Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Guns you had and wish you would have kept

APO Ackley, in 22/250

That's the direction to go.

I am afraid this is going to hurt, but this is just a short list of the many that I regret.

BB 94s,,2 different 356s and a 307. Also an original 356 Marlin and a later 308 Marlin express.
A very nice 7x57 mark x in a custom stock. Same for a mark x in 375 HH, again in a custom stock.
A nice Remington CDL 30-06 I shot my first elk with.
Several Winchester Featherweights, mostly 30-06s and 280s but one also in 257 Roberts
Kimber Montanas in 308, 7mm-08, and 257 Roberts.

There are literally 100s more and also about as many handguns but this is already getting painful and hard to contemplate so I better stop.

But another just popped into my head and it was very recent. A 338-06 built on a stainless model 70 in a McMillan stock with a Leupold 2.5-8 Vari X III .. and the list goes on in my mind.

Just this last year I got rid of a blr in 22 and a buckmark pistol. Both were shot out. But I traded them for brand new models. I don't sell guns.

Marlin 1894 SS 44mag
FWB 124 .177
2x original Colt Pythons
Beretta 686 12ga
Weatherby SPM .243

Lots but the one that sticks out the most was a pre 64 in .264 mag. one of the first Westerners of the line..

Remington 700, SPS, 300WSM, SS that shot bug hole groups at 200 yds. I hand loaded 180 grain Accubonds that this rifle liked. Well, I sold it. It turned into a safe queen. Water over the dam. MTG

None.

I still have every gun I've ever purchased. A few safe queens but I just can't get myself to sell them.

Me too.


I remember listening to the old guys as a kid whine and cry about the stuff they wish they hadn't gotten rid of.


So I never did.

The .300 WBY I shot my brown bear with.

I honestly think of my guns, all of them, as friends and part of my heritage. I had a couple that I didn’t really care for, and that’s enough to justify getting rid of.
But I’m a handloader, and every rifle I have is a shooter.
My Dad grew up in the Depression. To him, guns were a tool used for hunting. He wasn’t really attached to them, and seldom took good care of them.
Dave and I were both sorta gun nuts. I guess reading Jack O’Conner and our Cousin “Poke” influenced us to this. I can recall The Old Man bitching r to me about Dave buying another gun, and I heard from Dave that Dad was bitching about me buying another gun!😀
My first rifle was a 788 Remington in .308. Dad had an old and well worn 336 Marlin in .30-30. He never used anything else for deer, and a pre WW2 870 in 16 gauge for rabbits.
When I went in the Army, dad started using my .308. He fell in love with it, and when I got home, I bought myself an ought six, Ruger 77. The .308 was Dad’s until we buried him 25 years later. It’s mine again, and it will belong to Ben.
That old 16 gauge was a helluva looking thing when Dad died! I had bought different shotguns for him to use, but he always went back to it. “I don’t really like this gun.” He’d say, and tell me to take it home.
I got that old 870 reblued and the stock restored, but some of those scratches were too deep to be sanded out. It cost me $600, I think he paid $40 for it in 1946!
I know he probably rolled around in that casket!😀
But it’s mine now and will belong to Ben later.
There ain’t enough gold in the world to get me to part with that .308 or that 16!😎
I have guns that I have acquired that I really like. Probably won’t mean much to Ben, but I won’t part with them because they’re shooters. What he does with them once I’m gone is his choice. They’re mine right now… possession maybe temporary, but nothing in this life is permanent but love!

Model88 Winchester in 308, Model 7 Remington in 7mm-08 first yr made, Marlin Guide Gun in 450 Marlin first yr made, Sears Ted Williams 20 guage pump with poly choke. I’ve yet to own a shotgun I could hit with as good as that pump.

A relative brought back a Luger from WW2. Gave it to me but I didn’t appreciate what I had so I traded it off for a 22 rifle. It had some engraving on it and was marked “to Herman from Adolph”. Wish I had kept it.

Savage 24d .22lr/20 ga

Too many, one really sticks in the back of my mind though. 1954 vintage near mint pre 64 model 70 , 257 Robert’s . And oh another pre 64 model 70 , 35 rem, got what I thought was a ridiculous amount of money for it, $6700 at the time was good money but with the right collector now, not enough
And there are other model 70’s, and kimber of Oregon’s, and Belgium brownings, and Melvin Forbes ULA’s oh [bleep] forget it.

No, but will start selling now, pre 64 Model 70's and Rem 700 BDL Varmint Specials. I'll regret it later.

FAL 308
Remington 1100
Beretta Pump Shotgun
Winchester 1911 12 gauge
Savage 1907 Fully Engraved

No, just a nice old scoped Rem 222 I put in my buddy's trunk in TN, in a locked case, a couple days later he blew an engine in the Turbo Charged F-85, in KY , car was toed to a garage, a day later, I went to get my rifle, no gun in the car or the trunk and no one knew nothing about a gun. That one rifle I would like to have back.

Found the deal of a lifetime REM 788 308 w vortex scope for $250 at a pawn shop friend of mine runs.
He calls me a month later reported stolen 🤯😦begged me to bring it back.Got refunded with a promise he’ll find another 🙄

A couple. Sold a Browning Hi Power I probably shoulda kept.