And then wish you had it back? I had a Ruger Mark II 6.5x55 that I sold. It was bedded/free floated with a Timney trigger. Once it was broken in it would shoot anything, even 140 Partitions into .75 or less all day long. I shot several really nice whitetails with that gun.

I loved the Swede so much that I decided to build my firt truly custom rifle in that caliber. Rem. 700, McSwirly stock, Jewell trigger, Douglas barrel, all put together by a benchrest smith. Well, the darn thing turned out to be a 1 moa gun at best. I've thrown everything at it and it just shoots the same boring 1 moa +/- all day long. I expected a lot more.

Luckily I sold the Ruger to a friend of mine. I've talked him into selling it back to me and I just went and shot it to make sure the accuracy was still there. I didn't have my reloading notes from the gun so I just threw a couple loads together with new brass and o.a.l. plenty short to chamber. The two 140 Sierra groups I shot came in right under .75". The one group I shot with 140 Hor. SST's went into .39".

Sorry to ramble but it's good to have my old gun back. Sometimes you even have to learn to be happy with a good thing. It's not every day you can get an old favorite gun back that you've traded away. I feel lucky.

Good story Wyattd. Glad you got your favoite back.

The thought of trading off a rifle makes me want to lie down and put a cold rag on my head.

More than once, more than twice, and more than thrice. Had we not, think of the stories that would not be told. Did I ever tell about the ... I had, traded it for a POS... cause it was too light, too heavy, too whatever. Ah, those were the days! As my Dad used to say, "live and learn, kid." Sometimes I wish I was the "kid" again.

Where do I start??
A Benelli shotgun with folding stock, ghost ring sights, and both Semi/pump action
A Colt AR-15 in 9mm with tons of HI Cap mags
A Springfield M2 22lr military training rifle
I'm trying not to cry!
This is why I almost never sell any more guns

Some I miss a little but one I truly regret. It was an Ithaca/SKB SxS english stocked 20 gauge. What a sweet upland shotgun. I took many birds and bunnies with it and then got infatuated with what people call today "black rifles". It was a Colt AR-15 jamomatic. It was later traded for a HK-91 and so on. I was much younger then an much more foolish. Most of the sold/traded ones I have no feelings for at all. I had them, many were fun and now somebody else can enjoy them. Of what I have now, it's pretty much no sell thing with a couple of exceptions. They fill a precived niche for me and some are infused with great hunting memories. These I would gladly have buried with me.

I'm ashamed to tell this story, but maybe by sharing it and getting it out in the open I can move on. I once traded a gunsmith friend out of a custom 6mm varminter that he had built for himself. It took two years to get him to part with it. That rifle was death on the local whistle pigs, not to mention deer, coyotes, and a 400 plus yard crow. Well, eventually my wife complained that I spent too much on rifles and not enough on her. In a fit of what must have been insanity, I thought I saw her point, and sold the beloved 6mm to my brothers brother-in-law, who knew and coveted the rifle. Well friends, that woman and I parted company many moons ago, and that cad, my brothers brother-in-law, has, for over ten, yes ten, years refused to sell MY rifle back to me. Oh the shame I have endured! At last, unable to bear it any longer, I bought a Cooper 22-250. HALLELUJAH! Brothers there is redemption! I have learned my lesson and in sincere humility, I have just taken delivery of a Kimber Montana .243 so that when I grow weary of bearing the weight of the 10.5 lb Cooper, I can rest my soul under the burden of a 6-3/4 lb ultralight. Amen!

And these are only the ones I regreted.

1950s
1.A mint matching # Luger brought back by a GI

2. A G43 same scynario.

3. A Stevens side by side 16 ga.

4.An UNFIRED 03 a3 w/ pistolgrip stock and 4 groove barrel.

5.A K-22 S&W Masterpiece Like new

1960s

1.A single barrel break open 28ga. nice shape 50 years old.

2. A 1/2 moa 22-250 Harry McGowan Custom.

3.A rare hard Chrome steel barrel 6.5 Jap.

4. A 6mm x .270 IMP.with a cock on opening 1917 Enfield destepped action and a whittled to fit dark black walnut stock.

5. A mod 95 30-06 like new.


1970s

1. 2ea. Ruger varmints Mod 77 with tang safeties in .257 Roberts.(tack drivers)

2.A new .222 mod 600.

3.A sporterized 6.5X55

4. A Browning Broadway Trap 12 ga.

5. A Browning Lightning 12 ga.

1980s

1. a mod. 12 12ga.

2. A mod. 760 30-06 New

1990s

1. A Browning .257 Roberts.

2. A S&W mod 66, 38 special 4" barrel.

2000s

1. A German made Mod. 96, 6.5 Swede Absolutly like new. No threaded barrel , must have been a parade rifle.

2. A single Barrel Berretta Trap 12ga.( a Calcutta Money winner.).

3. A Berretta .22 short automatic pistol.

You asked so that,s the story. roger

These were the ones I would still like to have but many I do have bring me enough compensation so that there is no real sorrow in the lack of ownership.

Bart - There was a fellow I once knew and shot with for years who was FAMOUS for trading guns. Sometimes he would trade a couple of times in the same day!

Each gun he got, he rushed to the range and shot it and then profess how he loved it more than all others...and by the next day or two it was gone.

His last name was Mackey and he became something of a town joke amongst us shooters. Whenever one of us would weaken and trade off a good firearm, all the rest of us would laugh and say, "There is a little 'Mackey' in us all."

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. My own list of crimes would rival yours.

I traded my original Polytech AK-47 in on a Sig45, dont get me wron I love my Sig. But now Polytech's are going for double what I paid. I wish I had it back now.

It is a good friend indeed who will let you have one back!
If you have had no regrets you haven't been wheelin & dealin' much!

Pecos! The trading and selling list is substantial, but looking back passing up the procurement of a great buy of something just fine is another retrospective BLUNDER committed more than I care to addmitt roger.

I once was madly in love. In order to fatten up my bank account for our planned getaway I sold four firearms. I couldn't live without this woman. I was smitten that badly.
Well sir, it fell through, and we went our separate ways, crushed. That was some years ago. I remember very little about her, but damn I miss those guns. A man should never part with a firearm. He'll likely regret it for life. The woman? Hey, a woman is just a woman, but a firearm is for life. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal