Hundred-Dollar Handgun?

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I know, I hate myself.

Even worse, I bargained the seller down from $20.00 He offered me a .455 Colt New Service for $15.00 cash, but I wanted the S&W. The reason the Colt was so cheap was that no one had any ammunition for it. These were all World War Two surplus coming back from England.

S&W M&P Victory models were selling for about the same if converted to .38 Special. They were actually more popular then the big-bores because ammunition (.38 Special) was more available and less expensive.

If I had been richer I could have bought a brand new commercial Colt .45 Government Model for $85.00 :eek:

Remember this the next time somebody in Washington tells you they're hasn't been any inflation. :rolleyes:
 
I bought a FEG AP-66 (Walther PP clone) from AIM Surplus about 5 years ago for $99.

I also bought an Ortgies 6.35 pistol with period holster and spare magazine for $60 at an auction about the same time - sold it for $325 on Gunbroker about 2 years ago.

I got a WW2 Femaru Model 37 for $80 in an on-line auction about 3 years ago.

Finally a NEF R-32 (.32 Magnum) 5 shot revolver for $80 in an auction at about the same time.
 
I guess I'm spoiled. The closest I came to a $100.00 handgun was in 1971. I bought a new Colt Detective Special (on sale) for $119.95.

Today, any $100.00 handgun is guaranteed to be junk.

I should have been more specific. New handguns in a retail store that are priced at $100.00 are guaranteed to be junk. Yes, incredible deals can be found occasionally in private sales.
 
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Hello everyone. I purchased a 1960's S&W Model 36 Chiefs Special .38 Special for $15 in 2007 from a retired NYPD cop. It came with a nice broken in IWB holster and 2 boxes of ammo.

I was working the front desk at my PD, (retired LEO now), and this elderly gentleman came in and wanted to turn in his NYPD backup gun. In our county turned in firearms get destroyed by the County Sherriff. Being a gun guy myself, I told him I would buy it from him. The gun was in great condition with normal bluing wear from being carried in a holster. So the gentleman asks how much money I had in my pocket and I truthfully said $15 and he said sold.
 
Hm. I've gotten quite a few nice deals.

A nice Bersa 383DA with no magazine for $125 on Gunbroker this year. Had the original wood grips, too.

A nickel H&R Topbreak for $40 this year. It's in nice shape.

A blued H&R Topbreak for $75 either last year or the year before at a gun show. This one was missing a trigger spring, no big deal.

A few (or like ten) Model 10 police trade ins for $170 each maybe two years ago.

A Colt Police Positive cut down to 2" but with 500 rounds of .38S&W thrown in for $200 a few years ago. I know it's not $100, but the ammo was priced at $180 and I would have paid that. It's like I got a $20 Colt.


Also of note this year was a package deal that included a German Luger, a Romanian GP AK, and 1,500 quality 7.62x39 rounds. I paid $700 and that Bersa for it.
 
Around 2004 my brother bought a 1980s Taurus 92 in great condition for $25. He was buying two other guns from his buddy and they pretty much threw it in to get him to buy the second gun.

I tried to quadruple his money, but for some reason he refused.
 
I get a call from an officer in another facility getting ready to retire. He asks me what paperwork we have to fill out to sell firearms to a dealer. I ask him what he has and what's the dealer giving him. He say he has a Colt Det. Spl. and a High Standard .22, and the dealer's giving him $25 each. This is about 1988.

I tell him stay where he is, I'll be right over, I'll buy the guns, and I'll fill out all the paperwork for him. Colt was in typical shape, blueing worn from holster wear, but rarely shot except at requal. The High Standard was a Victor model in the original box with all factory paperwork, and pristine.

I buy them, get back to my facility and start looking at them. An officer comes over and goes gaga over the Colt, offers to buy it for twice what I paid for it. I didn't need another 2", sold!

So I got the Victor for nothing.
 
Another officer at my facility is retiring, has a Nazi stamped Browning High Power he brought back. Calls me, wants to sell it. This is about 1978. How much? He calls a few dealers, they offer in the $50-75 range.

He says $65, done!

Another officer getting ready to retire, has a Colt Jr. .25, wants $25 for it. This is about 1974. I buy it, and a few months later another officer wants to trade a WWII Colt 1911 made by, IIRC, Remington-Rand for it. Done!

I passed on a bring back from another officer, a Nambu because it was too expensive and there was no ammo available. This was about 1974, he wanted $125 for it. But I did buy his bring back Underwood M-1 Carbine for $75.

All the pistols I bought are gone, still have the Carbine though. That will go to my son.
 
Not a handgun, but I do have a story of a $100 firearm.
I was 14 years old (in 1994) and was intrigued with firearms even then. I wanted a shotgun to squirrel/deer hunt with and I would go down to a pawn shop not far from my house and browse around all the time. The guy who ran the place was a nice enough guy and would let me come behind the counter and fondle the guns all I wanted.

There was a Savage 67 20-gauge pump that I set my eyes on and really wanted it. It was and even hundred bucks. I would go by about once a week and make sure it was still there. I told my dad about it and thought/talked about it all the time for months on end.
Well at Christmas my dad surprised me and it was leaning in the corner by the tree when I came into the living room. Needless to say I was one happy guy.
While it was only $100, my parents were not doing well financially at the time and looking back now, they probably really sacrificed something to get that for me.
Now, over 20 years later I still have it and it holds a special place for me. I still take it squirrel hunting and it still does the job just fine.
 
FEG Pa-63 in .380 (Marked Pa-63 and AP 9) I picked up for a hundred bucks when Maks could be had for $150. Gritty, heavy DA trigger but a good shooter.
 
Hundred dollar guns were pretty easy to find 40 years ago. There are bargains our there today. A few years ago I picked up 2 S&W Model 10s in very good condition for $100 each. I also found a late war (1944) Walther PP in 32 for $125. Somewhere it picked up some pitting and someone thought if they nickel plated it that would hide the pits. Well doing so only resulted in nickel plated pits. The PP runs 100% though and sometimes I carry it.
 
Old Fuff I gotcha beat. I was with my dad at Leonards Farm & Ranch store and they had two barrels full of pistols. So my dad digs around and finds one he likes. It was a Colt 1917 in 45 ACP. The price? Six dollars even. That was around 1963.

In the late 1980s I used to buy all the Marlin 30-30s that came my way for a flat $100. I did pay $115 for a Ted Williams branded 1894 Winchester that my BIL bought from me for half now and half never. Oh Well.

The last good deal I got was a friend had two guns he wanted to sell. He had loaned someone $500 and the guns were collateral. So he just wanted the money back. He brought them over. One was a detective special and the second was a S&W model 915 9mm with an Uncle Mikes left hand duty holster and a leather mag pouch with two S&W factory mags. I sold the dick special on GB and ended up with $463 for my part. That left me with a model 915 plus accessories for $37. It is cleaner than any I have ever seen for sale on GB.
 
Old Fuff I gotcha beat. I was with my dad at Leonards Farm & Ranch store and they had two barrels full of pistols. So my dad digs around and finds one he likes. It was a Colt 1917 in 45 ACP. The price? Six dollars even. That was around 1963.
Click to expand...

Ratshooter! I is a sore looser so I is going to beat you. :neener:

About the same time a dealer got in a case of SMLE .303 Enfield rifles. Ten of 'um in a big wood box packed in sawdust :eek: with the bolts packed separately.

So we made a deal: If I would clean them all up and assemble the matching serial numbered bolts, he would give me one of my choice, FOR FREE! :evil:

No cash changed hands, but I will admit a lot of elbow grease was expended.
 
I dunno, Old Fuff, I'm thinking the $6 Colt with no "lot of elbow grease expended", still trumps the free Enfield ! :D
We ain't talking 1863 here, $6 bucks still wasn't a lot of money even in 1963. ;)
 
Model 13

About 10 years ago, a guy I worked with asked me if I wanted to buy his revolver. I knew that he was getting a divorce and needed money. I asked how much and he said make an offer. I joked about an offer of $100.00 and he took it. After I bought it I realized it was a S&W model 13 in 357 magnum. A little rust on the barrel, but it shoots great. That's my story.
 
OK Fuff here we go. In the early 1990s my dad decided he was too old and sick to shoot anymore. So he gave me all his guns except for a model 28, an unfired SKS paratrooper, and a couple of shotguns and a ruger 4.5" standard model. The haul was around 25 pistols, rifles and handguns.

I used to do mobile home repair. A friend and her husband had a bad faucet that needed to be replaced. They offered to pay me with a 357 that wouldn't open. It was loaded and they were afraid of it.

I had the faucet left from other jobs. I did have to buy a couple of fittings. So for about $10 I got a model 13 with the ejector rod backed out. Once I screwed it back in I was able to open the gun. A dab of locktite and that never happened again.

And when my dad passed away I got the few guns he had kept. And the model 28 is to this day still unfired.

OK, your turn.:neener:
 
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$125 for an almost new Bauer 25 auto in April of this year. Nice stainless steel clone of a baby browning.
 
Lunch & a firing pin.

A coworker had a Davis Industry's .32 with a broken firing pin. He couldn't find a new one. So I offered him lunch for it, about $7. Quick search online that night and I found a replacement firing pin from one of it's clones and installed it.

Was the worst $25ish I ever spent. Firing pin is solid but the rest of the gun isn't. I'm waiting to find a freisn with a band saw to chop it in half or a REALLY good gun buy back program.
 
hunnerd dollar

Steppin past the mark by $25, but in 1985 I bought this shaved Webley Mk(butt ugly)VI $125. Bought over 65 since then! Just this past Sat I sold it to a young guy into WWI reactment for $300. I was happy and he was elated! He also bought my uncut refinishedMk IV for $500. Guess I'm culling the herd and don't anticipate any more "hunnerd dolla" guns in my future! Drat!!
 

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Oh yeah forgot about this pawn shop buy from 1987. Iver Johnson 2nd model, 38 S&W, safety hammerless for $60! They said a 38 spl wouldn't fit it so it was probably obsolete!!
 

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