Oakie's post on gun prices made me think.

Doc

My best and worst deal. Not necessarily the just least amount of money, because time and inflation have to be factored, but my best and worst deals on guns based on money value at the time.

Best: Colt Official Police 38 Special. Blued with a 6" barrel. Bought it about 5 years ago for $350. Took off the early Colt target stocks it was wearing and put them on one of my Pythons. These would have cost me at least $250 to purchase them separately. I put a set of standard stocks I paid $5 for on the OP and sold it for $400. Net profit $45 cash and a $250 set of stocks. I rarely (I mean RARELY) buy guns to flip because I am usually awful at it. This was very rare exception.

Worst: Wanted a 6.5" (very rarely seen) Model 27 or pre-model 357 for many years. Finally found one. Thought it was worth $600. Wanted to pay no more than $600. Desire overrode good judgment and paid the $950 asking price. Cringed as I did. Knew for an absolute fact I was being taken for a $350 ride. Turned out to be even worse. As soon as I got it home I discovered it needed $200 worth of gunsmithing to correct mechanical problem. Curse on seller and his house. Have $1,150 invested in my $600 revolver. Grrrrr... After a few years I am just now starting to forget about paying way too much. Maybe I will live long enough for inflation to erase the over payment.

shilowar

Best- PLR-16- turned it around during the panic a few years back and did very well, along with a couple other ARs(home builds)

Worst- thought I got a good deal her eon GB for a Colt Det Special, when I received it the trigger and hammer felt gunked up. The FFL that did the paperwork thought it was a gunk in the action issue. held onto it for a while, finally took it to a gunsmith and it had to go back to Colt. That cost me about $200. So i'll have to sit on that one for awhile if I want to break even. It's nice and tight now though, and a great shooter/carry gun. Value wise I am upside down, but it is nice knowing that the "experts" at Colt have tuned her up.

chiefr

In 1984, I walked around the FT Worth TX Gun Show with a NIB CZ 75, I bought in Germany for $149.00, no importers marks. 10 minutes after I walked in, a guy examined it and offered me a grand for it.

I walked out with one less CZ 75, but I had a NIB SW 624, and a NIB SW 57 and more than $500.00.

Frogdog

Here's mine:

BEST: Package deal. Marlin 336 in .35 Rem, Marlin 1894 in .44 mag, Savage 220 slug gun, Browning Buckmark .22. $100 a piece, all in beautiful condition. [:D]

WORST: Remington 7400 .243 at full retail price. Nice rifle, but just not worth the price.

dreher

I've yet to have a really bad deal but the best deal is real easy to remember. A guy I worked with about 6 months before the gun deal showed up at the store saying something like I remember you are interested in guns. He than told me he had an S+W 44 Mag and a box of ammo he really needed to sell right now and said he wanted $300. (This was probably about 12 years ago.)

I told him I wasn't really in the market for a 44 and I was kind of light on money right than so I told I was going to have to pass. So he says what can you do cash money right now. I pulled out my wallet and showed him I only had $95. He said deal. That's when I realized he was seriously in need of a fix of some sort.

Didn't need or want that S+W so I dropped it of at a friends gun shop on the way to work the next morning. Got a phone call that afternoon to stop by and pickup my money. Next morning on the way to work I picked up $400!!

I've made $100 or more many times on gun deals but never have I made $305 in 24 hours!!

Ditch-Runner

back in the Klinton reign I had a colt pre ban HBAR I had bought a couple years before there rule , I bought it for 800.00 still in the box like new at the time It was the top of the price range for one .
I sold it on the auctions ( I think GB ) for 2k
and it ended up being a in state sale face to face so no shipping or added cost .
last panic I sold a sks that used ak mags and Ruger mini 14 here on GB , used the money to buy two AR15's ( one even off GB )
so that was more of a upgrade [:D]

bpost

Best was the AR-15 SP1 factory electroless Nickel I paid 412 bucks for in the early 1980's. I shot at least 10,000 rounds through that rifle. When the panic hit in the 90's I sold it for 2,200 bucks.

Worst, not sure, I guess it is the 1903 I got several months ago. I paid top value for it, not good not bad but a lot.

savage170

The most recent bet buy and top dollar guns
went to flea market with Gary Shaw and picked up this model 58 for 350 I would like to think him for driving me to the ATM to get the cash
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I paid top dollar for this .357 2nd Gen colt
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mmppres

best deal was Winchester model 71 deluxe missing sling swivel. for 100.00
worst deal got a great looking Winchester model 24 16ga for 250.00 every time i shot it fore flew off gunsmith said cost to much to fix sell it. so its sitting in back of safe

Don McManus

Best is either a non-upgraded Rock-ola for $ 750.00 a few years ago, or Colt match target HBAR that looked unfired for under $ 700.00.

Worst was a $ 100.00 Krag Sporter that required $ 600.00 to make it a $ 500.00 rifle.

pulsarnc

Ruger Single Six convertible with belt and holster for $75.00 my first handgun ,Savage 99e in .308 with a K4 weaver for $85.00 and a Ruger Security Six .357 for $175.00 .Last year at a yard sale I paid 60 bucks for a Savage 110 in 30-06 that looked like it had been left in the rain for a year or so . After a lot of cleaning filing and polishing it looks almost new.The big plus was that the bore was excellent and shoots way better than I do .

chris8X57

In the early 80s, a sheriff's department traded in their Colt manufactured AR-15s for some H & K s.

They came into our shop on a pallet stacked like cord wood. I could have bought dozens of them for $ 200 each. I thought that was way too much at the time ! Ugh.... [B)]

Mk 19

My best deal was a group of trades I did while on vacation a couple years ago. I started off walking through a gun shop when a guy walked in wanting to sell a couple guns. I ended up buying a mint Savage 99 in 300 Savage for $100. The next day was a gun show so I brought along my new Savage to see if I could find a buyer, I found a nice custom XP-100 in 7mmBR for $700 and the seller was interested in a direct trade. On the way out of the show a guy offered me $1100 for the XP-100. That is the best so far, $1000 profit in 24 Hours.

Oakie

Best deal was on three handguns. Colt python 357, Ruger buckmark and an astra 25 for 100 dollars. I also bought a Walther that has the nazi insignia on it as well as the officers name. I got that with the holster at a yard sale in PA for 15 dollars. The lady said she wanted it gone out of her house.UH Okay[^]

The worst was a browning BL22 grade two that I bought at a gun show for 375.. It showed no signs of use, but ended up costing me 300 to have it fixed. The ejection spring was bad and so was the lever. I later found out the gun smith screwed me. I was young and had no idea. I also bought a Remington 870 wingmaster and a Marlin 35 Rem. at a show and they ended up being stolen and the police came and got them. I was out 500 bucks. Lesson learned. Oakie

William81

Twenty years ago I bought a Nickel 4" Colt Python for $450.00. It was from a buddy of mine that was in a money situation and he offered it to me for that price. When I arrived at his house to pay for it, he pulled out a Nickel Colt Detective Special (Circa 1971) and said if I wanted it to make it an even S500.00.

So this is my $50.00 gun...It came with the factory stocks, I put them away the day I got it.
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