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Thread: One that got away

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Posts
    312

    One that got away

    I'm sure that everyone has regretted trading or selling a gun over the years. One that sticks out in my mind is a little carbine that was my first make over gun.

    Long ago in the days before touch tone phones or computers, I was cruising the Junk, er antiques, shops looking for a gun. I didn't have much money so I couldn't afford the S&W #28 that I really wanted. $75 was out of my league. I was far out in my search and wandered over to the county seat looking in a shop, trying to talk myself out of a Vetterli-Vertali that hung on the wall in a shop, when a Mexican fella came in and was trying to sell a rifle to the owner, cheap! The owner declined and I followed the guy out and asked him what he wanted for the gun?

    Five bucks he said. Well I took a look at it and saw a Mossberg carbine that was in sad shape, the bluing had faded to brown and the stock was almost lacking in finish, BUT it was mechanically sound and the bore, while dirty was pretty good. I paid the guy the $5 and took it home.

    Now I had been reading the Gun Mags for a couple of years and had a good idea how to clean up the Mossy. I went up to the hardware store and bought supplies, 0000 Steel wool, some sand paper, some cold blue and some stock finish. Another five bucks gone!

    At home I found that the Mossy was an L142 carbine, ~18" bbl and had a neat fold down hand grip on the forend, kinda like'a Tommy gun. Best of all it had a swing away aperture sight on the rear and a M1 type front sight with wings. After a week or ten days of after school work the little Mossy looked pretty and not too bad at all. The cold blue had worked well and the stock had all the dents steamed out of the stock and four or five coats of finish and the cheap walnut looked like new, if a little rounded on the edges.

    It's funny that I don't ever remember shooting it. Not long after I finished it my Uncle Frank came over and I showed it too him, he got all excited and offered to trade me his Italian Ternie for it. Well I couldn't pass up a real center fire rifle for a $10 .22 could I?

    I should have pass it up. I never forgave Uncle Frank for that. I ended up trading the Terni to a friend for his 12 gauge single shot and still have it in the gun locker, lo these 60 years later.
    Last edited by Krag 1901; 03-29-2021 at 08:40 PM.

  2. #2
    Moderator
    Texas by God's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
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    14,335
    On the bright side, a 12 gauge single is one of the handiest most versatile guns ever IMO. I worked on a Mossberg. 22 target rifle that had the folding aperture sight you speak of and a convertible front sight with 21 different options- just kidding, only 7?

    Sent from my SM-A716U using Tapatalk

  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Oct 2020
    Posts
    312
    Yesterday I found on Gun Broker a Mossy L142 about like mine but some one had taken off the sights and I guess just used a scope on it. It was last bid at ~$250! Saw several WW2 training rifles selling for upwards of $400! Win 52's over $1,200-$1900!

    I'll stick to my Rem 582 and BL-22 they give me Min of Squirrel accuracy at 100 yds.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
    CastingFool's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    Climax, Michigan
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    2,634

    Unhappy

    A friend once offered to sell me a marlin carbine chambered in 45 acp, for $200. I waited a bit too long and he sold it to someone else.

  5. #5
    Boolit Man
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    N. Ga.
    Posts
    77
    3 Gen. Colt Woodsman, 4in.

  6. #6
    Moderator


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    I own, and have owned, a lot of guns, but the one which stands out in my memory that I never, ever, should have sold was a very nice Martini Henry Cadet re-chambered to .32-20 WCF.

    DG

  7. #7
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Sep 2020
    Location
    The Lone Star State
    Posts
    291
    Danish 94 Krag in 6.5x55, wish I would have been privvy to reloading back then.
    Cargo

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BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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