The Ones That Got Away

[C.O.B.]

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.

[OH Osthaus]

the one that got away - got away -never owned it

wandered into an antique shop shortly after the long bitter battle for custody and divorce, came out with three kids, a less travel job with a 15K paycut and a massive debt. I really had no business going in any really dont need it shop.

there in a booth was a cased with accessories small bore high grade side by side muzzleloading shotgun from a good London maker. good wood and leather case, all the tools and for a steal of a price, which was still out the question at the time. months later I went back and of course it was long gone.

That one got away, the ones I had but don't now, didn't get away, I let them go for a reason

[Dean Romig]

I generally fall asleep in the deer blind and can't begin to say what thoughts pass through my subconscious while I'm sitting there quietly becoming covered up in the pure white sifted snow...

I sold my 1965 GTO a long, long time ago and to this day have this inhumane nightmare that I still own it stored away in some vine-covered garage somewhere in the woods next to a deserted stone mansion that I can't find... go figure that one out - I certainly can't.

Guns I have sold and regretted ever after? - My Dad's wonderfully accurate Savage 99 in .300 Savage. He was well into Alzheimer's and didn't even know he had a rifle much less remember that he had taken his ten-year-old boy deer hunting in Vermont back in '58. I had my own rifle and didn't need his long-barreled Savage that weighed about 8 lbs. and so I sold it and his Lyman hand loading kit with dies, scale, etc., bullets, shells, primers, powder, early reloading books and the military ammo box that held all that stuff all for $300. The guy who bought it left my house with a distinct gleam in his eye making me know deep inside I had let it go way too cheaply.

Parker Double Trap no. 230760. I'll always regret letting that one go but sacrificing that one made way for more nice Parkers - this I don't regret.

As time goes by I'm sure there will be others but in the meantime I take enormous pleasure in sleeping while on stand as the hiss of falling snow comforts me - it has always been my very favorite lullaby. Shhhh... be vewy, vewy quiet

[Double Play]

Originally Posted by Dean Romig

I take enormous pleasure in sleeping while on stand as the hiss of falling snow comforts me - it has always been my very favorite lullaby.

Now I understand why you never shoot any deer!!!

[Pa SxS]

There are times we are forced to sell things due to financial problems and there are times we sell things because we are young and stupid. I was in the latter category. I've told this before and it still makes me wonder "What was I thinking?"

Before my grandfather passed away, I bought a few of his guns one of which was his PH 12ga Parker with fluid steel barrels. It was his hunting gun and he was proud of it. Sometime back in the early 1980's I had to have the latest Trap Gun but didn't have all the cash needed to buy one. I was visiting a well known local gunsmith and he offered to buy it. I justified selling it because he agreed that if he ever decided to sell it, he would give me first chance to buy it back. It's amazing how the mind works when you want something bad enough.

Through the following years I kept wondering if he still had the gun but I never had occasion to visit him. It was 5 or so years later, I'm at my local trap club and one of the guys says, "Did you hear that Guy passed away?" My heart just about stopped! I said I have to get hold of his widow and see if he still has the Parker. He replied that all of Guy's guns were at the auctioneer to be sold at auction.

I was able to attend the auction and low and behold, there was the Parker in exactly the same condition as when I sold it. Believe me, I was prepared to take out a second mortgage to buy back the Parker. As I recall, I paid almost exactly the same price to buy it back as I got to sell it.

Talk about lucky, had my friend not mentioned that Guy had died, I doubt I would have known about the auction and the gun would not be in my possession today.

[Big D]

My Dad was a Remington Director in the 60's. The Directors could buy guns at dealer prices, but somehow they always seemed to end up with really nice wood. For some reason, I decided to sell a .22 541S he had ordered. Took it to an OGCA show and sold it to an Amish man for my asking price. He wa going to use it for their Saturday night shoots in a barn. As soon as he paid me, and was walking away, I knew I had made a mistake. Gawd, I wish I had that one back. Bought another 541S a few years ago, but it ain't the same

[Dean Romig]

I feel your pain John.

[charlie cleveland]

my dad gave me a little 410 stevans double and as i reached the age of 15 i thought i had out grew that gun...i traded it to my dad for and over and under 12 ga of some brand..some fellow came along and bought it from my dad thats been 50 years ago and i have wished for that 50 years that i had it back..about 7 years ago i bought me a little 410 stevens just like the one i had but it just aint the same... charlie

[David Noble]

I mentioned these in a thread by the same name before. Repeating it just makes the sting worse, but whats done is done. There was the 32" 12ga Del Greco restored BHE with beaver tail forend. What a beautiful gun it was. But what I regret even more was letting a Parker try gun go, along with the original tools and leather pouch. I sold it way to cheap even for that time period. It makes me ill thinking what it's value is now. A couple of others that hurt was a T latch serial number 72. The barrels were cut to 25 inches but the gun was in remarkable shape otherwise. The other was a 30 inch 12 ga CHE. It had been recased colored with a torch and the goose engraved on the floor plate had a stupid looking smile on it's face, but it was my CHE and I loved it.
I thank God that better times came around and I now own some nice original guns, but I'll always remember those that got away.

[Dean Romig]

Wow Larry...