Anyhoo, we’re walking the aisles perusing various and sundry; like Uzis on one table (I think they were $89), sear conversions on the next table, and suppressors on the third table. AKs and SKS were $29 each you pick it, new in the box, and off in the corner were a few single tables with a few folks selling just a few guns each.
At one of those tables was a Colt New Service, that looked like somebody’d taken a hacksaw to it… Missing half the trigger guard, little bitty rounded front sight, barrel ‘maybe’ two inches long, and a bobbed hammer…
I think the ol’ boy wanted something like $50 or $75 for it… And in talking to him, he’d picked it up in a pawn shop somewhere out West. We looked at it, and it was actually pretty well done; but he didn’t know the history, and we weren’t “that” knowledgeable back then. I do remember we got the serial number and somehow figured out it was a pre-war pistol. But that was a LOT of money for us in those days, and I’d just plunked down something like $125 for a Python.
So… We let it go by…
And we get back home and start perusing the gun mags, and lo and behold, we’d missed what was either one of THESE, or a Fairbairn- Sykes modified pistol from Shanghai!!!
Or maybe it was just a pistol that somebody had ‘modified’ the way he wanted it. Who knows…
Thanks American Rifleman for reminding my how stoopid I was!
And I’m STILL kicking myself in the ass for letting that one get away… Sigh…
You never know; since you didn’t get it, just believe it was home-bubba’d.
Fitz was a NH guy…
If you didn’t know, you didn’t know. Spending your money when you had no idea what you were getting would have been gambling.
I still wake up cursing myself for letting a Winchester 52 pass by. It was $200, I wont mention the sights and whatnot that came with it.
Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda…
My first solo firearm purchase was at age 15. Bought a 30.40 Krag that had been “sporterised”. At the same sale was a complete unmodified M1896 with all accessories. Wonder what that is worth now, a “few” decades later?
A cousin used my Krag for many years. Put a lot of mule deer on their table. His youngest daughter now uses it.
DT- Yeah… sigh…
Andy- Good point, But… 🙂
Zdog- Ouch!
Ed- Yeah, yeah! 🙂
WSF- Ouch too! But at least the Krag is still in use!
+1 to Doubletrouble, even then there were a TON of Fitz-inspired conversions.
Just keep telling yourself it was one of thems!
I once came across a .303 double rifle at a gun show for $500. I could afford it, but it would mean paying the rent a little late and I didn’t like that. I have no idea who it was made by but it would have been a neat rifle to have around. And I’ve never seen a double rifle for anything near that price since.
I understand, I sold my Colt Python to pay for grad school. Sigh.
Hindsight = 20/20.
I coulda bought Apple stock for around $25 per share back in the day. It’s trading today at $560-something.
Keen insight like that is why I’m still working…
Ouch.
And the mirror image, convincing yourself that the gun on the table was something it wasn’t and paying too much for it.
Not that I’ve ever done that.
Ooooh, NFO you’re gonna hate me. . .
I missed out on a lot of great deals when I was in college. GI bill or not, I was still poor, hungry and working two and three part-time jobs.
Had my shotgun and a Model 66–that was my big “arsenal.”
Grew up poor anyway, so I was used to poverty. It still stung, but I was used to it.
As I was getting ready to leave gov LE, I cashed in my unused leave, including the old “use it or lose it” comp time and went looking for deals.
This was in 1990.
• Got a cherry, new, unfired Chinese SKS for $50. Bought my brother one, too, who was still in the Navy.
• Got a British MkIII Enfield with a NEW BARREL for $25.
• A young man I’d helped with his OPM application to be a federal badge & gun toter sold me his new Winchester 94 with only one tube of 30-30 fired through it for $100 as a birthday present and way of saying “thanks” to me for my help.
• Got a Savage 110B w/scope from a fourth-year AFA (academy) cadet for $100. He was not from a wealthy family and was running short on money (for incidentals, misc) his last year at the zoo. I felt so bad about getting such a good deal from a future ring-knocker that I offered him $50 bucks for his barely used Mossberg 500. He took it.
I found all of these deals within a four to five week time frame.
My grandad used to tell me that the sun don’t shine on one dog’s butt all the time, so maybe it was time for the sun to shine on mine for a bit.
Regardless, I’ve never run into deals like that since.
–AOA
Back in ’80, when FALs were selling for over $1100, I decided to get an HK, instead. I bought my brand new HK91 for $450 with the folding bipod and two 20-rd mags. It has always been very accurate, much more than you would expect from a semi-auto battle rifle. Mags are even cheaper now than back then. One of my better purchases.
Weer’d- 🙂 You DO have a point!
Robert- Understood, that roof over the head ALWAYS takes priority!
Brigid- Yep…
Tim- Oh yeah… isn’t it though!
45er- Yep!
Rick- LOL, guilty on that one too!
JD- You’re right :-)Nice set of buys though!
Reg- That was an early (good) one!
D’ruther have the Python you’d “just bought” myself, ‘specially if it was 4″ and blued.
Lots of shade-tree Fitz’s out there…
What Ed Bonderenka said…
Not to show my age, but, I remember H&K91s and Uzis for $395, AKs for $49, new Colt 1911s for $200, Smith 60s for $249 – WAY overpriced!
Thompsons for $995 (+ transfer)…
and I missed a beautiful Highway Patrolman 4″, with Herrett stocks for $75 !!
Sigh
Guffaw
Boat guy- I still have the 4″ Python 🙂
Armed- Yeah, those were the ‘good ol’ days’…