Rifles we wish we've never sold, and WHY!

[ntsqd]

A literally NIB Rem 788 in .222 Rem, WITH the box! Pretty much a giant who cares, but it bugs me to know that the buyer cut it up to be some gawd-forsaken abomination.

 

[348 fan]

I wish I had bought a pair of like new 99 Savages that had been in a rural Ohio closet for a few decades....and I'm thinking at least 5 or more at the time....a 250-3000 and a 300. Was at a gun show and could have had them for $500 each but too stupid as they weren't what I was looking for at the time. Was into bolt guns.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

For me it was a Weatherby Vanguard VGX in 270 wby. I cant remember why I sold it but **** I want another one or atleast another 270 why to shoot those long bullets

 

[Jsmith410]

One because it was sentimental and the other because it was a shooter.

Dad gave me a .22 mag Marlin when I was 14. I spend many days hunting groundhogs on the cattle and Christmas tree farm. When I went to college I began coon hunting and "had" to have a 10/22 so I sold it to a coworker and bought a 10/22. I thought about it as I matured and realized never get rid of a gift, especially a gun.

The other was a GAP-10 308. It would shoot Fed Fusion 180gr into one tiny hole.

 

[foul bore]

I was in highschool, had an octagon barrel curved but plate 30-30 I believe it was a marlin, was not accurate, sights needed adjusted, and I let it get away. I was a kid. I pretty much keep every thing now.

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Mine's more a story about a gun I didnt buy when I should have.

I was probably 18 or 19 at the time; I had just started getting enough money to fund hobbies from summer jobs/part time work, and 204 Ruger was a caliber a lot of my older shooting mentors were talking about. I had been eyeballing a Remington 700 VS SFII in 204 ruger and had read some amazing reviews about it, it was "the one".

Unfortunately, I am cursed with having picked up two expensive hobbies, cars and guns. Long story short, I ended up spending the money I had set aside for the Remington on a car project that ended up costing way more time and money than I had laid out (adding insult to injury I actually had to sell that project car only months later to get something that was actually running in time to get back to college). So I shelved the plan to buy the new rifle, priorities changed, life happened, and now many years later that rifle is no longer even offered in their catalog... so it still remains the one that got away for now.

 

[5Spot]

Just a poll to see how many of us have sold or traded away a rifle, that haunts us to this day!
I know that I have, and at the time, it was thought to be needed.
Mine, was a Winchester Sharpshooter, in 7stw. It had a Schneider barrel, blueprinted action, and full bedded action from the factory.
I was in the process of buying a house, and as everyone can imagine, unexpected costs came up, that required fast cash. I've cringed about it so many times.
Thoughts and comments?
What's your story?

The one that stands out in my memory the most was a Browning Safari in 30-06 that I bought brand new in 1962. I was 19 years old at the time and my dad had instilled the love of the rifle in me. In the late 70's, work was slow, I needed to make the mortgage and I let that rifle go for $175.00! There have been several others since then that were sold or traded, including a Mannlicher Schoenauer carbine length 30-06, a Kimber of Oregon .223, some pistols (Python and Diamondback) and a beautiful Browning Double Automatic 12 guage.

At times I get real nostalgic thinking about those guns that are missing from my safe, but then I pull myself out of that mood with a simple but even more painful memory. In 2003 our home was consumed by what at that time was the biggest wildfire in California history - the Cedar fire which took out over 2,500 homes! Any guns that came or went before that are irrelevant, except for the old rusted barreled actions sitting in a back corner in my garage.

The upside to this tragic story is that I get to add to my "new" collection and there are so many great options in this day and age! So, selling that old Browning Safari has lost most of it's sting, but I still have fond memories made with that rifle!

 

[Greyfox]

I kept most all my favorite rifles. The one I truly regret letting loose about 40 years ago was a Model 1873 Winchester Saddle Ring Carbine. It was an old well worn beauty made in the late 1800's, 2nd Model that shot well and was as slick as butter.

 

[bbaley]

Model 94 Winchester 30-30. Really miss having a 30-30 lever action

My custom built tactical/target 308, 28" straight bull barrel, Manners T4A stock, Atlas bipod. Big heavy solid beast that would barely move off the target shooting 175's from a bipod and had loads for 155, 168 and 175's in the .3's. It was a 300 yard and 600 yard dream target gun.

 

[MighteyWhiteHunter]

I always buy guns. I have never sold one.

 

[Gibbshooter43]

In a moment of excessive weakness that was brought on by looking at a new, better, faster, shiny combination of wood and metal, i parted with a Savage 99 in 250:3000 takedown model. It had 17 groves cut on the right side of the fore end for the deer taken and 9 on the left side for the bear taken - all in northern upstate New York (By the original owner). I was young and stupid and didn't realize the value of that gun. I've since replaced the caliber (I have gotten smarter) TWICE in Ruger 77's. And I've realized personally the validity of the Pennsylvania Dutch saying, "Too soon oldt; too late smardt".

 

[PRCLITE]

Mine was a Remington 673 Guide Rifle with a laminated stock, ventilated rib and shark fin front sight chambered in 308. I removed the rear sight and put a Nikon 4.5-14x44 buckmasters scope on it. At the time (at least for eastern mountain hunting) that was a huge overkill of a scope. I was fresh out of the Marine Corps and it was my first new rifle purchase. On opening day for the PA rifle season, I perched myself up on a huge boulder on top of a shale pit surrounded by trees that overlooked a nice big hay field with laurel on both sides and a thicket of pines directly opposite of my position. I had a 550 yard field of fire and I thought I'd wait until first light and smack the first thing that walked out into the field. Sure enough a decent 7 pointer followed a few does out into the field and he bit the bullet and dropped in his tracks at 378 yards. The does he came out with of course bolted toward cover and most of them escaped. There was one that decided to run the long way across the field and met her demise on the run in two shots at about 350 yards. I screwed up the distance because of the drop compensated dots in the scope and hit her low in the leg on the first shot. On the second shot I ran that 168gr right through her front shoulder on the run and anchored her there.

I decided at that point that I "needed" a more proper long range rifle and sold my guide rifle to buy a Remington 700 SPS Tactical with a 20" heavy barrel. I mounted a Vortex Viper PST scope on it, but a B&C stock on it and was able to shoot the same hole at 100 yards consistently but the **** thing weighed 16 pounds!!

All in all I've gone through quite a bit of rifles starting at that point to get where I'm at with it now (CA Ridgeline 6.5PRC/Nightforce ATACR 4-16x50 F2). I really do miss the look and feel of the 673 and would like to buy another one just to have it and take for a walk every now and then.

 

[Camalius (Tim) Pomaville]

I hate to admit this:30/378 Weatherby, 240 Weatherby, 270 Sauer

 

[jimwest]

Really three. Two rifles and a pistol. First rifle was my first high power rifle. At the age of 12 in 1969 I worked my butt off for a year mowing yards, hauling hay, working in the tobacco fields and anything else I could do to make a dime. I saved up $45. My Dad small game hunted and taught me but did not deer hunt. My neighbor and Sunday school teacher told me that if I would get me a rifle he would take me and teach me about deer hunting. In those days most any sporting goods or K-Mart type store had shopping carts full of surplus military rifles for $25 to $30. I was expecting to get a 98 Mauser 8mm. When we went to the store they had boxed rifles in a cart with a price of $40. Dad, a WWII vet, opened a box and pulled out a rifle and said this is what you want. Turned out to be a Springfield 1903A3 UNISSUED. Used it for about 4 years and decided I wanted something lighter and shorter for hunting in the rugged TN mountains and sold it for $45 and bought a Marlin 336 30-30 Win from my uncle.
I wish I had that back now.

Ok, the mention of the Springfield 1903 from Kmart is just too much to bear.
I'm getting really depressed reading these posts. I will never sell any of my guns.