Anybody here ever sold a gun and then deeply regretted it? I would wager that most of us have sold a gun and at least felt some seller’s remorse. Well, I’ve done it a few times. I’ve had a couple of Ruger No. 1s that I sold when other shiny objects caught me eye, only to later wish I still had them. Well, the one gun that I most regretted selling was a Ruger M77 MKII in 6.5x55. It didn’t have any sentimental value. I don’t know if I’ve ever even killed a deer with it, but I just wanted it back as soon as I watched it drive away with its new owner.
Fast forward a year and the guy who bought it from me texts me randomly about another gun. I asked if he still that that M77 and he did. I asked if he wanted to sell it. He said no. I stewed on it for a day or so. Cussed my stupidity and bad luck, and decided I’d go buy myself a new Tikka T3X Hunter in 6.5x55. Figured that would do the trick. The Tikka is most likely going to be more accurate. It’s a slicker, lighter package than that Ruger. It’s more suited to me, BUT that M77 wouldn’t leave me alone.
Well, I got a text yesterday and the guy has decided that he will sell that M77, and long story short, I’m picking it up tomorrow. I’m going to have more money invested in that M77 than I had in it before, but the heart wants what it wants.
Anybody else here ever gotten a gun back after experiencing seller’s remorse?
I bought “back” (from a third owner; not the guy I sold it to) a Colt LW Government Model. I’d called the guy I sold it to, he’d sold it a few days before, and gave me the new owner’s number.
This is “the story:”
I liked it so much that I actually bought mine twice!
I was very happy with it, but didn’t carry it that often, so it became one of two pistols that I sold to buy a Triumph Bonnieville motorcycle.
A few months later, I called the guy I sold it to about buying it back. He’d sold it to “his gunsmith” three days before, and gave me the guy’s number. I called the “smith,” who advised that he’d done “a lot of upgrades” for the previous owner, so it’d cost me quite a bit more than I’d sold it for.
I worked out a deal for a trade, plus some cash, and met the guy at his house that evening to pick it up, where he met me in the carport, with no lights turned on. I opened the Colt box, saw that it was my pistol, and left. The next morning, I got to checking things out, and saw that it was the wrong box, it was the wrong mags, most of the W/C parts were drop-ins which replaced the Colt parts (but they were stainless, so they looked “more cool” on the black pistol [really?]). Then, the W/C thumb safety that comes with a .002 oversized diameter pin for use in pistols that have experienced some wear (I knew because I’ve fitted those myself before), obviously hadn’t been properly fit, as the thumb safety was hard to move, and I had a bit of a time removing it (it must have been driven into place with a rubber mallet, or on second thought, probably a claw hammer).
So, after the screaming cussfight with myself had subsided, and I could see again, I called up the guy that I’d sold it to, to see if he (maybe) had the correct box, magazines, and any of the original parts. Lo and behold; he had! I was able to get the box, both mags, and all of the original parts except the hammer, which he’d sold. A call to Brent Turchi, the Colt Custom Shop and Warranty Manager at the time, had the correct hammer on the way to me in short order.
So after a few months, and some mutilation by a couple of young guys who didn’t know any better; the Colt LW Government Model XSE came home, never to leave again!