very nice old original with a browned out receiver with traces of blue and a lot of blue left on the barrel. Did I mention 44 WCF?

05. Colt Pocket Conversion in 38 Colt. Just a nice gun with probably 60% original flaking nickel.

06. Colt 1851 Navy. Supposedly had some history that I was never able to document. Sold it in disgust after having it a long time.

07. Winchester 1866 Round Barreled Rifle. Nothing special. Just a low condition '66. I've owned two '66s and preferred this one to the carbine. Just an example of a no-shixt old west gun. They said the '73 was the gun that won the west. The '73 is the better gun, no doubt, but much of the west was already done for by the time the '73 came out. Real western.

08. Smith and Wesson 4" nickel model 29. The slickest, lightest triggered specimen I've ever owned.

09. Smith and Wesson 4" nickel model 57. Just like the above though not as slick. I still wish I owned it.

10. Smith and Wesson 1006. Best 10mm I've ever owned.

I quit selling because of the the regrets - but this is the one I really want back - the wandering zero Jungle Carbine.

I had a 3 screw Ruger wish I had back too now that I think about it.

The first shotgun I ever bought in high school. It was an 870 wing master with the prettiest stock I ever saw.

I sold it in college to pay some bills. What a dumbfugg.

"Wandering zero jungle carbine."

Interesting. lol

Aii of them.

Yes, a P.O. Ackley 22/250 when it was still a wildcat round. I bought a Mauer action from Montgomery Ward, sent it to Utah US mail.
I got it back US mail, fitted a Herters semi inletted walnut stock with a ebony end cap.
A scope mount, and scope. I was not smart enough to know I had to trim the brass.
I traded it for a AYA Spanish made 20 gauge double I still have.

well that's what they were known as. I never had an issue with mine, but it kicked like a mule and was loud as hell. At the time I thought I wanted a more refined gun.

I sold some collector stuff after I loss a job, had to keep the hunting use stuff. I'm slowly getting like items back but paying a lot more 15-20 years later. Is what it is, had to pay the bills.

I wish I hadn't sold this one:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...610/re-fieldcraft-special-edition-6-5-cm

I've still got the same rifle with a green stock but I should have kept this one and found the $ somewhere else for the repair.

I never had one to sell but I wish I could get a reasonably priced good condition .30 M1 carbine. Gunbroker has them but it would be a hassle if the barrel was rusted out or otherwise problematic.

custom Mauser action 219 Zipper with Unertl scope. that one really sticks in my craw.....

Browning Nomad, .22 semi-auto pistol. When I was 16, I traded it for a Ruger Single Six. The Ruger is nice, but easily replaced, the Nomad....not so much! memtb

Honestly, stories like these are partly why I have never sold anything.

That, and I only buy things that I want or need.....I am not a dick.

Wow. Great story. Blast from the past from the good old days. Monkey Wards...

That would be a cool one to get back eh?

I think it's still around close.

The son that inherited it likely want to keep it. Fair enough.

I won a new Browning A5 SweetSixteen at a DU banquet. I didn’t want a 16ga....I traded it in for a Browning A500 in 12ga

I was 21 years of age and dumb as my dick.

It still hurts when I think about it.

😎

A Remington 722 in 222 when I was a teen, nothing special but man that thing could shoot. When I first got I was scoping out some distance cottonwood tree and spotted a squirrel sitting way out there.
I took a Hail Mary shot and was amazed when it fell from the tree.
I was hooked. It accounted for a few deer and after witnessing that a relative had to have it and traded me a like new Ruger super Blackhawk 44 mag for it.

Ouch!

Marlin 39a. It was my first gun my father gave it to me. I could buy another, but it wouldn't be the same. Besides all that they are really fine guns, very accurate in my experience.

I feel that pain exactly.

Yes they are. If I broadened my list out to 20 guns one of the ones I've owned over the years would be included. I've got a 94-22 and it's a fine weapon, but so is the Marlin.

Aforementioned Colt Pocket Conversion in 38 Colt.

Hastings, I'm glad I bought the one I have when I did. Originally bought it for my Dad many years ago and he passed it back to me when he felt his time was getting short.

A USFA Flattop Target 44 Special/Russian with beautiful English walnut grips.

I sold my Ithaca Mag-10 to my uncle to help pay for my first guided hunt. To this day I wish I would have found another way to come up with some cash. Oh well....................

I have never owned many and sold only one, a parkerized marlin in 44mag. A sweet little gun!

I've heard good things about the 94-22, but never shot one.

I bought each of my kids one. I gave one to my daughter when I thought she was ready. I asked my boy if he wanted the other one or if he'd prefer the 10-22...a good gun but I explained to him it wasn't worth as much. He still picked the 10-22.

Savage model 24

22LR over a 20ga

Nothing fancy about it
Was a cool gun for a kid, wish I still had it

Good deal Richard.

Not quite as good as you still having it....but better than nothing!

They were beautiful guns......that generally would not outshoot a Henry.

I passed up a 39a from a member here. He offered it direct to me.

We were busted and saving to send the wife on a visit home.

Wish the timing had been different......and that we were not perpetually broke.

Model 47 Winchester that was my first firearm
Model 13 Smith and Wesson
Model 64 Smith and Wesson
Model 788 in .243
Colt Peacemaker .22/.22 Magnum (either one of the two)

A Colt Thunderer in .41 Long. Sold it at a pawn shop about 30 years ago to pay a bunch of bills. Sumbitch was close to mint.

Nothing I sold was as bad as the gun I could have bought, but didn’t for $800.

Savage 1899H in 25-35. Takedown

Three k-22’s one of which was a like new 1960’s model, my first handgun.

Multiple 629’s in both 6” and 4”. Also one 3”.

A great shooting 6” 657.

A couple of 4” 624’s, one of which I sold here in the classifieds.

Too many rifles to even list.

What a fool I was! But all left either because of a monetary need or to purchase some other gun I thought I needed more!

Many, I’m an impulse buyer and seller. These I wish I had not sold, but the list could be longer.

Kimber model 82in 22H
Kimber Super America 22LR
Cooper 22 mag
Custom Sako in 20 VT
Citori feather in 16 ga
And many more.

Don't know what you are looking for but someone posted these imports the other day, he got a couple and was pleased with them

https://www.royaltigerimports.com/product-p/m1car001.htm

A pristine pre '64 Win .264 Westerner I bought used in '73 for $ 550 which is less than half of what they are now from the few I've seen listed.

Sold a few rifles that were collecting dust in the back of my safe to pay for my daughter's wedding that I wish I had back...

Custom Pre 64 Model 70 Featherweight with a gorgeous fiddleback maple stock checkered in the Pre 64 supergrade style...
Pre 64 Model 70 375 H&H with a Claro Walnut stock on it
Remington 700 7 Rem Mag I bought the first year I was in the Army in 72- may have been the most accurate rifle I've ever owned.. brother bought it and now his son carries it elk hunting...

Also, my father in law was short of money and needed to sell some rifles and asked me to sell them for him. At the time I was out of work and didn't have any spare cash to buy them myself so had to move them along. In slight consolation, they were in pretty poor shape- most of them had swiss cheesed actions from mounting various side mount scope mounts over the years, but they were cool none the less-
Winchester 92 44-40 rifle with a factory double set trigger and very nice factory wood
Marlin 39A take down- this one was in very good shape and a good friend still has it so I still get to shoot it once in a while...
Springfield Trap door 45-70 with original stock with a clear cartouche and in reasonably good shape
Swedish Mauser 96 in 6.5 x 55 with a barrel shortened to 16" - accurate as can be, but the muzzle blast with that short barrel was ridiculous

The 16 ga. or your dick😮!

Only two. Hk 91 in 7.62 their worth a lot of jack these days the one I owned shot better with iron sights than many scoped rifles. Don't know WTF I was thinking when I let it go in the 1980's. Second Remington 700 Classic in 6mm Rem. kilt my first Coyote and Buck with this rifle. Sold this to one of the guys in my Predator calling Club he retired and moved to Oregon in the early 90's he was older and I'm certain he's assumed room temperature by now...

Many, but I think highest on the list would be a Remington 788 in 222.

Well, my dick, of course. Grins

😎

Perazzi TMX-L
A NIB Browning BPR in 308

Mod. 39 S&W...... Best .22 handgun I ever owned, but I didn't realize it way back then. It was also the first handgun I ever bought (1974). Got a sweet deal on a minty used one. Forgot the price but I was encouraged to grab it by guys who knew more than I did about that stuff. Then like an idiot I sold it less than 2 years later when I needed some cash.

1979 purchase: MIJ Wea Mk V Varmintmaster 26 inch 22-250. After 3000 rounds, it was still capable of 3 inch groups at 300 yds with 60 gr Hornady over 34.3 gr IMR 3031.

There was also a tang safety Ruger in 25-06 which was just as accurate. But between the two, I favored the 22-250 just a smidge.

M1A that I legged out with. Evil #2 had me down to sitting in the dark to save on the power bill and a HP shooter I knew really wanted it so it went on down the road.
Still have the memories even if the rifle is gone and I can't compete anymore.

I've not owned a one off custom, an heirloom, or historical piece, so about nearly every thing I've sold or traded is easily replaceable, & a heck of a lot easier to find than they once were.

Was going to family court,Again,needed lawyer money,sold in one fell swoop:Belgin Browning hi power with factory target sight,black leather zipper pouch,browning leather holster box,papers,and a SARCO "detective 4"slide i bought out of SHOTGUN NEWS.
A 3rd gen. Colt det. Special that had a beautifull trigger.
A 1970 s colt light weight commander .45
Very early ruger 10/22 international with gorgeous wood.
Tang safety ruger 7mm mag that was scary accurate.
Pre 64 winchester 30 06 that someone altered into a target gun by fitting a high wood comb ,whoever did the work knew what they were doing,it matched perfectly,couldn t see the seam.
Franchi SPAS 12 w folding hook stock.

Are you sure it was a 39? I thought that they were just 9mm, but I have been wrong before.

Traded away a mid 90s model 700 BDL in 300 WinMag. It had the lugs trued, lapped barrel, bedded in a very nice BDL pattern A grade walnut stock with rosewood grip cap and forend tip. Sub MOA rifle.


I had just returned from Iraq and thought I needed something new. Traded it for a Model 70 pushfeed Coyote in 270 WSM. Talk about giving a silk purse for a sow’s ear! (Can’t find the facepalm emoji!!)

That trade happened in 2003. I’m still pissed at myself over it.

Win model 71 deluxe.

Local guy that guides in AK sold it to me. He had used it as a backup gun briefly. Decided to go with something more able to deal with the moisture etc.

Hit 10” gongs at 300 yards with peeps. Great rifle. Wanted to take an elk with it. Decided to trim a few back and sold both my 71s. Would love to have that one back.

I gave the majority of mine away about a year ago. I kept some of my revolvers and a few rifles. I don't miss any of those I gave away.

These days I'll buy one that especially catches my eye. But there's not too much I want.

I want a Ruger .44 mag carbine.

Not one i sold....

But lost.


Ruger single 6 that i had cerakoted.

Bang around gun for my SxS.

Left it on the dash then trailered it home from deer camp.

Back tracked but never found it.

If Biden gets into office... all the ones that are currently in my family's gun safe...

of course after they come to get them, I won't need them as they'll probably throw us in jail, for being potential domestic terrorists against their communist utopia they want so bad....

KalamamanDingDong has already spouted off they will be coming for all Trump supporters.. so they will be executing half the country anyway....or letting us rot and die in jail.... or we will die fighting them ......

Many of you may remember, 2 years ago, I was contacted by a local police department who had found and confiscated my dads stolen Win Model 71.

It had been missing for almost 42 years before it was recovered and returned to me.

I may be buried with the Mod 71.

😎

So awesome.

It was unbelievable! I was just 12 years old when the robbery happened.

Dad and brother lost something like 11 firearms.

The 348 Win was the only rifle I always hoped would be returned. None of the other firearms have surfaced.

The guy who had it said he bought it 40 sum years ago and kept it in his gun safe...He got old and put it on consignment at a legit gun store...Running the serial # when taking it in on consignment showed it stolen.

I was told by a cop the guy who had it was pissed. He was trying to get $3200 for it.

😎

I knew someone who had one and it was probably one of the most accurate guns I had ever come across with nothing but a trigger job and handloads. The gun was insane.

Several come to mind. They still leave a bad taste in my mouth. I foolishly sold them.
Colt Python, I bought in the 60’s
NRA cabine i bought in the 60’s
Browning HP bought in the 60’s
German 224 wby
German 7mm wby.
Hasbeen

I bought a gorgeous beretta 390 20ga still in the box once from a local reputable store. ATF came calling because evidently it was stolen off a ups truck years prior. I don't know what triggered the serial number lookup down the line. I got my money back but that was definitely one I wish I was able to keep.

I've been keeping an eye open for a left hand version of one of them for a while. I'd take a .223 or a .308, also. But it seems like every left hand 788 you see is in .244 Rem.

I never owed them, my father had his father's, "relics", mussel loader flintlocks, and damasks shotguns.

The story is, grandfather bought them from a man that only borrowed them.

William Evans double rifle. Fully engraved. Chambered in 450/400 3 1/4 Nitro Express. Always regretted letting that one go.

Was going on a Goose hunt in CA. had to reg. the 870 remy 12 gage with customs, they told me to wait, and a few mins later about 8 cops ect ran into the room and put me in Cuffs! said the Rifle I had was stolen, I told them I had a SHOTGUN, they looked Oh sorry had the same ser# as a Rem rifle that was on the Hot sheet!

The one that sticks out is a rifle that I should’ve bought. It was a Ruger boat paddle 264 win mag.

Marlin 1894 44 mag

Colt 1911 Delta Elite

The one gun I really wish I had back is a Merkel 2001E, serial # 020212, in 12ga that was given to me by my wife. She ordered it special with extra fancy wood. I felt like that shotgun couldn't miss a dove! It was stolen in 2004 in Statesboro GA along with several other firearms. It could have been sold in the Atlanta area since one of the guys that was suspected of the burglary was going to Kennesaw State at the time. I doubt I'll ever hear from it again.

One of the top things that jumps out at me is the fondness of so many for the Remington model 788-a defunct rifle that hasn't been made for a number of years and wasn't top-of-the-line when it was. Bargain basement gun that many really liked whether it was in original trim or the modified one that was along the lines of the already-defunct 660 Mohawk. I expect it was the accuracy. I had one in 308. It was a great gun that I took my first deer with, a good-sized Whitetail buck whose rack is still in my garage. Killed it with my own handloads of 150 grain Nosler's at probably 2900 fps.

Baserri mari hunter

Don't remind me!!! There are too many that I regret selling.

Ruger 77RS carbine in 358 WIN, someday I will own another.....

Sorry.

i have only sold off two guns in my whole life, while acquiring them my whole life
living within about ten minutes of J &G didn't help matters either.
those schmidts and swedes i remember at about 69bucks, same for the s.k.s.'s too.
better than the stock market.

I had two of them,...both right hand. One .308 carbine and one 30-30 rifle. I just liked their lines, their accuracy, their trigger, and their no nonsense, all business construction.

I *don't* like their brazed on bolt handle. But it holds up well enough if you make allowances for it.

It doesn't take much to break one off, however. I broke one off with the heel of my hand when I was experimenting with how deep to seat a 180 grain cast bullet in the 30-30 788 I had.

I had seated the bullet a bit long and the nose stuck in the throat of the barrel,...not all that tight. I was thumping on the bolt handle with the heel of my hand to pull the bullet out of the throat and the bolt handle popped right off.

It didn't take much. You would think that the bolt would pull the case off the bullet long before the bolt handle would break off. Especially since a slippery cast bullet doesn't fit all that tightly into the neck of a 30-30 case. But it didn't. The bullet stayed in the case and the bolt handle fell on the floor.

I TIG welded the bolt handle back onto the bolt,..like the factory should have done.

My son has my 24c “Camper’s Companion”, I gave it to him, but I miss it.

A Winchester Model 70 XTR Featherweight in 243 Win that I bought new in 1983.

Dan

Pre 70 colt commander 9mm. Sold it because I was a revolver guy...dumb

Beretta model 70, 380 pistol. First pistol I ever owned. Sold it as it was a true bitch to get back together after cleaning. But I did love to shoot it.

Hastings, found a good pic of the package I gave my Dad for Christmas many years ago.

I probably should have kept the Springfield M1A.

An Arisaka sportized, machinegun barrel, 308 Win.

I passed on one of those as well. I think the same shop had one in 35 Whelen at the same time.