Biggest mistake

[hornady]

I know some have had better luck than others, But if you had to say what was the biggest Mistake you ever made in a Hand gun, I’ve been at the gun game a while so there were two that come to mind, both of these gun I could not wait to get ride of, the one was an RG 22 revolver, it truly surprised you if it even fired, the second was a Jennings 22, if you had the right ammo and the moon and stars were aligned just right it too would fire, both were traded years ago, I have had guns I liked more than others, but these two were trouble from day one.

[SHOOTALL]

Trading a Colt 22 / 22mag single action , Selling a Colt ace 22 lr conversion for a 1911 .

[bobg]

  I had a Jennings 22 that would fire anything i put through it. My wife liked to shoot it so she bought one. That was like yours. Wouldn't fire anything. She said to hell with it and bought a Beretta. That little thing was great. I have never been sorry about any of the hand guns i have owned. A couple rifles maybe.

[Ex 49'er]

Years ago I sold my S&W M53 .22 Jet and my WWI Springfield Armory .45 and trading away my S&W M57 41 magnum.
On the day I had gotten enough money to buy back the M57, somebody bought it 2 hours before I got there.

[Curtis]

I haven't owned many hand guns but my mistake was also a Jennings 22 back in the late 80s.  Bought it for $50 or so if I remember right.  It fed fine with the ammo I used, but the way my hand is shaped the slide would hit the second knuckle of my thumb on its way back.  It didn't hurt, but it took enough velocity off the slide to make it jam.  It also wouldn't develop enough power to even pierce light sheet metal.  I sold it off after only having it a month.

Curtis

[BruceP]

I haven't bought a  handgun that I consider a mistake so my three biggest handgun related mistakes were. Selling a Colt python to finance a non-firearms related hobby purchase. Then thinking to long about buying a Ruger Bisley single six 32H&R mag. and also a Ruger three screw 357mag in excellent condition. Both were gone by the time I made up my mind to buy them.

Bruce

[JeffDavis]

Early in my swappin' career, I traded off a fine shooting Glock 17 for a POS Taurus PT92, a limited edition Lew Horton S&W M29 with a 2.5 in barrel for a Colt 1917 Army (which I then traded for a Lee Challenger kit, some reloading supplies, and a $50 bill), and an Astra 357 revolver which shot like a house on fire for a Rossi 971  6 in SS revolver. Would love to have all 3 again now that I am older and wiser ( )

[williamlayton]

I refuse to remember mistakes.
I got rid of a Colt Mustang that was not a mistake.
Blessings

[Lloyd Smale]

the 952 smith i bought is sure one. Paid big bucks for it and it wouldnt feed handloads and never shot a group under 2 inch with any factory loads. My sti trojan in 9mm for near half the money outpreformed it hands down. The other was a bfr in 480. Just hated that big bulky thing.

[Scibaer]

I regret buying a Taurus Pt22 in .22lr NIB, the thing would jam, not cycle, case would stick.. you name it
would Taurus make it right ? nope .. i used it as a down payment on a Ruger..
 my biggest mistake ? not buying Rugers or Remingtons from the start ..
 

[v-man]

I can also claim the J22 mistake and acouple other disappointments but you asked about the biggest mistake so here goes. About 30 yrs ago I had 2 fine Rugers I had purchased new, a SBH .44 Mag and a Mark II .22LR. I let a small gunshop owner convince me that a 1st issue Colt Det. Spec. was a rare find and so I traded both Rugers for it, even up. My wife told me I was an idiot and I realized she was right. I don't really know or care the value of a "1st issue" Det Spec. I'm not into "collecting", I'm into shooting and hunting. Still can't figure how that guy got in my head.

[drdougrx]

My first biggest mistake was selling off at least a dozen safe queens, lugers, P38s, custom HPs, etc.  I miss'm even though I hadn't shot some of them in more than a decade.

My biggest mistake was selling off a SW M-60 NY Stakeout that was a special run put out by John Giovinno Dist in the 90's.  It was a 3" m60 in 38spec with a heavy barrel, a 357 length ejector rod, a bobbed hammer, a hogue grip and special satin matt finish.  At the time it was the cats**S.  Today, if you bob the hammer on a m60, you'd have pretty much the same gun without the cool finish.  Just something about it....

Oh and WillLayton...I have a mustang pocketlite...works good and sits in a pocket like a 25acp. Think I'm gonna keep it but am curious to hear what was up with yours.

[hornady]

The dumb mistakes come with the practice of swapping Guns, in close to 50 years of this game, I have made some un believable deals, A colt US Army 1911 - 5 digit serial number , for $300.00. Last year I bought a collection of 3 guns, from My wife’s boss, A Sig, Glock, and S&W, for way below cost, But then you get Brain freeze and do something dumb, I passed on a M1 Garand, also for  $300.00  I still don’t know what I was thinking on that one, I just plain was not, Back in the 70 a friend had a Ruger 10-22 he needed money wanted to sell me it for $25.00, I talked him into keeping it I thought, next time I saw him, he had sold it to someone else for $25.00,. So you win some, and some times you just plain mess up. But its still fun Wheeling and dealing with Guns. All you can do is hope at the end of the game you come out in the plus column. 

[rockbilly]

.. Back in the early sixties I had a Browning High Power that was a real POS, it wouldn’t feed three bullets without a jam, and Gunsmith Jim Clark looked it over and advised me to get rid of it.  Since I have owned a pair of Kimbers that left a lot to be desired, both found new homes, otherwise I have had good luck with even some of the cheap throw-away guns

Lets not even talk about all the "great deals" I walked away from, looking back I should bend over and let someone give me a swift kick in the seat of the pants, like the time I walked away from three Remington rolling Blocks for $100., or the time I passed on a Winchester M1 Carbine for about the same price, yes we all have made some bad mistakes in our gun dealings.  BUt there has also been some treasures found for next to nothing.

[Dand]

I traded my S&W 58 to buy a S&W 57.  I don't regret the 57 but I should have kept the 58 too.

I've often wondered if another guy ever regretted selling me his 4 3/8 Colts Frontier Scout with 22lr and 22 mag cylinders a belt holster and shoulder holster for $50 in about 1971.

[NickSS]

My biggest handgun mistake was buying and AMT hardballer 45 auto.  It looked good but never worked right.  I sold it to a dealer and I could not bring myself to lie to someone just to make money.  My biggest rifle mistake was to sell a Manlicher stuer 22 rifle I had.  I bought it for a messily 150 including a Leopold 2-7 scope in styer mounts (just the mounts were worth what I paid for it) and sold it a few weeks later minus the scope for $150.  The next one of those rifles I saw a year later was going for $600 without mounts or scope.  I should have kept it. The best pistol buy I ever made was a brand new in the box Volcanic repeating pistol with a box of original cartridges.  I paid $100 at an estate auction about 40 years ago and sold it less than a half hour later for $2400.  That does not happen often in a life time.

[Mnswede]

My worst mistake was listening to my dad and not buying a brand new HK 93 when I had the money in my pocket in 1981.

[Sweetwater]

Could have been the Browning High Power - jammed worse than a San Diego freeway at rush hour.

Could have been trading in the High Standard Duramatic on my first 41mag Blackhawk.

Could have been selling that first Blackhawk, as I've replaced it a dozen times! None have shot better.

Could have been replacing all my 3-screw Blackhawks with New Models. Twice.

Could have been selling my US ARMS Abilene in 45 Colt - now I find out it was a rarity. I got it NIB.

I've got to add this, though not "my mistakes" and not handguns. My Dad swapped a 92Winchester 32-20 towards, not for, but only towards a Weaver K2.5 scope for his new Rem 722 257Roberts in 1951. In 1975, my Dad swapped two, not one, but two M1 30carbines with several magazines for a NIB Rem 870 Wingmaster 12ga for my younger brother.

I guess I can claim "genes"!!

[smong2000]

A little over a year ago I walked by a pair of older 3 screw Ruger BH 4 1/2" barrels, mint, in a Flea market.  A .41mag and .22 /.22mag, leather holsters, a shoe box full of ammo mostly .41 mag.  Guy knew the owner (deceased) who bought them new at the same time many years ago- and he would have taken $500 for the lot.  I had $400 in my pocket, said I'd think about it and probably be back.  Someone else didn't need as long as me to think, when I returned they were gone.

[irold]

Early seventies , not buying a Colt Python for 200 bucks..........

regards , irold

[bluecow]

selling my 1917 S&W for $200 long time ago

[krod47nw]

Buying a Charter arms 44 special revolver in the early 90s.  I shot about 20 rounds through it, and couldn't sell it off quick enough.  pure junk.

Kevin

[Old Griz]

Didn't buy:
1. A beautiful Savage 99 in .308.
2. A Colt Diamondback in .22 LR.

Did buy:
1. Kel-Tec P3AT.
2. Kel-Tec PLR-16.
3. Ruger LCP.

[rugerman]

Several years ago I got the derringer bug so I bought a cobra 38 spec. couldn't wait to shoot it, took it out with some 158gr swc loads, trigger pull was around 20 lbs the only place safe was in front of it, never could figure out where it as hitting at 5 yards. After about 5 rounds the top barrel would no longer fire. Since I'd only bought it a couple of days before and I had done the waranty on line I emailed the company about the problem several days later I got a responce, If I would pay to ship it back to them they would fix it for free and ship it back to me C.O.D. I emailed back that the shipping both ways was more than I paid for the gun. Now its a paperweight or a self protection ROCK. Real quality company that stands behind their products and really strives to make their customers happy.

[dbriannelson]

For me, buying a S&W Model 53 was a mistake.  But that one's long gone.  Mistakes I haven't been able to get rid of yet include:


I thought that when I gave a Kit Gun to the Ex wife, this Taurus would somehow replace it.  It doesn't hold a candle to the old Smith and I wish I hadn't bought it.


And this new S&W Model 21.  The bore, forcing cone and throats were extremely rough and leaded like crazy.  I fire-honed the bore, opened the throats and tried to smooth out the cone with some success, but it was a whole lot of work to put into a brand new handgun.  At this point I have so much time (and a little money) into the hog I sort of have to keep it.  Nickel too.  What was I thinking?

-Don

[Ex 49'er]

I wisht I still had my S&W M53 - 6". It was a big mistake when I sold that one. When I got it the fool before me was thinking that it was like a SA revolver and having 6 chambers loaded was a hazard. His solution was to throw away one of the .22LR inserts. Shooting Jets was a pure pleasure and the pistola was extremely accurate.

[Bigeasy]

For me, I've sold to many over the years I shouldn't have, so I wont go there. 

A few years ago, the ball and chain and I went to a Saturday morning yard sale, and found a Savage 99 lever action in .22 high power.  It had a semi pistol grip stock, cartridge counter, in just about mint shape, for $300.  I am not much of a Savage fan, but I know a good deal when I see it.  The soon to be ex wife put her foot down.  We got home, I stewed about it for about an hour, then went back.  It was, of course, gone..

Larry

[coyotejoe]

Sounds like your biggest mistake was the wife!

[Bigeasy]

Sounds like your biggest mistake was the wife!

And that is a fact..

[Arizona Jake]

Selling my High Standard Victor. What the hell was I thinking?