Ever get rid of a rifle that you wish you had kept?

[jro45]

I got rid of a Mossberg 410 bolt action W/ chokes when I was a kid. Thats the only shotgun I ever sold. Never do that again.

[northern hunter]

 
Winchester model 70 feather weight in 358 cal excellent condition.
Winchester model 88 in 358 cal mint.
Savage 99 in 358 very good condition.Have bought another one but not as good a condition.
Winchester model 100 carbine in 284 cal excellent condition.
Sold the rifles because I needed the money at the time,raising a family has to come first.
Now i'm sad and have to go drown my sorows.

[EVOC ONE]

northern hunter:  Ouch!  All those classic Winchester's and a Mod 99    You are correct, however ...  family first.   

[gstewart44]

It hurts to think about it now.......  

I learned my lesson about 20 years ago and I have never parted with any other firearm since.   In 1982 my grandfather had passed away
and left me his shotgun that he taught me to hunt rabbits with.   I remember those cool afternoons in western NC chasing cotton tails with his pack of beagles, then the taking of the bunny with a shotshell, then home so Granma could make it into a fine stew.     

I was a dumb college kid that was engrossed in higher learning to the point of doing something absolutely stupid.   I sold my grandpa's little shotgun for $200 that I needed for rent........

It was a 1935 LC Smith double barrel in 28 gauge..........

Some lessons are learned the hard way.     Never again!

[buffermop]

Goes to show you that college is not cracked up to what they claim. More knowledge is attain in the school of life.

[blackpowderbill]

1. M1903A2 springfield in about 98% condition
2. M1947 Madsen rifle
3. Dutch Beaumont with a tiger stripe stock
3. m67 Swiss Vetterli
4. Rem 141 .35 Rem
5. TC Renagade .54 with a sharin 20ga barrel
I try not to sell many guns nowdays, just let them build up in the closet.

[six_gunz]

A Marlin Mountie
I bought it when I was 8yrs old with a paper route job....2 yrs later I thought a dirt bike would be more fun so I traded it off.

A pre-64 Win 94 (30-30) in excellent cond.
I bought it from a friend of my dad's for $125 back in the 90's....who knew they'd be worth so much now

A M1 Garand (30-06)
Paid $165 shipped to my door back in 1987 from CMP program I think?....traded it off. Now I'd be looking at a $1000+ at least to replace it.

Wish I still had 'em all, especially the M1 Garand

[robert4570]

Thanks a lot for the post.
now I can kick myself in the arshole again!

Winchesters :
Teddy Roosevelt 30-30 octagon barrel nickle receiver, You know what it is.
375 big bore 94 
356 big bore 94
a few 30-30s

and a custom 96 with Douglas 26" barrel in 257 Roberts with roll over
stock and maple trim.

But thats the fun thing of being broke and cash in your treasures for cash to get by.

Darn shame you sold them big bore 94's . I always wanted a few .

As for me , I might be one of the fortunate few cause I havent sold any of my good rifles.

[Cabin4]

Rossi 62 pump in SS.

[Will_C]

Let's see-

1. A Rem 788 in .222 that would shoot at least one load into .5" 5 shot clusters, back before I even knew anything about benchrest shooting or accurate handloading.

2. A Marlin 1894 CL in .25-20.

3. An Ithaca 66 20 gauge "Buckbuster" single shot.

4. An Ithaca 37 20 gauge, with a cut down barrel that was deadly on grouse.

Luckily, none of these were family or first guns.
Will

[no guns here]

Yep... my first .44 Mag, a SW 29 Hunter with the long barrel, full lug, rib, and unfluted cylinders.  Just had to pay a bill for her that in the end I should have told her to figure out how to pay it...

My first T/C - same thing...

My first Marlin .22 - didn't sell it but got stupid and let it rust up...  it's in the river under the Woodrow Wilson bridge if anyone wants it... closer to the Maryland side on the north side of the bridge.

My one steadfast rule is any gun given by or bought from a friend or relative will never be sold.  I can get another job or mow yards if I have to pay bills. 


ngh

[TLARbb]

I've sold a few rifles, but really only regret two.  Both were .25-06.  One a Remington 700 BDL and the other a Ruger #1B.  Both sold to close friends.  Talked to the fellow I sold the 700 to a few days ago and he still has it and still loves it.  Didn't offer to sell it back to me.  The Ruger #1B was lost in a burglary (of my friend's house), so don't know where it went.

Both of these would shoot less than an inch, but the Ruger required more careful load development to do it regularly.

I had another Remington 700 stolen from me.  Probably by one of my son's friends; there was no break in and they took all the ammo they could find that fit the gun; left everything else.  It was a .243 and it would stack bullets on top of each other.  Not unusual to shoot cloverleafs at 100 yards with it.  I get PO'd every time I think about it.  It was the best shooter I ever had.

EJ

[lilabner]

There's some rules that should never be broken:
1. Never sell or trade a gun you have inherited. It's bad luck. Keep it in the family.
2. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. If you have a rifle you really like, keep it no matter what. (the rule I broke multiple times)
3. If you have to sell something to get needed cash, sell anything but a favorite rifle.
4. If you have no choice but to sell a rifle, check a gun collector's website and used gun website to get the current value before you set an asking price. Good rifles can grow in value. Old rifles can grow in value. Scarce rifles can grow in value.

[jneilson]

My worst one was when I traded a model 70 243 for a 270 Savage that someone lightened the stock on and cut the barrel to 19 inches. It was pretty much unshootable by any normal person. Another time I sold a Winchester 62A pump 22 for $250. That was good money at the time for that particular rifle.

[45north]

Remington 788 in 243 win
savage 99 with the old style rotary magazine in 308 win
sako A-5 with a full length stock in 375 H&H it also had a 20 inch brl and the magazine held 5 rounds
an original mauser 98 fabrican Germany that was re barreled to 30/06
seemed like a good idea at the time, hind sight is 20/20 and all that

45north

[rem700-3]

17 years ago I sold a rem 700 .270 that I built custom with a 1965 action. barrel, bolt ,trigger and stock were ordered and installed by me It is a 1 hole shooter at 200 yds and holes touch at 300 yds .            I bought it back last year and it will stay this time