Henry Rifle Forums

I just had this conversation with a friend of mine not too long ago, and it was a nice long chat and very interesting. I'm sure we all wish we could go back and Plunk down the cash/card in the gunshop or at the gunshow or at the Buddy's house when we had the chance... or take back the time we took the cash when we sold THAT gun way back when. I remember those guns... wish I had them back. Don't be shy, share... we all have the tales of woe.

I'll start with a few in both catagories.

Wish I HAD bought....

While stationed in Hawaii, I came across a Colt Python in a display case in a giant downtown mall in Oahu that didn't sell many guns. They had a few rifles and a dozen handguns. The Python was marked 50% OFF. I asked the salesman what was up with that? He said, "Take a look." It was a beautiful 6" Blued Python, NIB with a flawless finish. Then I saw the issue, .38 Special on the Barrel. "Pythons are .357s" I said. "That's what everyone says." He told me, we can't give the dang thing away. I walked away from the darn thing, discovering later that these were "Target Models" made in a very limited quantity, that didn't sell well.

Driving by a yard sale, I noticed a guy had GUNS written on cardboard in the window of his pickup. I stopped and he had a Ruger Super Blackhawk laying on the hood of the truck he had parked in the shade, among the rest of the half dozen guns he was letting go. "Dad died and I can't have these in the house with the kids." The Ruger had factory Stag grips. He quoted a price and it was just a tad more than I wanted to spend, but Miss T told me to buy it. It was 44 mag, and I didn't reload it. "You won't shoot it much, but you always wanted one... buy it. You can buy a box of 44 now and then" I told the man I'd think about it and drove off. I came back by after lunch planning to buy the gun, but he said one guy bought all eight.

Bass Pro had a Collector's Edition Thompson 45 that came in a Violin Case with the drum mag and two stick mags.
The original price was really ridiculous but it had been in the store for over a year. I knew the GM at the store and we had met with him for something to do with the Veteran's Charity. We were walking out of the store together and had to pass through the firearms section when I saw it and I stopped to look at the gun. He called over the gun shop manager and got a "Best Price" on the package. It really was a best price, about what the Semi-Auto Thompsons were going for, just the guns. Miss T said it was up to me, we'd put it "on the card" and pay it off pretty quick. I thanked the Manager but walked out empty handed as the "card" was for emergencies. I always regretted it. I had looked for a Thompson ever since and haven't found another GUN at that price let alone that kit. The thing is, the violin case was really NICE, not cheesy. You really would never carry it around in that thing, but it would be cool to have in the loading room, or something....

The "Wish I hadn't LET GO..."

This list could be REALLY long, but I'll just list a couple two or three....

I had a customized Colt Commander, 70 series. Stag Grips, custom trigger, the works. A good friend, Navy Seal, was getting out of the Navy and going to work with the DEA as a boat commander in FL and loved that little gun, shot it better than I did. He made me an offer, I told him it wasn't for sale. He gave me the sob story that HE needed a gun he could trust his life to... and made me a much better offer. I told him it wasn't for sale. Then he cheated. He sent his wife over, with cash.

Model 27 Smith, shot like it was Laser guided. Got it from a mentor, who passed away. When I started shooting PPC, I need a PPC gun and with four kids money was tight. Really Tight. Got an offer on that gun I couldn't refuse. I should have.

Bicentennial Ruger Single Six with two Cylinders. Roommate getting out talked me out of the gun. Shouldn't have sold it. It was a shooter.
I could buy others, but that one was special. He loved it and wanted that one. Good friend.

Those are good should have and shouldn't have examples.

Well...the one I let go that I wish I still had was a Colt Frontier Scout, sweet little 22.
And the one I should have of bought that I wanted, was A Marlin 1894 in 41 mag., back when I was wanting one I thought the price tag on those were a little crazy.
I'm pretty sure back then they could be had for around 5 bills. You should see what those bring now.
It's the reason I have the Henry BBS 41 now.

rp

I've only sold three guns but have not regretted either one. I sold my Browning Citori Skeet O/U as it was just sitting in the gun safe not being used. I also sold a Ruger M77 (Red Butt) with a Leupold scope to a friend who wanted a rifle for deer hunting. It was a nice rifle but I used my Ruger No.1 in 25-06 mostly while on the deer stand. The other was a Winchester 100 carbine in .308. It wasn't a very accurate rifle at all but they command a pretty high price these days when found. Seems to me that there was a firing pin recall on them, and I had to send it off to St. Louis for a fix. It got to where it wouldn't eject casings and a friend of mine said he would buy it as is and give it to his grandson to use as a single shot.
Jake

My "What the heck wuz I thinkin'" moment was when I sold my S&W 6" 686.

Before I ever fired a round through it, I had it shipped back to the S&W Custom Shop for trigger work and a front sight I could live with, both items more in tune with the the (local) Action Pistol matches I used to run, and our Speed Steel Plate matches. In a letter to them with the gun, I told them that "this gun will be shot double action 99% of the time, so please give me a sweet double action trigger pull, and I really don't care about the single action pull."

When I got it back from them, it did indeed have a very nice DA pull, and one of the most incredible SA trigger of any S&W revolver I had ever shot to that point. They did a fantastic job all the way around on that gun.

But try as I might, I could never win one of my own matches with that gun. I was constantly in 3rd, maybe second place, or at least "Top Revolver" in a sea of 1911s. So I sold it, and bought my Kimber 1911. I began to win the occasional match with the Kimber, but really regret selling that one gun. My uncle kinda "chastised" me saying "Ya don't sell guns; ya buy more!" I shoulda kept that revolver, and figured out some other way to buy a 1911......

Too many to count, but here’s a few. Winchester 101 that I bought at a PX in Japan while on R&R, Colt Bisley in 38/40, several Ruger number 1s, custom Hawken 54 cal, custom underhanmer 36 cal, pre 64 Winchester 70 featherweight in 30/06, pre 64 Winchester 94, and the list goes on and on.

Wish I Hadn't Bought... Taurus Judge.

I have long regretted selling my mid '60's vintage 44 Mag Ruger semi auto carbine .... I carried it as a companion to a 44 Mag Ruger Blackhawk which I used when hunting black bear in the mountains of NC .... it was very dependable, easy to handle, accurate rifle that had minimal recoil .... also, it was really fun to fire

I had a Marlin 1893 in 38-55 that I let a good friend at the time talk me out of. I wish I had that gun back it was a nice rifle and a great shooter.

So many guns have come and gone that I can't even remember some of them. No regrets, though. Just my nature to explore and try different things to shoot. Now that I've settled down to shoot mainly single actions and specialty pistols and classic single shot rifles, I do look back and wish I had kept some of the many such guns I've had. Those aren no longer major markets, though, so no big deal as far as missed opportunities or guns that I should have kept that are now super collectible with high values.

I do sometimes feel like I'm a dying breed with my love of single actions, specialty pistols and even classic falling block single shot rifles, though. Glad I was around to enjoy them all when they were more popular. Good times.

And, hey, not all of them slipped away. I was smart enough to keep some of the best.

In Spokane we have a local gun buy/sell/trade website that makes (or used to make) buying and trading guns both easy and less expensive as no sales tax was involved with a person to person sale. Now state laws have made doing this much more difficult and expensive. We had a good run of several years and I found myself constantly changing out firearms. Now with the new state laws I don’t do much selling or trading and the few firearms that I have acquired in the last few years have been from dealers paying retail and tax.

But, a few I sold that I regret are both Marlins. One was the unicorn 41 mag 1894 and the other a pistol grip stocked 1894 in 44 mag. This PG was only produced for two years and I snagged one off Gunbroker for a fair price. Loved those two rifles.

The one that I wish I had bought was a Ruger GP-100 in 327 Fed Mag. Had one come up for sale on the local site but I was in the process of building a new home and just didn’t want to spend any money at that time. Stoopid is what stoopid is.

JEBar wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 15, 2023 11:01 am

I have long regretted selling my mid '60's vintage 44 Mag Ruger semi auto carbine .... I carried it as a companion to a 44 Mag Ruger Blackhawk which I used when hunting black bear in the mountains of NC .... it was very dependable, easy to handle, accurate rifle that had minimal recoil .... also, it was really fun to fire

That’s about the only gun I’ve had that I regret selling. I looked for a long time for the .44 Carbine, but when I finally got one, it wasn’t used much. I sold it to another forum member here, and bought a BBSC in .44 that I carry way more.

here is a link to the Ruger 44 Mag Carbine >>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruger_Model_44 .... recently I've seen these carbines selling for $1,000 - $1,500 .... I too bought a Henry BBS 44 Mag that has proven to be one of my favorite rifles .... with that being the case, every time I come close to buying a Ruger Carbine, I find I can better spend that money somewhere else

I just remembered a 22-250 bolt gun I had while stationed in Hawaii that I had acquired in trade for something. Can't remember what Make but a famous name.... Styer maybe? But that rifle was a real tack driver. It had a presentation grade Mannlicher stock with ebony inlays at the end of the forearm and the pistol grip, a butterknife bolt handle, and double set triggers. In addition to the standard target peep sight, it had the flip up sight on the comb. This thing would shoot. The Marine who traded me also included a half filled 50 cal ammo can filled with loose 22-250 ball ammunition. I got a nice soft case and beautiful leather sling as well. I had the gun a year and shot it often at the 600 yard range on the opposite side of the island from Kaneohe Bay Air Station. We'd shoot at 100 and 200 yards.

Then, about a year before I was due to rotate off the island, another Marine Buddy of mine from the Rifle Team from somewhere in the Western U.S. (Montana?) just had to have that gun. He had shot it quite a bit and told me it was just the thing for shooting Varmints on the family Horse Farm back home. He made an offer I couldn't refuse. (When you have two kids in Hawaii on a Sergeant's pay, cash makes you think hard... (Marines got cash up front for travel pay, especially those getting out of the Corps, they were always cash heavy.)