We have all sold off a gun, car etc to buy something else be it upgrading the gun collection, tuition for the kids, the 69 Z28 Camero and so on. This got me to thinking what guns have I parted with and what were the circumstances and which ones would I like back. Well here goes the list.
rifles, it's a short list. I sold two Pre 64 M70's that I wish I had back. One was a Super Grade 7mm Mauser with very nice wood, the other a NIB Fwt 358 with owner's manual and hang tags. I sold these to a collector in Louisville, KY to finance a DHE 20 with 90% case color and all the options and 30 inch bbls. I still have the DHE so I guess I did ok but would like the Winchesters back. Next up is a custom built 257R on a Sako action. It had a Birdseye Maple stock and was short and quick. I used the money for another rifle project. Another Winchester comes to mind this one a M71 348. I never shot the gun and made a fast couple of hundred bucks but now and then I have a hankering for another M71 and prices have skyrocketed since the days I sold that one.
In the Parker catagory is where the pain really begins. At the Southern several years ago I bought a GHE 20 with two sets of barrels and forends. I had this for a couple of years and used it quite a bit. Then the skeet gun virus infected my wisdom and I traded that off for a GHE 20 skeet even up which was a huge economic plus for me. That GHE skeet even had 28 inch barrels which at the time made it even more appealing to me. Time and targets flew by and the gun was heavy to take to the field and something else came up but for the life of me I can't remember what it was but probably bills as I would remember a gun deal but the gun was sold. Another GHE this time a skeet configured 16 suffered a similiar fate as the 20. At the end of the day I don't know what happened to the the money from these two guns so it must not have been overly important but what I do know is I don't have the money, a different gun and I don't have the two Parkers either! Damn I hate it when that happens.
Things come and things go, some stay for long periods of time and grow memories that last a lifetime other create memories by their passing to different caretakers. Once their gone their usually gone forever, the funds dissappear or the purpose that initiated the sale is forgotten by the passage of time but the guns are never forgotten. I'm still looking for that GHE 20 two bbl set to show up
I wonder what mundane thoughts will come up in the deer blind tomorrow.