If I had it to do all over again,,,

[aarondhgraham]

Not my entire life,,,
Just my decisions about guns.

For a long time I was infatuated,,,
With collecting (amassing) pairs of handguns,,,
That were the same with one being .22 LR and the other centerfire.

I actually have some very nice boxed pairs,,,
In most cases I only shoot the .22 LR,,,
But all of them are functional.

Several months back I met an individual through my Brother,,,
He had a very nice collection of military rimfire trainers,,,
When he opened his gun room and I saw the racks,,,
I almost started drooling over them on the spot.

He allowed me to fondle as many of them as I wanted,,,
Now I've seen some large collections of fine guns,,,
I've never been so envious in my entire life.

He had well over 30 different rifles,,,
All very nicely displayed in racks.

According to him they all function properly,,,
And he shoots each of them at least twice a year.

He told me that a few of them were one-of-a-kind conversions,,,
But that the majority of them were military original.

Way back when I remember I passed up on a 1922 Springfield,,,
The rifle was in excellent condition for it's age,,,
I just couldn't see spending $300.00,,,
For an old mil-surp .22 rifle.

I was a fool!

Now when I go to a gun show and see .22 trainers,,,
Beat-up rifles are going for anywhere from,,,
$600 to well over a grand.

I have only purchased one mil-surp .22 rifle,,,
It's a Polish WZ-48 single-shot,,,
Superbly accurate specimen,,,
I'm happy to own it.

Oh well,,,
Just reminiscing about past things.

Aarond

.

 

[GlockPride]

I, too, like collecting firearms and accessories. And I appreciate other’s collections as well.

In the end, they are just tools/things. I keep thinking about “downsizing” but then I reminisce about all the ones I traded out of in my 20’s & 30’s…

I’ve only got one real military trainer rimfire (unless you count the 15-22 as an AR trainer), that being the Romanian M69. Bought it quite be accident because it looked neat, was inexpensive and the gun shop didn’t know what it was. Neither did I at the time. But for $80 cash OTD, I had to take it. Haven’t probably put 50 rounds through it since I bought it over a decade ago, as it sits on varmint patrol at the lake house. Dang magazines cost darn near what I paid for the rifle.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Dang magazines cost darn near what I paid for the rifle.

The gentleman I wrote about said the same thing,,,
In some cases he did pay as much for a mag as the rifle.

But hey,,,
That's "collecting".

Aarond

P.S. A few summers ago I entered in a Mil-surp Competition,,,
I was going to use my K98 but decided to shoot the Polish Trainer.

The match officer didn't want to let me use a rimfire,,,
But after reading the rules there was nothing prohibiting it.

I was shooting "blind" that day,,,
Iron sights at 100 yards,,,
I came in 6th of 23.

Go figure!

.

 

[Profreedomokie]

I know the feeling. I passed up buying a Tikka 595 target rifle I could have bought through the NRA Instructor's program for around $600. The retail on them was around $925. I do regret not buying it.

 

[THAT Gurl]

I hear this story EVERY single night. I dunno what kind of gunporn Grumpy is looking at but he needs TO STOP. It's not good for his mental health.


Or mine.

 

[Cat City Slim]

I’ve never been a big fan of milsurps, so I missed out on the cheap Mosins and SKS rifles. I did buy a Saiga ak variant years ago at a gun show. Best of my memory I paid 75 bucks for it new in box. I later traded it for a Kimber 1911 and thought I’d committed highway robbery. Now the Saigas are selling for over a thousand. I wish I’d bought a truck load of them.

 

[RickN]

I miss all the milsurp, even Bubba sporters that have passed thru my hands, all the Ruger and Smith revolvers too.

 

[Glock 'em down]

I wish I woulda bought a couple of cases ok SKS rifles back when they were $79. Nowadays they're $400+

 

[undeg01]

I wish I woulda bought a couple of cases ok SKS rifles back when they were $79. Nowadays they're $400+

I was just thinking the same thing. I worked at a pawn shop where we sold them for $79 each…and that was with a $20 mark up. Yep, we bought them in bulk, still packed in cosmoline, for $59 each. If I could go back, I would be on some watch list because I would have a shipping container packed full of them.

 

[dlbleak]

Hind sight and all, we all should have stocked up on the cheap milsurps. Instead we/I bought them as trade fodder to sweeten deals. Now we/I look for good deals on cheap milsurps. Kinda like a dog chasing it’s tail.