What's the best gun deal you've ever gotten?

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M1 Carbine - $99.
M1 Garand - $150 (There was a rack full of them and mine wasn't one of the prettier ones).

My second handgun was a used Ruger P89... but all my friends teased me about how ghetto it was. I traded it straight across back to the gun store I bought it from for a really nice used Beretta 92 INOX with 2 mags... and they were smug like they were ripping me off. The used Ruger P89 came with 6 high capacity mags when I bought it from them... then the hi cap mag ban passed and hi cap mags were going for $100-$125 or more each. They probably sold the 6 magazines in shotgun news and threw the P89 away. I still own the 92 and it is one of my favorite guns.

I bought a P08 Luger from a P38 collector at a gun show for $350... because he wasn't a Luger guy. Then a few months later I bought a P38 from a Luger collector for $280... because he wasn't a Walther guy.

I bought a Hakim at a gun show for $150 because it was butt ugly, the stock was painted a reddish brown, it doesn't have much blueing left on it and nobody knew what a Hakim was. I didn't know what a Hakin was either but I knew I loved my AG42 Ljudgman and they are sister guns.

Pretty much everything I bought with my C&R license has tripled or quadrupled in value since I bought them back in the 90's.

My latest acquisition (about a month ago) is a 8" Dan Wesson 744 (stainless 44 mag) in excellent shape for $700. It came with a cheap Tasco red dot scope and the no longer manufactured b-square scope mount goes for about $150 on ebay. The Dan Wesson forum says they think I did pretty well on it. I had been searching for a S&W 625 (stainless 45lc) that I could afford for over a year. I wasn't looking for a 44 but when the Dan Wesson came up I decided the heck with 45lc! I love the Dan Wesson! It was a 9 hour round trip to purchase the Dan Wesson. The purchase before that was a CZ75D compact with 4 magazines for $400. The CZ was local!

I have overpaid for a couple too... but those aren't as fun to remember!

And then there are the ones that got away! Some teen age kid was walking around with a genuine HK 93 (223) with a $2000 sign on it at a gun show. His mom made him sell it for $1400 to a vendor... I should have yelled... I will give you $1600!

Those FN-49's in .308 for $400 in shot gun news... I couldn't bring myself to part with the $400 because MY parents were giving me disapproving looks about all the money I was wasting on worthless old military weapons (I was young, single, owned my own house and made pretty good money). Oh and that G43 at a gun show!!! Wish I had forked over the money for that one!
 
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Several months ago SOSS had Ohio National Guard 870 Wingmasters for $230 (fixed stocks) and $240 (folding stocks). $265 out the door for a great piece of military history that's fun to shoot.
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Smith & Wesson M29 8 3/8" nickel with three T
Marlin model 60 NIB
Cheap German .22 SA revolver

All three for $350.

I later traded the S&W for a Garand that I watched Milt build, piece by piece, most pieces coming from the as issued wrapper. Only used parts are the barrel, stock and receiver.
 
Years ago there use to be a gun dealer about an hour and half away from where I lived at the time. They frequently advertised in Shotgun News and were also a fairly large Colt distributor. Primarily of course they sold to dealers but they also had a small storefront operation in the town where they sold to the general public. Nice thing about this was they frequently sold some guns at slightly above their dealer prices so it made for a really good deal to drive there to see what they had.

One Saturday afternoon I had $300 cash burning a hole in my pocket and looking at Shotgun News I knew that this dealer had a limited edition custom Colt Combat Commander from Colt's Custom Shop. It was bright nickel plated, had a Gold Cup trigger, MMC rear sight, and had received the Custom Shop's action tune up. Price was a bit below $300 so I decided to go for it. Got there in record breaking time and asked to see one. It was the most beautiful gun I had ever seen! And this is where the amazing part of this story comes in: they sold it to me at the dealer's price, that with tax came to just under $300! Here was a gun that had the reliability of a Combat Commander, the accuracy of a Gold Cup, and the great looks that a nickel plated handgun can have!

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Some years later (finally got smart this time and went on a Thursday morning!), I went down there when the new Browning Hi-Power Mk.II (better sights, better trigger, and better safety), was just hitting dealer's shelves and once again they sold it to me at dealer cost! I was totally amazed with this one as well, especially at the price I paid for it (I think it was right around $300 again)!

Definitely two of the best gun deals I ever had!

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S&W 19-3 RB Snub for $350
S&W M&P 2.0 compact for $350
HK P7 $600, unfired

Forgot about a 1907 Swede Mauser I got with 200 rounds of milsurp ammo for $55. It had been sporterized and had a Williams peep sight that was worth more than the $55.
 
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When I was in college (1985ish) my LGS called and asked if I still had the M1A I had purchased from them. They were calling because they had a buyer looking for one. I ended up trading it back to them for a brand new Colt Commander and a new S&W 686 with Bianchi leather holsters for each. I didn't really care much for the M1A anyway but I did love my handguns.
 
My best deals have been K-frames. +20yrs ago I was in my favorite gun shop when a guy brought in a model 18 and a 686 he wanted to trade towards a Python. They offered him $125 for the model 18. He declined. I followed him out the door and gladly paid him $200 for it.

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About a year later I found another. I was a field tech then so whenever I went to a new town, I'd search out all the gun shops in the area. I found one about two hours north of home that actually had new-old-stock S&W's and Rugers from the `70's at cut-rate prices. No N-frames or rimfires but quite a few 10's, 14's, 15's, 19's, 586's, etc.. I walked out with a brand new 20yr old 14-4 for $280. Wish I'd been able to pick up several more.

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Stopped at a yard sale and the mans kids had a close call with one of his guns so he was selling them. I got a 1100 20 gauge for $50, a mossberg bolt action goosegun for $25. Then before I left he came out with one and asking I would be interested in it for $25, was a Japanese Nambu pistol in great shape. Yes I jumped on it.
 
Best recent deal was an old stevens single shot 12 ga with great bluing but a bubba'd stock shortening job. The butt plate was chipped and there were a few chips in the stock from the cut down, which was crooked. $75 and I threw a discount limbsaver on it for $15. 90 bucks for a NICE single shot around here is a deal!
 
I've got a bunch of guns that I've inherited that cost nada. Back in the early 90s I bought a 6 1/2" Smith 610 no dash to shoot IPSC for IIRC $375 tenish years later I started shooting IDPA sold the no dash 610 for $1000 (cavet I spent $250 on mount optic and porting) and bought a 3 7/8" 610-3 for $800 now just this week I sold the 610-3 for $1250 and bought a GP100 match champion 10mm.
 
Rossi Model 511 in 22 LR
Colt Trooper Mk-III in 357 Mag
S&W Model 36 snubbie in 38 Special
Interarms Dakota SA clone in 357 Mag
JP Sauer & Sohns SA clone in 357 Mag

I helped a friend clean and categorize her deceased fathers collection of over 150 guns,,,
She let me have all five of these handguns for $125 each.

She knew they were worth much more but didn't care,,,
She knew I had very little money at the time.

Then she "gave" me his 6" S&W Model 629 no-dash.

Later when I graduated and got a good paying job I tried to give her another $750.00,,,
She wouldn't take it though so I just gave up and accepted the boon.

Aarond

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Legionnaire

I'm not even a fan of the SP101 but at that price and in that condition I wouldn't have been able to pass it up!
 
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