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"Prodigal" Guns or (perhaps more appropriately) "Sins of the Father"

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#1 · (Edited)
"Prodigal" Guns or (perhaps more appropriately) "Sins of the Father"

We've had past threads regarding guns that members regretted selling. I thought it would be fun to start a thread about guns that left the nest but eventually came back home. Post what you've got. I'll start the ball rolling with mine:

This one just came home yesterday. An Army Special 32-20 (Thank you, tarantulakeeper).



USFA Prewar 38 Special (Thank you, what would you say).



Colt SAA Long Flutes in 44-40 (Thank you, LeverActionBill).



Police Positive 32 on a 38 frame (Thanks for listing it, Lumberjack).

 
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#4 · (Edited)
Back in '86, my ex and I had a bit of a family emergency and I needed to raise some cash in a hurry, so I ended up selling a number of my guns to the now long gone Pachmayr gun shop in L.A.; several 1st gen SAAs, a 2nd gen (beautiful fancy walnut one piece grips and action job by Jim Martin), a couple of 3rds, some nice S&Ws along with a few other guns including a B.C. Miroku built Charles Daly Superior grade Trap gun.

Now fast forward 28 years to about 5 years ago when I stopped in at a little gun shop in Riverside to see if they had anything interesting, and there sitting in the racks was a decent looking Charles Daly Trap gun. I asked to look at it, and I quickly realized that this wasn't just another old CD trap gun, this was the same gun that I'd sold back in 1986. I recognized the wood in the stock (and a couple of dings that I was responsible for), and it had the same Morgan adjustable butt pad that I had John French install on it in '75 or '76 when I first bought the gun.

I didn't really need it, but how could I pass up buying back a gun that I hadn't wanted to sell, but needed to for the cash. I've sold and traded LOTS of guns over the years, but this one made me smile, because I felt like I'd recovered something that I had lost years ago.

BTW, if anyone has a well used late 2nd gen SAA, 5-1/2", B/CCH 45 Colt with beautiful one piece fancy walnut stocks, and a wonderful smooth action, with 798SA as the last three digits of the serial number (I still have the original grips/stocks so I know the last 3 numbers), please let me know, I'd love to talk to you about it, either to buy it back or to know that it's in a good home.

Best regards,
 
#6 · (Edited)
This Freedom Arms recently came home.

This TLA West Texas Flat Top Target has been home twice so far!

This Gallagher long cylinder 44 mag bisley has returned as well.

This TLA Improved #5 has lived here at least twice so far.

The Les Baer Custom Carry has returned home in the past too.

This unique USFA has come home twice now and is getting ready to get re-homed once again.


As has a S&W Model 24 3" 44 Special that I can not find a picture of right now!
 
#7 · (Edited)
I bought this used .22 S&W Model 18-3 around 1985 for about $180. It was the most accurate handgun I ever shot. I then traded it to a friend for, now don't laugh, a EMF Hartford model Artillery .45, also very accurate. Then about twenty years later i offered that same friend $450 or $475 for it. He said no but called me back later changing his mind. Now it ain't going nowhere.

 
#8 ·
The only one I recall was a nice Belgium Browning Hi power I bough cheap from a janitor at work. I sold it to my best friend and made some money. Later I bought it back for even more. He traded me something nice for it, and later we did another deal. Finally I sold it to another guy at work. Then my buddy asked me about it. I admitted I sold it. He said WHAT?? We was making a good living off that gun!
 
#9 ·
There's a list in my mind of firearms that "went away" that are mourned. Of course there are a few on a list of which I am glad to see the back side of.

Of the mourned models, none have returned as of yet.

This .25 Colt Model 1908 turned up missing a few years back. Stayed missing for a little over a year.

On a condition check of guns not always used, I was amazed to open up its zippered pouch and discover a bug had entered the safe, climbed to the Colt shelf at the top, crawled within the tightly zippered pouch, snuggled up to the little Colt and died.



I took this photo of the incident and wiped the Colt down, but didn't recall immediately returning it to the safe because I wanted to clean the pouch. I remember doing something with it as we were locking the house in preparation for an extended trip, but couldn't recall what I'd done with it. I turned the house upside down, got out the metal detector, looked within the couches and comfy chairs, and removed the books from the full length shelves in the library because my mind's eye could visualize placing the pistol on top of books on one of the high shelves.

It was absent from July 4, 2015 to October 31, 2016 when I found it stuffed into one of the coin storage boxes in the safe.



No Colt Model 1908s were harmed in this bug incident. RIG preservative grease saves the day with perfect satisfaction.
 
#11 ·
Back in the mid-80s I bought my first boat. Being poor I sold some guns and knives to finance this folly. I sold my all-time favorite shooter, a first year S&W M-41, to a good friend who promised to sell it back. 20 years later I wanted to buy back my 41 and true to his word he said "sure"! A week or so later he called saying he couldn't find it. He later found out that his 32 year old son (still living at home) pawned the gun several years earlier for $150.00 and let the pawn lapse. I was crushed but I was able to replace it with an even nicer, first week model 41.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Rick, I'm glad you found another. My dad bought me a Winchester Model 290 22 with plain walnut stock and forearm (most 290s came with checkered wood) for Christmas when I was 13. It was one of those "Christmas Story" moments, where he asked me if I had "missed one", and it was hiding behind the couch. It was stolen from our home when I was 14.

I found a NIB checkered Model 190, but the plain 290 has eluded me. :(

 
#12 ·
That sure sucks, Rick...even if you did end up buying a nicer 41. Your friend should be "having words" with his son over that betrayal and theft (which is what it was).

While I've never owned a boat (came close once) I fully understand the "folly" of it unless you truly love the lifestyle and the work, dedication and effort that goes into it. I've done collector cars for many years and while they might not be as much a folly as a boat they may well be close. I just sold my last one last month due to wanting to downsize. It was fun while it lasted but it's way too easy to get upside in one if you're not careful.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Here's another one. I bought this 4" S&W Model 24-3 .44 Special brand new as soon as they were advertised in Shotgun News in 1983. "Ohio Shooter Supply" seems to ring a bell. $375 total. Then I traded it to my big brother for a 175 Harley. I rode that around town for a while without a bike licence then sold it for $500. Then a few years after that my brother asked me if I wanted to buy it back for $350 and my accountant, I mean wife thought that was a good idea. Here's how it looks today. I learned reloading with this gun and a little Lee Loader.

 
#15 · (Edited)
Over the years there have been a few that have gone and come back. Like Wyatt posted above, I bought a Smith & Wesson 24-3 when they came out. One great handgun that cemented my admiration for the .44 Special. It got traded with some other N Frames for an early 3rd Generation Nickel Colt SAA in .45 Colt and a Styer Left-hand fullstock in .3006. the Styer went down the road and the Colt SAA stayed. I still missed the Smith 24-4 so started searching for one and eventually found one a few years ago. This one will stick around.

Another one that got loose and came back was a Colt Series 70 .45 in Nickel. I traded it to a guy for a 3rd Generation Colt Sheriffs Model. Later I found out he traded it to a dealer out in South Dakota, Went out there and lucky enough was able to buy it back. This one is staying around.

There are more stupid mistakes over the years but those two are the ones I easily remember. Now when I think about getting rid of one I usually wait until the moment passes and I come to my senses.
 
#16 ·
Over the years there have been a few that have gone and come back. Like Wyatt posted above, I bought a Smith & Wesson 24-3 when they came out. One great handgun that cemented my admiration for the .44 Special. It got traded with some other N Frames for an early 3rd Generation Nickel Colt SAA in .45 Colt and a Styer Left-hand fullstock in .3006. the Styer went down the road and the Colt SAA stayed. I still missed the Smith 24-4 so stared searching for one and eventually found one a few years ago. This one will stick around.

Another one that got loose and came back was a Colt Series 70 .45 in Nickel. I traded it to a guy for a 3rd Generation Colt Sheriffs Model. Later I found out he traded it to a dealer out in South Dakota, Went out there and lucidly enough was able to buy it back. This one is staying around.

There are more stupid mistakes over the years but those two are the ones I easily remember. Now when I think about getting rid of one I usually wait until the moment passes and I come to my senses.
I traded a number of guns for my USFA Sears engraved single action, including a 20 gauge, Browning 425 Sporting Clays. Fortunately, the owner sold it back to me a few years later. I won't make that mistake again.

Now if I could just find a replacement for this beauty.

 
#17 ·
I bought this Atlanta Police Official Police made in 1937 off Gunbroker. The seller was an Atlanta pawn shop. I eventually sold or traded it. A few years later, it resurfaced on Gunbroker from yet another seller. I bought it back and kept it this time!
 

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#18 · (Edited)
I'm glad that one returned to roost cda926.

I like that boxed Winchester Model 190 and the tale, even with the tale of woe part of it. A worthy replacement. I didn't know 190s came with checkering or 290s could be had with plain stocks. Perhaps Winchester just made use of expedient components when supplies of proper stocks were low.

My first "real" rifle was a Winchester Model 190 I bought brand new from Whites Auto in 1971. Came with that same little Weaver Marksman scope too, the adjustments of which never worked. $37.00 and change it was. Took most of my very first paycheck of $42.00 earned sacking groceries at B & W Thriftee in Joshua, Texas. I've been "ate up with it" for a long time when it comes to acquiring guns.

Wore that Model 190 smooth out, ordered a used trigger assembly from Numrich after I was grown and wore that one out too. Traded the rifle away to a gunsmith bud for next to nothing.

A few years back I stumbled into another Model 190 in good condition at one of the gun shows I work and brought it home. Really, the design isn't so hot, the trigger group is made of pot metal and piano wire, but I'm sentimental.

Why did the trigger assembly wear out?

40-something years ago I was in my late teens or perhaps 20 and had already subjected the Model 190 to several years of such shooting use as is shown in these old scanned photographs.


 
#22 · (Edited)
There is

No such thing as a prodigal gun.

Guns have no legs, and no mind of their own. They will not walk away from you.

Let's call this thread "Sins Of The Father" instead.:rolleyes:

I didn't need to buy back gun # 1. I never sold it in the first place.:rolleyes:

There! I said it. And feel better already.

Edit. It's kind of like saying: "I abandoned this puppy on the road, and bought it back from the animal shelter".:rolleyes:

Any of those that, for unfortunate reasons, were forced to sell any of their guns. Are not included in this here rant.:eek:

Rant's over.:eek:
 
#23 ·
No such thing as a prodigal gun.

Guns have no legs, and no mind of their own. They will not walk away from you.

Let's call this thread "Sins Of The Father" instead.:rolleyes:

I didn't need to buy back gun # 1. I never sold it in the first place.:rolleyes:

There! I said it. And feel better already.

Edit. It's kind of like saying: "I abandoned this puppy on the road, and bought it back from the animal shelter".:rolleyes:

Any of those that, for unfortunate reasons, were forced to sell any of their guns. Are not included in this here rant.:eek:

Rant's over.:eek:
I think "Sins of the Father" nails it! :)
 
#25 ·
I bought this J.C. Higgins 12 gauge pump new in about 1955 when I was fourteen. In 2002 it was stolen out of my house along with another armful of guns. This and a HDM did show up. The detective wasn't going to give it back to me as the barrel was sawed. I unscrewed the barrel and said "you keep the barrel, I will take the action." I never done anything with it.
 
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