Guns for less than a hundred dollars

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

How many of us have a less than $100 gun that has turned out to be a good shooter?   Not talking about old odd brand pocket pistols, but that rare lucky find of something that was given to you, or found on the "junk pile" or in an antique store. that, after you rubbed the surface rust off with Hoppes Number 9, you discovered something that was all there, fully functional, and is main match legal.

It's gotta be a rare phenomenon, but it must have happened to more than a few of us.  If it happened to you, what did you find?

The most likely things I have seen in this category are single shot shotguns, but I am sure other things have turned up from time to time elsewhere.  

So who has been lucky and is willing to share?

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

The Ruger Single Six I bought new for $69.00 Aug 71 is a great shooter as is the 10-22 I got for the same price fall of 73 in Tucson

[Injun Ryder, SASS #36201L]

My Ruger 10-22 was free. My neighbor found it in his trash can and gave it to me.

[watab kid]

yes , i picked up a S&W vicyory - wwII 1942 vintage that a dog trainer had bobbed to 2" and nickel plated for training dogs , its in 38s&w , i figured it would be pretty muck shot out from the blanks he was using , but it actually worked very well at pistol distances , its actually a very nice gun even if not as original [valuable] condition 

[Jimmy Reb, SASS #54804]

My wife's mother gave me a Springfield trapdoor that was her father's. It had been in the attic for 40-50 years. Took some effort but now I  have used it in long range matches. It's fun to shoot.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

Well this is nice.   I really didn't know what to expect on this, and I am glad to see that there have been a  bunch of things that have come to pass for folks.

I got this Hopkins & Allen 12 gauge for $50 in the junk pile at a local gun store that was going out of business.  He was asking $500 for the pile.  I offered him $50 for this just this.   Of all the stuff in the pile, it was the only one that was complete.   Rubbed off the surface rust with Hoppes #9, the bore is clean, and I've shot a couple of matches with it.



This gun also got me interested in single barrel shotguns, which while they are not usually below $100, they are often under $150 in the LGSs.

I guess I could also mention this pistol that my father obtained for nothing from someone he was helping clean out their house.   Their was this, a sporterized Krag Carbine, and an Auto 5.   Got them all for free.   He traded the Auto 5 for a Beretta single barrel trap gun.   I kept the Krag and this pistol.



Don't have a pic of the Krag.

More recently, another friend gave me a Winchester 1200 in 16 gauge and a couple of BB guns he didn't want in the house.   No pics for those either.

 

[Three Foot Johnson]

 "... main match legal"

 

OK, discounting inherited and non-SASS guns, and without going back TOO far... let's say we stay in this century ~

 

Twenty years ago, I had a friend give me an NEF single shot 12g shotgun from a storage unit she was cleaning out. The barrel was damaged beyond repair, and the stock was half gone, so I found a nickeled 20g barrel on eBay for $39.51, shipped, carved a new butt stock from a 2x6, and screwed on an old Ruger butt plate from the parts box. 

 

Five days later, a neighbor gave me a Riverside Arms (Stevens) 12g SxS hammer shotgun with a broken stock and a mismatched hammer on the right side. A chunk spliced in, a bit of glue, some wooden pins, a bit of leather lace wrapped around the wrist, a few coats of Varathane or lacquer or somesuch, and it was good to go.

 

Also in '06, a new Uberti Model P Jr .38 spl for $20 in raffle tickets at a Cowboy Action shoot.

 

In '07, I got a Stevens 311 from someone on here for $100, shipped, with the disclosure the right barrel didn't always fire. I've had it apart more than once, and can't find anything wrong, so it's still intermittent on the right side. 

 

In 2013, I bought three Pietta steel frame 1858 .44's online from Cabela's Black Friday sale @ $176.94 with a free "starter kit". Three guns showed up, but only two "starter kits", and my CC statement showed they only charged me for two of the guns, $353.88 - I called them not once, but twice, and was assured I was charged for all three. I double checked my CC statement, and watched for it for the next several months, but the charge for the third one never showed up.

 

2016 - a new Henry Evil Roy .22 as the grand door prize at the Montana state championship. Maybe call it $80 or whatever the entry fee was.

 

 

 

Edited June 5 by Three Foot Johnson
Forgot raffle guns

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

52 minutes ago, Three Foot Johnson said:

"... main match legal"

 

Yep.   That's what I said.   

But folks mentioned some cool stuff that isn't, so I'll take that off the table going forward.

Edited June 5 by H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619

[Griff]

11 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

main match legal.

Ok, I got 5, if you count main match legal in the beginning.  While serving in the Navy in VN our ship had a raffle, 2nd such one, and for one single $5 bill I bought a ticket... and won a mdl 64A Winchester in .30-30.  (Yeah yeah NonStop... but I'd rather be lucky than good, and we both know I ain't good)!  Later that same tour, our Ship's Store clerk offered me a Winchester 94 in 44Mag if I'd pay the balance... $39.95... Of course I said yes!   Then in 1987, at my 2nd EOT, I bought a $5 raffle ticket for a fund raiser for the Children's Hospital of Orange County... won a pair of EMF consecutively numbered, engraved, silver & gold plated .44-40 SAs in presentation case.  If main match WB counts... then...

[Rye Miles #13621]

I got a .22 single shot bolt action rifle for $20 from a friend of a friend. I gave it to my neighbor who was getting his 10 yr old son into shooting. His 10 yr old is like 25 now and still has that rifle. I can’t remember what kind it was. 

[High Spade Mikey Wilson]

Back in the mid 2000, before starting CAS, I started collecting military surplus firearms and got a C&R FFL license. The market was flooded with military surplus guns, and there were a ton of businesses back then selling milsurps for under $100. I bought quite a few from them as well as my LGS. Last year I trimmed my collection selling off the duplicates I had, and most sold for 4 to 5 times what I paid for them.

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

I got a confederate 44 cap and ball revolver for $50 Thought I use it every now and then, sat it the safe for years, ended up giving it to a friend who shoots cap & ball as part of a trade.