Trader's / Seller' remorse . . . . is it real?

[ZoidMeister]

Trader's/Sellers remorse . . . .

Is this a real thing, or am I the only one that suffers . . . . ?

I'll start at the beginning. This will be a long one, so sit back . . . .

I've had quite a few guns that I bought and got rid of over the years. Some because they were the "latest thing," some because I was intrigued by stories from others.

I have never had remorse from parting with any of them . . . except for the first 1911 I sold. it was a standard Springfield Stainless GI 1911-A1. I loved that pistol, but when came the time to reallocate, it was amongst the Glocks and M&P's that were slated to find a new home.

Then came the remorse . . . .

I soon found a Springfield Loaded Stainless in 9mm. I had plenty of other 1911's in .45 ACP and none in 9mm at the time. This one had a nicer hammer, ambi safety, target trigger, and nicer Novak sights, so I picked it up. My remorse over the loss of the 1911-A1 subsided a little, but never fully went away. I still keep photos of it . . . .

 

Then came the time I traded a Dan Wesson CBOB I picked up for that nice 1917 Colt Commercial y'all have seen me post about. I had a tiny bit of remorse at the time, but I really liked that Colt, and the only reason I bought the CBOB was to temp the owner of the Colt to trade, so I was fine . . . for a while. I ended up buying a Dan Wesson CBOB in 10mm, because of the remorse I had losing the .45 CBOB.

 

 

Now here I sit, the owner of two nice DW CBOB's, the 1917 Colt, but filled with remorse over the loss of the Springer Loaded 9mm, and even the GI.

So guys, what is your worst (best) 1911 trade/sale remorse story . . . .

I'll buy the first round . . . . .
 

 

Edited February 22, 2017 by ZoidMeister

[JAB]

The only 1911 I have owned was an ATI.  It was one of the compact models (officer's model, I guess) and had the nickel boron finish.  It was a nice looking gun.  I bought it used and it already had the type of hammer and trigger I would have put on it aftermarket and a nice safety lever (I think they were factory original).  I had plans to trick it out with some really nice, custom grips, make a nice, leather holster and mag pouches and carry it as sort of a 'barbecue gun'.  I shot it pretty well, liked the size of the .45acp round and so on but could never get it to reliably fire hollow point rounds even though I tried several, different brands and types.  This was despite trying the factory mag, a Kimber mag and another, very well regarded brand of aftermarket mag (which I can't recall right now.)  Would pretty much never make it through a full mag regardless of mag or ammo type used.  In fact, every once in a while certain FMJ types would jam, too.  The nose of the bullet would get 'stuck' on the feed ramp.  This continued even after I polished the feed ramp to a literal mirror shine.

Well, I really am more of a revolver guy, anyhow, so I traded it at the LGS for a Taurus Tracker in .44 Mag.  The Tracker was new/used - apparently a guy bought it, took it home and brought it back within a day or two, unfired.  It seems he got home and got 'scared' of firing a .44 Mag so he bought it back and traded it.  It really did appear to be unfired.  I had been wanting a double action .44 Mag and so I didn't and don't really have any remorse about the trade.  Also, I have to admit that - once I really started thinking about it - I am not sure how comfortable I would be with 'cocked and locked' carry and I wouldn't want to carry a 1911 any, other way.  So, while I remain a bit bummed that I didn't get to create the cool, semi-custom 1911 setup I wanted to create I also have to say that there is a good chance I will never own another 1911 which is kind of a bummer, I guess, because I want to like them but the reality is that I am not sure I would even if it had ran perfectly.

[peejman]

I've only sold 1 gun (an AR to a friend) and I don't regret it. He got a nice rifle that he still has and enjoys, I was able to get one I liked better. 

[Sam1]

yes, it is real.  happens to me all the time.  sometimes I'll sell something, and within a week or two I'll have to track down an identical model to replace it with.

[ZoidMeister]

2 hours ago, JAB said:

 So, while I remain a bit bummed that I didn't get to create the cool, semi-custom 1911 setup I wanted to create I also have to say that there is a good chance I will never own another 1911 which is kind of a bummer, I guess, because I want to like them but the reality is that I am not sure I would even if it had ran perfectly.

JAB,

The cause of most of the feed problems I have seen with 1911's tend to fall under one of two problem areas.

1. The magazine
2. The EXTRACTOR and it's tension.

Many guns are just plain fickle when it comes to which magazines they will run with.  The geometry of the feed lips seems to be one of the biggest areas of concern.  Even identical models of the same gun - the first gun may work with one magazine, but the second gun of the same type will choke on it.  Some mag manufacturers tend to be more reliable than others.  Kimber mags are most know for problems, even in Kimbers.

The second area is where I get to "cherry pick" good deals all the time.  A gun may have the reputation of just never running correctly.  The owner will take it to a local gun guy who isn't well versed in 1911's, and may pronounce the gun a "lemon."  I will buy it cheap, tune or replace the extractor, get it to run like hot steel on ice, and never look back . . . . .

Feed ramp polishing doesn't hurt, but incorrect magazine geometry is the most likely cause of the problem you describe above.

Z

[Ronald_55]

This is precisely why I buy, but do not sell guns. Well that and the fact that I have not reached anywhere close to critical mass of my "armory." Also allows me to not worry about who ended up with a gun that has my name stamped on it via a background check.

[Erik88]

I've sold around 10 guns and don't really miss any. None of them were rare and I could easily find another one.

I have 3 or so guns that have sentimental value so I would never sell them. 

[quietguy]

I sold a Remington .308 Mountain Rifle several years ago, and I wish I had that one back.  Otherwise, I haven't had any remorse from my sales or trades.  

[Jeb48]

I tend to not sell guns but I did have remorse for one. My first shotgun was a Mossberg .410 lever action. A misunderstanding of ownership and my Father sold it. Almost 40 years later I decided to try and get it back since I knew who he sold it to. I hadn't tried before because I was told the fellow never sold a gun and figured he would not sell it to me. My Mother still lives in the same town and knew him and contacted him. He said he had sold it to a big collector in Cleveland. He remembered who he sold it to and tried to contact the collector. The fellow had died but his wife was in the process of selling his guns and she still had it. My Mother was informed and she told him to buy it for her and arrange to have it picked up. On my next visit we were only home a few minutes and she disappeared into her bedroom and came out with it. She would never tell me how much she paid for it, she just handed it to me.

So it took awhile but my gun remorse went away. If I had waited much longer it would have been gone forever, sold to someone else and the original fellow that bought it from my Dad is in his 80s and had a stroke the next year and has never completely recovered so would not have been able to make the connection to where it went.

[ZoidMeister]

1 hour ago, Jeb48 said:

I tend to not sell guns but I did have remorse for one. My first shotgun was a Mossberg .410 lever action. A misunderstanding of ownership and my Father sold it. Almost 40 years later I decided to try and get it back since I knew who he sold it to. I hadn't tried before because I was told the fellow never sold a gun and figured he would not sell it to me. My Mother still lives in the same town and knew him and contacted him. He said he had sold it to a big collector in Cleveland. He remembered who he sold it to and tried to contact the collector. The fellow had died but his wife was in the process of selling his guns and she still had it. My Mother was informed and she told him to buy it for her and arrange to have it picked up. On my next visit we were only home a few minutes and she disappeared into her bedroom and came out with it. She would never tell me how much she paid for it, she just handed it to me.

So it took awhile but my gun remorse went away. If I had waited much longer it would have been gone forever, sold to someone else and the original fellow that bought it from my Dad is in his 80s and had a stroke the next year and has never completely recovered so would not have been able to make the connection to where it went.

Awesome story . . . . with a happy ending!

[peejman]

I know this is about guns, but the only remorse I have involves a truck. Dad had a white '72 C-10, stepside, 3 on the tree when I was a kid. It wasn't especially pretty, but we hauled untold amounts of firewood in it.  We went to the golf course all the time in it. Every winter we'd all pile in the cab and go dig up a Christmas tree from a farm out in the boonies.  He sold it when I was still too young to drive. Whenever I see a C-10 now I'm reminded of that truck.  I'd love to find that old truck and fix it up. 

[E4 No More]

Seller's remorse is real. I traded-in my favorite car - a 2013 BOSS 302 Mustang - so that my wife could have a car that she could drive. We had a truck, (for pulling the travel trailer), that we carpooled in because she couldn't/wouldn't drive it. She didn't dare try to drive the BOSS. I still miss that car. I also miss my Sig Sauer DMR that I sold in a weak moment of frustration brought on by a failed LASIK surgery.

[JAB]

20 hours ago, ZoidMeister said:

JAB,

The cause of most of the feed problems I have seen with 1911's tend to fall under one of two problem areas.

1. The magazine
2. The EXTRACTOR and it's tension.

Many guns are just plain fickle when it comes to which magazines they will run with.  The geometry of the feed lips seems to be one of the biggest areas of concern.  Even identical models of the same gun - the first gun may work with one magazine, but the second gun of the same type will choke on it.  Some mag manufacturers tend to be more reliable than others.  Kimber mags are most know for problems, even in Kimbers.

The second area is where I get to "cherry pick" good deals all the time.  A gun may have the reputation of just never running correctly.  The owner will take it to a local gun guy who isn't well versed in 1911's, and may pronounce the gun a "lemon."  I will buy it cheap, tune or replace the extractor, get it to run like hot steel on ice, and never look back . . . . .

Feed ramp polishing doesn't hurt, but incorrect magazine geometry is the most likely cause of the problem you describe above.

Z

I pretty much figured it was the magazine, too, but as I said I had the same problem with the factory mag, a Kimber mag and (finally remembered what the third one was) a Chip McKormick mag.  The Kimber one actually had the fewest jams - but that just means it got through a couple of mags with only one jam rather than the two or three jams per mag that seemed to be 'standard'.  I thought about trying to get ahold of a Wilson Combat mag just to make sure all the bases were covered but by that point I had already thrown good money after bad trying different (premium) HP ammo in it over the course of about a year.  Heck, I even tried Federal Guard Dog - the expanding FMJ stuff that is specifically intended for guns that don't want to run hollow points and still no joy out of any of the three mags.  Honestly, at that point even if I had found a magazine/ammo combo that appeared to work it would have taken a long time and a lot of ammo ($$$) down the barrel before I would have trusted it.  That Tracker, on the other hand, I lightly cleaned, took it out, loaded with three different types of ammo - two JSP of different weights and one JHP - and all three functioned flawlessly.  It really made me smile.  With its matte black finish and 'ribber' grips it certainly isn't as nice to look at as the little ATI, though.

The ATI never seemed to have much trouble with extraction as long as the round actually loaded in the first place.  Also, the Titan models (like I had) are kind of a 'hybrid' design.  I don't know that much about 'standard' or 'government model' type 1911s but my understanding is that the ATI Titan models don't have the parts that a lot of folks end up 'tuning' to make their 1911 work better.  I know that field stripping them for cleaning is different than a 'normal' 1911.  Honestly, I think a big part of the problem was that the Titan was just so small that if one, little thing is off that big, ol' .45acp round just won't cycle right.  My nephew has a full-sized ATI 1911.  To my knowledge he hasn't ran any JHP through it but, unlike the Titan model I had, it runs FMJ like a scalded dog.  I just don't have any, real interest in a full size because, and this is just me, if I am going to carry a semiauto that big I want the one thing that I think semiautos have as an advantage over my beloved revolvers - much higher ammo capacity.

I did shoot a Smith and Wesson 1911 in 9mm on one occasion.  It was the model that Smith created to be a 'production target gun' or some such (can't remember the model number, now.)  That danged thing was as accurate as a laser beam.  I put the first, three rounds I fired out of it into a group about the size of a nickel from ten yards shooting offhand and with the exception of one, minor flyer the first eight fell in a group that I could cover with the palm of my hand with plenty of space left over.  The guy who owned it didn't even shoot it that well and said, "Man, I hope I don't ever give you a reason to be shooting at me!"  I didn't tell him how much of the credit his gun deserved for the group, I let him think I was just that good (I am a decent shot but that pistol made me look downright good).  I wasn't really even shooting all that slow a rate of fire.  The sights, trigger pull and the way it fit my hand just seemed to be a 'perfect storm' for accurate shooting even though I had never even held a 1911 before that point.  Was a lot of fun to shoot and the guy wanted to sell it so sometimes I have a little - just a little - twinge of remorse for not trying to work a deal with him on it.  Not really the same as the trader's/seller's remorse you are talking about but along the same lines.  I think I had just bought something or another that had drained my gun budget, though and I didn't have anything I wanted to trade.

Edited February 23, 2017 by JAB

[Handsome Rob]

Yep, a couple of years ago I had a little 2½" Rossi .44mag revolver. Lovely little pistol although it sucked to shoot full house loads. I thought I'd be better served in back country protection with a 10mm G29. Honestly, the Rossi was lighter & packed waa-aay more punch. I even shot it better.

I'd love to have that little thing back.

[JoeCorrado]

I traded a perfectly fine S&W Bodyguard .38, my first revolver, for a Century Golani Sporter. New in box with 4 mags. I included some cash in the deal too. After 2 gunsmiths worked on it, it finally runs reliably. Before it was a single shot, stovepiper that made me curse Century every time I looked at it. It's cool wall art essentially now. As soon as I can get the funds for a real Galil, I'll sell. For now I'll hold onto it as a reminder not to buy junk. I'll lose my ass on the deal when I do sell after investing so much $$ into getting it to fire reliably.

[JAB]

18 hours ago, robtattoo said:

Yep, a couple of years ago I had a little 2½" Rossi .44mag revolver. Lovely little pistol although it sucked to shoot full house loads. I thought I'd be better served in back country protection with a 10mm G29. Honestly, the Rossi was lighter & packed waa-aay more punch. I even shot it better.

I'd love to have that little thing back.

Academy used to have a model of Rossi .44 Mag that I think might have been an 'Academy exclusive' or something.  Instead of a 2.5 inch barrel, these have/had 3 inch barrels.  Academy used to put them on sale for a really good price as part of their Black Friday specials.  Before I got the 4 inch Tracker, I kind of kept an eye out for them to be part of the Black Friday sale but they haven't in the last two or three years.  I'm not even sure if they still stock those.

I had a newer Rossi snub in .357 Magnum and it was a great gun.  I traded it toward my 642 because I wanted a revolver I could pocket carry.  The 642 is my most carried gun so I don't really regret trading the Rossi toward it but I really wouldn't mind having another, some day.

Edited February 24, 2017 by JAB

[Handsome Rob]

Just looking back through some old photos, it was actually a 2"

One of the famous 'factory cut downs' imported as a 3" then cut & crowned by Taurus

If anyone has one they want rid of.....

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.
 

Edited February 24, 2017 by robtattoo

[btq96r]

I think part of my never having sold a gun is because I don't want to feel the remorse mentioned here.

[seez52]

Made a rule some years back, no selling of guns. Buying is good, but selling is a no no. Trading is also frowned upon.

Before this rule was implemented I had several I wish I still had.... Several Colt pocket 25s, Mauser HSC, Remington repo 44 black powder, Colt Grand African in 458 win mag., Charter 44 bulldog, couple of 1911s, Tec 9 with a fixed firing pin.. too many to list.  And then there's that one gun I've always kicked myself for not buying, a 4" Colt Python nickle plated from the Colt custom shop man was it sweet. Could of had it for less than five bills, but five bills was pretty steep for me back then. It's steep today, just not for a Python.

[Ray Z]

I have had guns that I bought and sold just because they were too cheap not to buy and a little ruff not to sell. But I had a m1 rifle and a m1 carbine that I had that were really nice that I sold just because we needed a new washer and drier. I miss them to this day and have never seen any that were in that condition.

[n0rlf]

I have sold a couple I regret doing it. One one that bothered me a lot was a Remington 510 target master. It was a gun my dad and I refinished when I was 12 or so. Never should have sold it. Long story but a week after my dad passed away last fall I stopped in the local pawn shop. After 25 years or so of looking I found one. Turns out to be the very one dad and I had refinished. It came home with me and will never leave again. That was true remorse. 

 

Thanks dad!

Edited February 25, 2017 by n0rlf
Another point

[Masojoh]

I sold an HK USP 45 Tactical that I bought while stationed in Germany in 1999. In 2005, I found a shotgun that I had to have and my wife said one must go out before another comes in. That was the one that was sold. I really regret that decision. That gun was special in a few ways - I bought it after I had completed Belgian Commando school, and all of the paperwork was in German.

A few years later, I sold a Remington shotgun that I received from my father. I was at a stage in my life where I said it makes no sense to have a gun that I will never likely shoot. Well, I am embarrassed by that short sighted view now. I wish I had that one in the safe still.


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[tnhawk]

I haven't had seller remorse but have had buyer remorse from finding a gun I should have bought, only to find it sold by the time I went to purchase it.

[tacops]

Colt Detective Special, .38, nickel.  Colt 1911 .45 bring back in original holster with dress linen. (Story described in another post) Then my 1894 Winchester 30-30 that I bought new in 1977 while working the sporting goods counter for Service Merchandise.  I sold it in 1986 with a half box of Super X cartridges to a co-worker who wanted it for his son.  I always wished I had kept it.  Fast forward to 2007 and I contacted the ex-co-worker and inquired about the 1894.  He advised he had sold it to another ex-co-worker in 1987 because he had bought his son a Model 7 Remington.  I tracked that guy down and learned that he had bought it just because he liked the look of "cowboy" guns and never shot it.  It was under his bed still.  I bought it back for what I originally sold it for and I also got the same half box of Super X cartridges.  It has a forever home.

[A.J. Holst]

Since I've gotten back into the .380 club with my Kimber, I wish I still had my Bersa Thunder Plus.