I grew up in a horse trading family, not that my father was good at it but it was what we did. In those times it was tack, horses and guns. He sold Circle W trailers that he hauled from Oklahoma to our place in Wyoming. We lived just out of town and my mother had a green house. I always thought life was pretty good, he was the undersheriff of our county and I never knew we were poor even if we might have not been rich. There is an Australian singer who has a song about shooting every gun. I would say that it would be very rare for my father to not own every cheap to mid range priced gun that my father did not own at one time or another.

Fast forward to my own life and the majority of my working life was spent in the military. A lot of that military time was overseas (over 14 years out of 20). Mostly because I have a short attention span, but also because I think variety is the spice of life I too am a ever eternal horse trader on guns.

Anyway recently I have gotten myself into some interesting and weird trades. A 243 Sako that became a 300 Weatherby, a 9.3x64 Brenneke built on a 700 that became a 340 Weatherby, a 30-06 Stainless 700 that became a ????? I don't even remember.

Anyone else a lost cause when it comes to trading guns?

Hi, my name is Bruce and I'm a trade-aholic. I've tried to quit, really I've tried.
Some handguns are barely in my name and are gone again.
My weakness is 338 rifles, especially 338 Win Mag. Currently, I have a winter project.
A German 98 action, Pre-64 30-06 barrel that was re-bored to 338-06 and now is a 338 Win Mag.
It is unshot, I'll do the usual break in procedure.
The safety is a M70 type wing safety, the trigger will be an Alaska Arms LLC M70 Mauser trigger
It came with an unfinished Wildcat composite stock, I'll see how that plays out.

Bruce,

I have a mountain of 338 brass, bullets and dies. I am jonesing for a 338.

For some reason I skip from 8mm to 9mm with no stop at 338.

I have a feeling a 338 will soon join the stable, but I have no idea for how long.

cheers,

Seth

It's even better if you have a good friendship like I do with NPD345. Our wives think we are codependent. We rotate being that, and the enabler. More than thirty years now, and I do not think we have ever been dead even on a trade.
There is always just that little inequity piling up on one side, then it rolls over the other direction.

It's a lot more fun that way...

Ritch,

You have never sold me anything, but I have sold you things. So what do you have for sale?

I'm a lost cause in that department. In fact my wife banned me from selling guns privately, about 25 years ago, after I carelessly let two/three buyers arrive at the same time to look at a Beretta (56E?) shotgun.

One buyer was a Yugoslav who had come about 50 miles to see it, the other a teenager with his Italian father. In examining the gun, the first guy somehow managed to push a cartridge or case past an ejector, where it remained.

Neither wanted to pay the asking price so I said "Well, what about a Dutch auction?" but forgot to define how that works, as an auctioneer should do.

Will anyone give me $400?" I asked.
"380?" Still, no one spoke.
"360?"
"Yeah," said the kid, putting up his hand.
"OK, it's yours" I said.
"Hey, I come all the way from Geelong for this gun," yelled the first guy. "I give you 400 - I give you 450!"
"Sorry, mate, it's all over."
Well, the bloke went ballistic and I finally had to give him $20 for his gas to get him to go away, after which the father asked about the stuck case in the chamber.

I can't remember quite how I dealt with that except perhaps to say it was in there when he bought it and would come out with a little perseverence, but he could have it. I had already lost about $100 from my asking price and was a bit over it all.

Though I have bought guns and rifles privately since, I can only recall having sold a couple, except to dealers. I just keep 'em, now

For every regretted purchase I have subsequently regretted every trade or sale.
What's worse is when you know the guy or he is on a forum telling you how great the gun is.

quote:

Though I have bought guns and rifles privately since, I can only recall having sold a couple, except to dealers. I just keep 'em, now

I acquire them.

I never sell to dealers and always try to buy on the open free market.

Private sales are a very important check valve against government confiscation.

Rich, Wyoming...you two sound like the two farmers, I'll call them Bill & Fred, with one mule between them. Sold and traded it back and forth for years until a stranger happened by and bought the mule from Bill. A couple days later Fred came by needing the mule. Bills says, "I sold it". Fred stood there commiserating a few minutes then looked at Bill and said, "you know, you an' me was makin' a good livin' off that mule".

I swapped around quite a bit when I was younger but had so many regrets that these days I rarely part with a firearm.

I have been taken to the cleaners a couple times.
Two SRCs i would love to have bac. a 1892 44/40 , and a 1895 30/40 Krag..
...tj3006

I can't remember any time I ever regretted buying a firearm. But I darn sure have regrets about most that I sold.

I guess I was about 17 when I bought a G43 from a policeman named Herrman Manke for $25.00 as he was in need of cash.It was missing a magazine but could be shoot single shot. One box of shells later my Dad made me sell the rifle to a neighbor, Guy Carnavale, for $28.00.

When I got out of the service I found out that Guy had died but not before he procured a magazine. Guy's son Joe, a friend of mine, sold me the rifle for $28.00. It was 1957 and the 8mm was the first cartridge I hand loaded.

I was working full time during the day and 2 or 3 nights a week with Karl Strebelow as an apprentice gun smith. As payment over a period of time he gave me the scope and mounts for the G43. He also told me that I should go to college as I could never make a living as a gun smith. I was too slow at it.I was getting a lot of pressure from my parents and wife to also go to school at that time so after a hard time I finally got accepted into the University Of Dayton.Then it was I that needed money so the G43 was sold back to Herrman Manke for $50.00. Consider if you will that at that time a new Chevy or Ford could be purchased for under $2,000.00. $50.00 was a weeks take home pay. I also had to get rid of my 760-30/06.
that's my sad story! roger

Recently on another forum I traded my little rifle to a guy for a rifle of his.

I had $2300 in the damn Sako from my door to his, I tried to save myself a bit but he got pissy and decided he needed the brass and he was a sad old man and couldn't afford them so please could he have the brass. He came up with some other junk and made the trade less one sided and I said fine.

About 14 days later I got all his stuff and vice versa, and he calls me tonight to bitch about a scope I threw into his deal for free. He even cried on the phone when I told him I wasn't throwing the cheap scope in, and told me he couldn't afford it.

About an hour before he called he emailed me photos of the rifle mounted with a new stainless scope from Nikon and a new set of Sako optilock mounts he had bought that were stainless. To kind of gloat about the way the rifle looked.

So something ticked him off and he figured out that the junk scope I mailed him (that he had to have) and my black optilock mounts were to be sold. But since he couldn't make money on the junk scope I sent him he wanted to give me negative feedback on his site.

I told him Ok, send it all back and I'll send all yours back. No problem.

Of course "can you pay shipping", I said "are you fucking serious? You want to return a rifle that is worth $800 more than the common stuff you sent me over a junk scope I put no value on."


I have had my share of bitchy deals on AR, but none like this.

About 8 months ago I posted a cheap plastic rifle stock I had marked $40 shipped in the classifieds. I got at least 3 emails asking to see all 4 sides of the stock.

I gotta be the biggest gun whore ever, I sell, trade, barter, and buy another one everytime I sell one...Its a sickness, sometimes I wish I had taken up drugs and become a heroin or meth addict, it would have been so much cheaper..

Then there is the damn horses, I work my butt off making a fantastic rope horse that money can't buy I sez, and the first yahoo who comes by wanting to buy one with money in his pocket, then the good horse is gone and I'm on a no nothing young horse who probably likes to buck..

But, thinking back near 81 years now, it has been one hell of a ride and doing what I love, hunting, shooting, building a few rifles, and riding horses for a living, and I still have a business and a decent retirement check coming in..

BTW, I have two rifles for sale on AR classified, a roping dummy, and a 3 horse trailer for trade, whatcha got?

I'm hopelessly addicted to buying, trading, modifying, building and playing with rifles. Sometimes I even shoot them.
I've gotten my "using" rifles sorted out now but there are always three or four extras that change regularly. I've sworn off Rem 700's two or three times but they keep showing up. Went through a couple flurries of Pre'64 M70's. Ended up with 4 "keepers". Presently I'm on another Sako kick....it never ends.

rembo,
Ain't it great!

I have the itchy-foot sickness, too. Lately it has gotten so bad I don't even shoot the gun before I move it along. Have a newly acquired and still unfired Uberti/Cimarron Model 1873 Winchester in .38-40 that I am going cold on.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
rembo,
Ain't it great!

Yup...

Bill I hear ya. Ruger 450-400 isn't even in my hands yet and I've decided to go a different route... Like s$&? Through a goose. Off to cruise forum classifieds.....

Yes!

I have several like that, loved the rifle one little problem and it's gone.

I bought a pretty little Sako in 6mm PPC recently bought all the componants, put a scope on it, and couldn't be bothered to load ammo so it went down the road.

I usta trade guns until I figured out that I wasn't nearly smart enough.
I saved out of $3.40 an hour job and bought a S&W 22 Masterpiece. Lovely gun, shot like a rifle. Then I traded it for a pre64 model 88. In 284.
I then traded it to a man to repaint my house, so I could sell the house for the job I didn't get.
Wise men shake their head and look the other way when they see me coming,
We won't talk about the virtually unfired Obendorf 98 that I picked out of the 25 buck barrel; and sold for 40 thinking I had made a killing.
M

Finally I have found a rehab group that understands my addiction.I can finally come out of the closet and confess.I too am a gunhoe.
.

quote:

Originally posted by just-a-hunter:
Famous last words of a gun trader nut... "I'll never get rid of this one"... Sure as for certain, those words are an eviction notice...

Todd

I always tell my "minister of finance", "That's it I'm done this one is perfect"! She just rolls her eyes and walks away.
Currently I'm redoing an SKS, classy mods and making it an accurate sporter. My family is already saying that it'll be gone.
I guess I'm looking for a 4.5 lb 338 Winnie, that shoots like a Lapua and recoils like a 22.

I know Bill, I think I'm your moving them along outlet!! yeah, some I don't even shoot, some I spend big bucks on dies, brass, loading time, then sell them before I shoot them, and that never seems to work just right! but hey the upside is I end up with lots of duplicate dies, brass and bullets, then there are the nemourous scopes, bases and rings!! worth little or nada!

Jeezus, Mary and Joseph!!!!!!!! I'm doing it again! I'm selling a project to fund another.
I found a distinguished gentleman, in Canada, that does color case hardening.
For his reference, he asked me to visit Ralf Martini's website, as he does Ralf's CCH work.
Good enough for me!
My Mauser based, 338 build is in epic proportions. I'll need some nice wood to finish it properly!