I sold off most all my handguns awhile back when I got bit by the 1911 bug hard. My last pistol was a custom build Wilson Classic Supergrade and was to be my last and final handgun purchase. I ordered it and had it customized perfectly the way I wanted. When it was finally completed and received thru my dealer it exceeded my greatest expectations. Though it wasn't cheap, Wilson's reputation for building a good 1911 was absolutely on the mark. It was the finest build I've ever had to date, every detail was extremely precise down to the custom engraving on the slide. The two tone pistol with Turnbull charcoal blue slide was perfect. It's the last purchase made and since I have only fired it once since health issues have sidelined me. Every day I put aside thoughts of selling it because I worked so many hours at work and saved dollars from the sale of my other firearms to make it my last and personal build pistol. They say "buy once, cry once" though if in the future I have to part ways it's going to be so hard to let go. At the same time, it's just difficult knowing I had so many thoughts of shooting it for a long time to come. In the end all I will say is that Wilson builds an amazing 1911..

Bought a SAR48 several yrs ago for $750 as a private sale. Loved shooting it, but when 308 ammo was going for $1 a round I decided to unload it. Got twice what I paid and probably could have gotten more.

quote:

Originally posted by Rightwire:
We had a thread a while ago on your most disappointing firearm purchase. What was your biggest and most pleasant surprise?

Tell us about the one that you bought as a deal or just because and is turned out to be amazingly accurate, way more fun to shoot than you thought, has an amazing story behind it, is way move valuable than originally thought etc....

This Nickel P228.
- My very first Ni SIG.
- Relatively cheap at the time I bought it.
- Interesting serial number.
- TO HELL AND BACK RELIABILITY.

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Consecutive numbered P228s, bought years apart.

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Same with these consecutive P229s.

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And, PROTO-1 needs no introduction.

I was wanting a bolt-action .308, and had resigned myself to getting Savage, a new stock, having the barrel threaded, etc. etc.

Then I stumbled across a Bergara B-14 HMR. About 95% of what I wanted all in one package at a price I found very reasonable. Good customer service too.

quote:

Originally posted by radioman:
an old S&W 4" Model-10 Heavy barrel Police Trade in. Best trigger of ANYTHING in my collection.

Funny to read this - I would echo that. Picked up the Victoria police import a few years ago, cleaned up the old grease and re-lubed. I'm not a revolver guy but this old, worn Model-10 4" is not only but accurate because of that trigger. Feel like I should be doing the old "1 arm out, one arm crossed behind the back" state trooper pose

My brother bought a Colt new service revolver one time that came with a very old holster. The gun was a 5&1/2” barrel but the holster was for a 7.5. He noted the bottom of the holster felt solid, he looked inside and there was wadded up paper in the bottom and underneath the paper a $10 gold coin. Worth probably 4x the cost of and value of the pistol

quote:

Originally posted by FlyingScot:
Feel like I should be doing the old "1 arm out, one arm crossed behind the back" state trooper pose

It wasn't just state troopers. That "bullseye stance" was the standard police/military pistol stance pretty much worldwide for the first half of the 20th Century, and into the second half. It wasn't until about the ~1950s that the more modern two handed pistol stance started to gain traction, and it took several decades for it to become really widespread.

A Russian Makarov at a gun auction around 10 years ago now.

I had never been to one, my Dad took me and I spotted that Makarov and said "I want that!" and went up against one other guy and got it for $200 or so.

It was practically brand new, built like a tank and was fun and accurate to shoot. Stupid simple disassembly and reassembly too.

My first Sig..P229/9. I bought it on a whim, and didn’t really use or fire it much the first year or two after I purchased it. It introduced me to Sig Sauer and I eventually found this forum because of it. One of my all time favorite pistols now.

In the early 90's, a gentleman I worked with tells me his neighbor had an "old cowboy pistol" he wanted to sell. So I give the neighbor a call, he tells me his father in-law had died and he was trying to get rid of his father in-laws "old cowboy pistol" but it looks like it was in a fire and needed work and he wants 100.00. So that evening I went to go see this old gun. The young man hands me a box and inside was a Hammerli single action army in excellent condition,45 long colt, 4 3/4 barrel, Swiss made, Swiss proof marks. I explained the pistol was not in a fire it's called color case hardening, he didn't care just wanted it gone. I paid the man so he tells to wait and comes back with the walnut presentation box the pistol been staying in.
A colt clone but not a fire burnt project.

Glock 19 Vickers right out of the box I was shooting tight groups better then any pistol I have ever owned, sometimes think the pistol sees what I want to hit and makes the adjustments.

A few months back, my sons an I were cleaning up our shotguns after a great day pheasant hunting.
My hunting buddy Charlie called to say what a great time he and his son had with us, and he said he was sending me a link of a shotgun I "needed".
It was a CSMC (Connecticut Shotgun Manufacturing)Revelation 20ga with a 28" barrel and upgraded Circassian walnut.
Well, after a few Gin&Tonics I bought it. I have many birdguns and usually don't buy something without handling it to see how the fit is.....
Anyway, the gun arrived and it exceeded my expectations. You know when you handle a firearm and just know it's everything you consider perfect? Well, this for me was perfect.
The pic doesn't do it justice, but this was one of the last hunts we did before my boys went back to college and we had a wonderful day.
If you like to walk the woods chasing birds, this gun would make you smile. Perfect balance even though it's fairly light, rounded action, crisp trigger, thin forend, and beautiful wood. A true pleasure to walk miles with it over your arm.

In 1982, I bought a Browning T-bolt .22LR that was among the 80,000 confiscated guns Odin International Ltd. bought from Mexico.

She was beaten up, and badly. The checkering was all but obliterated and the metal and wood finishes about 50%.

I've never done anything to it except have the muzzle threaded to take my AAC Pilot suppressor.

It shoots 1 MOA all day, every day, with decent ammunition.

Almost forgot this most interesting stainless slide P228. This is only one of two examples that SIG made.








Back story on this gem:

Back in 2007, the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) was 7 years into the SIG P228 contract. As most of you know, the P228 has the folded carbon steel slide as opposed to the machined stainless slide that is of the P229.

Around this time, SIG was phasing out the P228. So, some high-up at SIG was thinking about some new gun for the NJSP, namely, the P229. But, right in the middle of the contract, you cannot just out of the blue submit a brand new model to them. So, the SIG man came up with the idea of making a couple of virgin P229s, rollmarked them "P228", gave them the proper P228-style serial number, with case labeled as P228, and officially released them as P228s. It's like, "Hey guys, here are a couple of new P228s for you to play with. Wink wink. See how you like them."

Only 2 of these were made and released in Sept 2007. What happened to them, and their whereabouts, is unknown, until one popped up on GB in late 2016. When I saw it, I couldn't believe my eyes. As luck would have it, I ended up with it (single bidder). Incredible! For a non-collector, it probably is no big deal, since it's just a P229 with the P228 rollmark. But, for a P228 aficionado like me, this is HUGE.

A gentleman, who shall remain nameless as requested, who is high up at SIG actually contacted me and told me the story of this P228, when he saw me posting about it originally. He said he also saw the gun listed on GB, but he thought it was fake, until he talked to the original guy who actually made the 2 guns in 2007. But by the time he wanted to buy the gun, it was already sold to me.

A buddy sold me a .40 P239 cheap. I had low expectations and mainly bought it because (and you all have been there, admit it) i had a large stock of .40 ammo and no .40 gun to shoot it.
Dead reliable, accurate and handles the snappy recoil of .40 great!

M1 Garand. I'm not really a collector, my firearms are for shooting, mostly self-defense etc. Our unit got a great deal from CMP on our deployment, they set aside a number of service grade M1s, refinished, with new wood and a custom cartouche for our BDE stamped in the stock for $550 ea.

1st time I took it to the range: BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-BLAM-Ping! I was hooked. It both handled and shot way better than I expected. Great rifle, I can see how out-matched the typical Axis soldier would have been with a bolt action anything.

I later got an M1 Carbine gifted to me, similar experience, great guns.

My SIG P210-5 target that I bought from a fellow SF member. I just love it. So glad I am able to be the next care-taker for this pistol.

And thanks again to the member for selling it to me.

The best surprise for me was obtaining a SIGARMS Mauser M2 in .45acp, triple serial numbers. The majority of the M2s were produced in .40S&W as near as I can tell. Pistol is very accurate and easy to operate with little felt recoil. It took a few rounds to get used to the safety on the rear of the slide.

I can think of a couple. I love lever guns and have a Marlin 39A but it's just too heavy for kids to shoot offhand so I bought a Henry H001 .22. I wasn't expecting much from it but it turned out to be more fun and accurate than I ever imagined. It's the best plinker I own now.

The next one was a S&W M29 5" Classic I bought from a guy at a gun show for a very reasonable price. Turns out it went to the S&W Performance Center for a full tune-up and trigger job. Holy crap, that trigger is the sweetest I've ever owned in a wheel gun by far and is capable of one hole groups when I do my job.

Jim

I have two.

First is a .22 pistol that my aunt gave to me after my uncle died. I knew he shot target with it, but other than that, didn't know anything about it. When I got it, I took a good look at it, and started digging, thinking I would trade it for a .357 mag. As it turns out, it's a Colt Officer's Model .22, which is a target revolver built on the .38 special Officer's frame. Has the finest trigger of any pistol I own, and is better than a bunch of rifle triggers I have shot. Even better, it was built in 1930, which was the first production year for that gun. Condition is 95% or so. Blueing is fantastic, with only one scratch on the cylinder where it looks like it was placed on concrete. Original grips, and fully adjustable sights. Needless to say, I have kept it.

Second is an Imbel inch pattern FAL bought from a member on this forum. Decent price, 18 magazines, and the member told me that he had it rebarreled when he bought it, but never shot it. FALs are spec at 4 MOA. This one is far better than that. I'm getting 2 MOA, and I'm a shitty rifleman. Very satisfying gun to shoot.