Next best deal was a Soviet Nagant pistol and rifle. $150 for the two with several hundred rounds of ammo. Shot up the ammo and sold them both for more. It's a nice feeling to pay peanuts for your defeated former arch enemy's weapons!
I purchased a Kimber 1911 Tactical Pro II for $500. I had been really mistreated, didn't even look like a kimber as first glance. But I gave it alittle TLC and now it looks
better than a new one. Got it reblued and the Framed was harded chromed so it was an awesome two tone.
I loaned a buddy $30 some years back and he gave me his Marlin Golden 39A to hold. Few weeks later he says, "For another $5 you can keep the gun." I did.
And shame on you for not giving your buddies dibs!
My best deal to date?
Probably my Yugo underfolder with wood furniture. It came with little rounds down the pipe, 5 or so mags, 200+ rounds and a new ergo grip. All for $400.
How about a free Remington 11-87 from my brother. He got it in a large lot of guns. He and his buddies split up the guns and paid reasonable prices for each, the 11-87 was left but the cost of the lot was already accounted for. I had been looking for one for duck and goose hunting, so my brother sent it to me for nothin'. It's good to have a big brother...
DPMS .308 (knockoff AR-10) $500.00 It was new, fired about 50 rounds and he was hurting for cash. I turned around and sold it 2 weeks later at the indy 1500 for $1400.00 at the height of the "craze". Also a singleshot NEF .410 for free!!! I still have that one!
On one of my remodel jobs, for a client that I have known for years, one of her son in laws brought back 3 shotguns that he had borrowed from her. They had been her recently deceased husband's. He said that one of them wasn't working. He described the problem it was having to her while I was laying out some samples for her to look at. I said that I was somewhat familiar with semi-automatic shotguns and would take a look at it if she would like me to. I took the gun, a S&W Model 1000 home with me to look at. I broke it down and did some research online and found out what the problem was. After I installed the new parts and gave the gun a thorough cleaning, it worked just fine. I then returned the gun to her with the reciept for the nearly $30.00 worth of parts that I had purchased. She thanked me for fixing the shotgun............and then gave it to me. Nice bonus!
The best deal I got was $125 for a Charter Arms Undercover .38 snubby which I purchased from a dealer at the 1500 back in the early 80's. Only problem was that when I took it to the range to fire it, found out that it didn't have a firing pin!!! That cost me another $65, which made it not so much of a good deal.
The really best deal I got was when I lent a buddy of mine a .22 rifle to shoot the rabbits in his garden, a Glenfield Model 25 bolt action. Well to make a long story short, I didn't see him for quite some time and when I did it turns out that the rifle had gotten stolen along with some of his guns. He told me that he had been looking for a replacement, but couldn't find one. Wanted to know if I would take this Mossburg bolt action 12 ga. deer gun with a scope instead. I jumped on that deal in a heartbeat, the scope alone was worth more than the rifle being replaced.
Bought a Ruger Mini 14 (originally bought sometime in the 80's) for $350 from my step-father. He told me that he would sell it for $300 - $350. I told him I would give him $350 since I know what they cost today. Felt pretty good about the purchase.