There I was stories....

[beagle]

There I was ....... in a gun shop in NC with #2 son who is also a caster. Old place and here in the back under two shelves are two cardboard boxes. I spied a mould in one and pulled the boxes out.

Must have been 150 moulds in there. About half were H & Gs, some Lymans. MoOstly 2 cav and 4 cav. Most new.

I was on vacation and didn't have any mad money in those days so I bided my time and came back the next Christmas loaded for bear.

The owner had passed away, his son had inherited the place and moved out by the interstate. No one working there had any knowledge of the two cardboard mould boxes.

Kinda makes a feller sick don't it??????

[Dennis Eugene]

man that's why we have credit cards Dennis

[Jim]

Lord, Beag, that makes me sick to know what you missed.

[DLCTEX]

I went to an estate auction about five years ago that had a lot of reloading equipment and supplies. I had already spent a good bit and was wanting to at least watch watch the sale of a roll away tool cabinet that had four 55 Lyman powder measures mounted on it beside a Rockchucker press and a Corbin swage press. In the drawers were another Corbin press still in the box and dies for swaging 38 and 44 pistol bullets, plus about 8 reloading die sets, and lots of other goodies. When the auctioner announced it was all going to be sold together I knew it would go for far more than I could afford to invest at the time. A friend wanted my opinion on some guns that were coming up next, so I was discussing them with him and giving scant attention to the auctioneer until I heard him say (rather quickly) 'I sold it for $385". I just about died. I would have paid in the $1200 range and thought I'd gotten a bargain. Of course the buyer would not part with any of his prize.

[dwtim]

This thread makes a good point. I'll make sure my stuff is given away before I go, so it is enjoyed by someone who will use it, not thrown in a dump somewhere.

Maybe then some poster on a futuristic version of Cast Boolits will end his "There I was..." thread with, "...and then the old fella told me to take the box full of molds!"

[beagle]

Didn't have acredit card in those days. I was poor./beagle

man that's why we have credit cards Dennis

[Dennis Eugene]

ahhh yes poor, I understand. Dennis.

[finishman2000]

I was working part time at a pretty good size gun shop and the nite of the first black rifle ban the manager offered me to buy all 8 of the hk94's for $800 each. I knew the wife would kill me so I passed.

[Beaverhunter2]

When I was in Infantry School, my orders got screwed up so I didn't get my $2300 of TDY pay until the third month of a 4 month course. My buddy and I went to the local gun show looking for rifles to take out to the ranges on Saturdays. A guy was there selling Russian AK-47s (semi-auto converts) for $150 for one rifle still in the cosmoline, $110 each for 4, or $800 for an unopened ten rifle crate (Cyrillic lettering and all). $150 shipping anywhere in CONUS. I had the cash in my pocket and walked around that gun show for three hours thinking about it, but needed the money for college. I thought about taking them to school and selling some, but I figured my parents would really be ticked when a guy kicked a crate of guns off the back of a truck into the driveway. Also, we'd just finished OPFOR weapons training and I knew AKs were basically bullet launchers- reliable, but about as accurate as a thrown rock, so I passed.

I've been kicking myself for 23 years now. A few years ago, I told my Dad about it. He was ready to help me with the kicking! He said- it could have been one for each of us, a couple for the closet, and sell the rest! Mom said I made the right decision. LOL

John

[Whitespider]

There I was.... In my early twenties.... Workin' in a factory making cardboard boxes....
When, after work one night in the parking lot, another young guy (early twenties also) walks over to his car and pulls out four rifles. Seems his grandfather had died a few weeks before and he had inherited the guns (he wasn't a hunter or shooter and didn't care about them).

• '73 Winchester - .44 WCF
• 1886 Winchester - .50-110 (looked brand new)
• '71 Winchester (well used)
• '94 Winchester

There I was.... With $8 in my pocket.... A week from payday....
When he says that the "set" should be worth $500.oo if anybody wants them?
I could have cried when one of the truck drivers, there to haul the cardboard to 'parts unknown', handed him five $100 bills and tossed those rifles in the sleeper of his truck.

I've been lookin' for a really nice '86 Winchester in .50-110 ever since.

[docone31]

Back in the I knew nothing days.....
I had gone to my favourite gun store. The owner had been a salesman and knew nothing about anything. He even listened to me!
Sitting there, was a Colt #2 in 45/90. He wanted 200$! Both he and I though no one would possibly want something that archaic. I walked on by. There was another, a Farqueson in a strange caliber. I knew nothing about reloading then. I walked on by. He had an 1886 Winchester with a full octagonal barrel, nice and long, in 45/90. 200$ and a Winchester in 38/55 100$ 1920s vintage wth full octagonal barrel, nice and long, with a funny sight on the tang. 100$.
We both laughed at how some people just do not appreciate the great plastic stock whiz-bang heavy barrel specials. I finally got a Mossberg 500 with pistol grip stock. Spent a long time makeing that actually work. I also got a Universal Carbine 30 Carbine repro. Spent a lot on bananna clips that jammed. Lots of Enfields, #1s and #4s stacked like cordwood, 03-A3s stacked like cordwood, 25$ apiece. He was throwing in a Turk, or 98 Mauser with each new firearm sale. Complete with ammo.
If I only knew then, what I know now.
There were some cherries ready for picking indeed.

[par0thead151]

so there i was, a senior in college spring 2006...
sportsmans guide had a special on wolf 7.62X39, 80$ per 1K + shipping.
free shipping on entire order if you renew your sportsmans guide membership...
i bought 3K and was way over extended that month. rammen noodles and ham sandwiches was all i ate because of that order. that and making a 10$ handle of vodka last all month...
if i only had a few grand to throw at ammo then, i could have a lifetime supply of 7.62 X 39 wolf...
now its going for 300$ thousand... always a day late and a dollar short.
that was until i blew every penny i got for graduation money from relatives on reloading components... best decision i ever made! that or selling stocks and buying a house literally right before the market(stocks) tanked.

[imashooter2]

In mid 94, one of our local shops had a 4 X 4 X 4 box filled to the brim with Colt 20 round AR mags in pristine condition. $3 each. I didn't even own an AR then, but bought 3 for a buddy that did. Wonder what that box would have been worth in 95?

[leadeye]

There I was .....stumbling over the best gun deal of my life in 82. A whole pile of nice guns and ammo from an estate but the hitch was cash today, $5000. Went to the bank and took out a 90 day note and bought everything. Went home to face a young wife with a less than year old baby scraping by as most young couples do early in life. You can all appreciate the beating I took while explaining that I would be able sell enough to cover the debt in time and still keep some of the more choice items. I accomplished everything I had set out to do and retired the note before the time limit. This year will be our thirty year mark and to this day she has never complained about a gun deal since that one. I still have the german Weatherby 300, Belgian Hi Power, and the Sako Forester 243. They bring back good memories every time I look at them.

[hoosierlogger]

There I was at a flea market about 3 years ago and a guy had two boxes of bullet molds. a lot of them were round ball's but there were others as well. He wanted $5 a peice for them. I didnt buy any of them. As I had no need for them, because I didnt cast at the time. What a dummy I am huh? I look for that type of thing now, but never find it.

[Trey45]

In 1986 there was a gunshop out in south norfolk, it's no longer there now. I had just been paid and decided to go look around, they had a LOT of Milsurps and other oddities to choose from. I rounded a corner of the glass gun case and saw German Lugers, I had never even seen one before and asked the guy, hey can I see the one with the long barrel? He opens the case and tells me it's an Artillary Luger, and i can let you have it for $500 today. I check it out, knowing absolutely nothing about Lugers, just that they're "cool" and the Nazi's used them. I hand it back, tell him , nah, I don't want to pay that much for a gun this old.

Oh, and then there's the time I sold a Mosin Nagant stamped with SA, SKY for 75 bucks because I had no idea it was a Finn Mosin.

Something about retelling these stories is giving me a headache.

[sniper]

There was this gun storen when I was in college, and they had bright blue Browning Hi-Powers for $108!!

You can just tell how long ago that was! Anyhow, my monthly budged, after food, rent,and laundry was $2.50 for entertainment, and that was in the days when movies were to be had for $1.00. Sooooo, I had to pass.

[405]

and there I was.... staring at crates and wooden barrels of Mausers ranging in price from 19.00 to 29.00! Early Mausers, pre-war Mausers, WW2 Mausers, various Latin American Mausers- many unissued, in cosmoline. All this of pre-Gun Control Act era, so take-one take-all.... no forms, no restrictions and so on. All I could look at and dream of and lust over were the "new" shiny Win 70s and 94s on the gun rack behind the counter. And, hardly a notice paid to the barrels of various bayonets with prices like 1.50-2.50. All I usually carried in my pocket was max about 3.00 for a box of 16 ga shells and a box of 22s.

and then there I was.... not too long ago handling an un-molested, fine condition Bowie that was laying amongst a pile of junkers in a 2nd hand junk store.... errah.... an "antique boutique". The price tag on par with the rest of the junkers. It was an original Sheffield Bowie from about 1850-60. It had an equally nice original scabbard. The handle was classic "coffin" form with horn slabs. I passed... Doh!!! Today that is a +2000.00 knife! Slow learner, with self-inflicted buttocks bruising to prove it

and then there I was.... on two different occasions staring square at two different original Hawken rifles for sale. Both better than very good condition with very good shootable bores. "Seemed" expensive at the time... but well under a thousand each. Yep, we be slow learners. Either one would easily be well into 5 figures now! Doh!

and then there I was.... uhhhh, just too painful to continue.....

Now I know what those few of a previous generation are talking about when they relate similar stories about wandering thru the piles, stacks at Bannerman's, but only having 5 cents candy money in their pockets.

[Leftoverdj]

Been times I've had to race my check to the bank, but I cannot recall ever passing up a super deal. Best was the auction of a defunct gun store on the weekend of a big gunshow, and me the closest thing to a dealer at the auction. Auctioneer was clueless and selling in huge lots. One deal I remember was something over 400 pounds of buckshot for $10. Bought so much stuff I had to call a buddy to bring his truck after I filled mine.

Made back a few hundred in the parking lot while loading up, selling small quantities to those who could not swing the big lots. Stopped at a gun store on the way home and more than covered all that I spent, and still got home with a full truck load.

Once in a lifetime deal. Sheer dumb luck and a willingness to plunge. Had I not found quick sales, that check would have wiped out my bank account and maxed out the credit card attached to it.

[Bloodman14]

Trey45, that gunshop in Norfolk, it wouldn't be Bob's Gun & Tackle, would it? I spent a few bucks there when my ex-wife was in the Navy at Naval Base- Norfolk, YEARS ago.