D'Oh! Missed a 100 year old 32WCF Winchester 92 today! $120!!!!

[Four Fingers of Death]

My friend who works part time for a gun dealer, came up to the range today and bought a refinished,but otherwise original 1892 (Octangular barrel, carbine butt plate) with it. It has a black bore, but shot into 2 1/2" at 25 yards. It was originally a 6 shot half mag one, but he had modified it to have a full length mag.

I was helping someone and he showed it to another friend who snapped it up.

I have bought a lot of lever rifle off this guy and I wasn't all that impressed that I didn't get to see it, especially as the ammo he gave the guy to try was loaded with the cast boolits I gave him!

D'Oh! I got too many guns, but it would have made life a bit easier and saved me fiddling about restoring another one that I have.

Funny thing is, the rifle sold for $120, about the same price as a box of factory ammo. To rub salt into the wound, the brass he threw in with the rifle, is brass that I gave him earlier as well to help him out. I was flat out running a full range, but we need to have a long talk when he comes up next time.

[Bent Ramrod]

At least the deed was done by the time you learned about it.

I was at a gun show, in a solid line that crawled along the row of tables in front of us. About a table and a half in front of me lay a Stevens 044-1/2, rebarreled to .22 Hornet with a Savage barrel but with the original stock and forend (I was strained and craned far enough forward of my place in line so I could see all these details). The line continued to move, barely perceptibly. "Come on, come onnnn!" I seethed internally. I was up to the beginning of the table in question and the guy two people in front of me picked up the Stevens, lying right in front of him. "What's this? Never seen anything like this before," he mused to his pal, one person in front of me. "Put it down, put it DOWNNN!!" I was thinking, but he and his pal continued to pass the rifle back and forth between them, talking and talking. "Never seen nothin' like it. Thought Stevens just made bolt action .22s and cheap shotguns. What is .22 Hornet, anyway; wonder if you can get ammo (well before the .22H revival)?" It seemed to go on and on forever.

Then the guy said to his buddy, "You know, I think I'm gonna buy this thing," and set it down on the table and reached for his wallet.

I had to watch the whole thing: the noticing, the lack of recognition, the indecision and discussion, the decision and the transaction, from an infinite distance of a yard-and-a-half. Better the death of a thousand cuts!:mrgreen:

[Hamish]

Your "friend" deserves a complete clue-in. Gee, what a great guy.[smilie=b:

[helice]

Ouch!

[pietro]

.

What else are friends for............ ;)



.

[OverMax]

My friend who

Good friends are hard to come by. You only on average have two or three in your entire life. The rest are acquaintances who you think are your friends. The problem with both types is figuring out who falls into which category.

O/M

[bob208]

i have had many good stories of great buys on guns. but i have as many or more of the same as this. one thing this friend would never get is any help from me again.

[TXGunNut]

Tough break, FFOD. If the buyer is like some of my friends he'll get bored with it and you'll get another shot. Better luck next time.
I came out ahead in a situation like BR's. Long ago I needed a portable press and spotted an RCBS JR on a gun show table and a guy was trying to haggle the dealer down a bit. He said "this is made of aluminum!". Dealer said it wasn't and I said it was and handed him his full asking price-$20. Bolted to a portable bench this little jewel is perfect for taking to the range with primed brass, boolits and powder.

[Four Fingers of Death]

Your "friend" deserves a complete clue-in. Gee, what a great guy.[smilie=b:

Yep! Next time I see him, as we used to say when I worked in the prison system, "I will word him up!"

The guy that bought it is a good friend and between us we run the rifle range. He will probably persist with it,but occasionally he needs to raise money for things and he sheds a few rifles. I might pick it up in the future, at least I know what he paid for it, lol.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Yep, I bought an original Winchester Hiwall 32/40 for $250 at the local gunshop. It's a great feeling picking up a bargin!

[Four Fingers of Death]

Good find Dude!

[50target]

No good deed goes unpunished. Time to hit the "refresh" button on the friendship.

[TXGunNut]

I once snapped up a Trapper in 45 Colt. Later I found out a friend had looked it over and talked himself out of it. He came back after it but it was already in my safe. In those days we could pick up a nearly new 94 for $250. I still tease him about this one, still have it.

[Four Fingers of Death]

No good deed goes unpunished. Time to hit the "refresh" button on the friendship.

I think he just walked into the range with it and my offsider was on the first bench and I was busy and didn't notice. I will still give him a tune up. He is a real bush mechanic / gunsmith type of guy. I have told him to give me a ring as soon as he gets something like that, he never thinks to do that though. I will be giving him a tune up though.

[jonp]

I was at an auction up north where I am from and they had an original 30wcf lever in mint. Just before it came up I told my girlfriend to bid on it cause I had to go to the bathroom. Of course, it came up and sold for $150. I asked her why she didnt bid and she said it sounded too expensive. Ugh!

[Fishman]

4 fingers don't be too hard on the guy til you find out what he was thinking. What some may consider regifting, others might see as paying on a nice gift (brass)to a new recipient once they no longer need it. He certainly didn't get rich off that rifle. Lastly, most folk don't understand our obsession with collecting firearms no matter how much you tell them. They figure "heck, he's already got five of those, why would he want this one?". Which is all very logical unless you are that guy.

[Four Fingers of Death]

4 fingers don't be too hard on the guy til you find out what he was thinking. What some may consider regifting, others might see as paying on a nice gift (brass)to a new recipient once they no longer need it. He certainly didn't get rich off that rifle. Lastly, most folk don't understand our obsession with collecting firearms no matter how much you tell them. They figure "heck, he's already got five of those, why would he want this one?". Which is all very logical unless you are that guy.

Don't worry, I don't want to scare him off, he keeps cpoming up with these amazing rifles and they are invariably cheap. I bought a CBC break action single shot in 32/20 with an excellent barrel off him for $100, thinking it would be a cheap source for a 32/20 barrel for a shot out 92 that I have. I lent it to a guy for a shoot and he won the long range pistol calibre match by a long margin with it at a local shoot. I am reluctant to pull it apart now.

He also came up with a sporterised large framed Martini 303 with a fair barrel which the builder had fabricated a shotgun type rib on the barrel and had built sights into the rib. The barrel and action needed cleaning up and a reblue. It had sporter stock and forend which needed a lot of elbow grease and TLC, but he sold that to another guy for $100. I was there that day as well. If he had of shown it to me and said it was $300, I would have bought it in a heartbeat. I will have to get a dog and train it to bark when he arrives, D'Oh!

[Fishman]

"I will have to get a dog and train it to bark when he arrives, D'Oh!"

Now that's funny. Even funnier is that i bet there are several of us going "not a bad idea, I wonder if it can be done?"

[starmac]

You must have a different definition of tune up down under, If I plan on tuning someone up, I tend to try to keep it on the down low. lol

[Four Fingers of Death]

Giving someone a 'tune up' is an expression we used in the prison system. It meant getting someone on the program or back on the program.

It could have ranged from 'wording up' a prisoner (giving a serious warning talk), a walk in the garden for a staff member (a stroll around the garden or a quiet part of the prison and a lecture/talk to bring the errant staff member into line, and it escalated from there depending on the circumstances, haha!

A 'tune up' could range from a quiet talk at the prisoner's cell door to gas, batons, shields and firearms. There were a wide range of options in a 'tune up.'

[mroliver77]

I went to a farm auction that had some guns and took a "friend". I bid a hardware brand double barrel 12 gauge up to $80. It was clean and was worth twice that. My "friend" wanted it in the worst way. He said if'n I let him have it he would be forever my servant yadda yadda yadda. I told him ONLY if he swore it would go to me for same price if he tired of it. He swore an oath and grabbed it outta my hand. Ok says I, $80. please. Oh says he, I am gonna have to owe you till I get paid. "SIGH" He gave me a $20 next payday, then a ten a few weeks later. He was kinda mad that I bugged him about it for the next couple months. Finally it was paid for.
One day he showed me his "new" Mosburg 500. I thought you were broke says I. Oh I traded that old *** double I had for it says he. I brought up our deal. He told me I had nothing coming and was easy or something to that effect. Yep, uh huh.
We are not even acquaintances these days. ;)
J

[Four Fingers of Death]

You thought that he was a man of honour as you are. Wrong. But I look at these things and I don't see them as losing money or whatever, but something that shows me exactly what that person is like and it is worth that to know they don't qualify to be a friend of mine. I am still polite, but that person has proven themselves unworthy and is treated with some reserve or even avoided.

I used to load a lot of ammo for a lot of guys when I worked in Sydney. It was always surprising that a lot of people who you would of thought as being ok guys would always try and stiff you or haggle you down, whereas some guys, often unpopular or unassuming guys would pleasantly surprise you with their honesty and good manners.

[TXGunNut]

I guess this thread could be titled "No good deed goes unpunished" because for some folks it too often seems that way.