Share Your C&R Blunders!

[Bobby Ricigliano]

I'd like to hear who else has made dumb decisions, outright blunders or secret confessions regarding C&R firearms!

I'll start:

I sanded the crap out of several SKS stocks and actually thought they looked better afterwards.

I have stripped and refinished several Mosin stocks.

I actually like Mitchell's Mausers M48 rifles. I have a couple of them and don't see them as fakes compared to their pimp shined renumbered K98's.

I stupidly sold a pre-war Standard Modell Mauser and have not been able to find an affordable replacement since.

I paid too much for a K98 stock shipped from Europe and overlooked the fact that it had been altered with a deep bolt cut out. Even though the seller clearly said so in the posting.

I grabbed my safe queen Persian 98/29 instead of my "shooter" 98/29 and shot it all day without noticing that I did not mean to ever shoot this rifle.

I busted my forehead open getting ringed by a scope on my K31 due to improper eye relief.

There are probably more moments of buffoonery to share, but that is what I recall off the top of my head.

OK, let's hear it...time to come clean and give others a laugh at your expense

[OniKoroshi]

My biggest mistake ever was deciding to get a 03FFL!

[mosinnagantm9130]

One of my 91/30s has a pretty messed up counterbore. It's like they counterbored one side of the barrel, but left the other side of the barrel with rifling almost to the muzzle. Predictably, you can't really predict if you'll hit what you're aiming at with it or not lol

In my defense, when I bought it, there was a gob of cosmoline hiding how jacked up the counterbore is

[beerman]

Many many years ago I acquired a WW2 Rem Rand 1911A1. I thought it would look cool with the stamping filled white (stupid act #1) I then proceeded to use KILZ to accomplish my deed (stupid act #2)Some of the white got into the pores It looks like hell and I'm afraid of loosing any finish to try and remove it (that would be stupid act #3) So I live with it.
Oh Stupid act #4 was selling my mint SVT40 years ago...didn't think Id miss it at the time.

[Bainter1212]

One of my 91/30s has a pretty messed up counterbore. It's like they counterbored one side of the barrel, but left the other side of the barrel with rifling almost to the muzzle. Predictably, you can't really predict if you'll hit what you're aiming at with it or not lol

In my defense, when I bought it, there was a gob of cosmoline hiding how jacked up the counterbore is

I had a 91/30 with a jacked up counterbore just like yours!

What is my river confession, you ask?
I sporterized that 91/30. Yep, I cut several inches of the barrel, recrowned, new stock etc.
The only virgin milsurp I have permanently altered.

[DesertWalker]

Way back in the dark ages, I got a good deal on a T-53. It had a crappy stock, as most of them do. I decided that since I had little money into it, and it had a crappy stock, that I would refinish it. I had some old stripper liquid......and you guessed it. I managed to screw up the wood plus mess up the blueing on the barrel. Later on, through this board, I learned I should have left the barrel alone, as it was not nearly as bad as I thought it was.....for a T-53 that is.

[DennisCA]

I made two mistakes;
First - I bought a 91-30 from Big 5 a couple of years ago.
(Everyone knows mosins are a c&r gateway drug)
Second - I got c&r license
The rest is a blur

[NOTABIKER]

Sold my 1944 Tula PU sniper, needed funds for something i cant even remember .

[SMarquez]

Bubba'd a super clean 96 Swedish Mauser. That was in the early 90's when nobody cared. I still have it and to make it worse, the smith that drilled for the peep sights drilled them a little off. The wood on it is beautiful walnut.

[musketjon]

Sold a Tula 91/30 that I had never shot to a co-worker a few years ago. Last year, said co-worker used said 91/30 to end his life. Bummer. It had a pristine pre war stock.
Jon

[huntingsocal]

Mine was only a couple weeks ago. Went into a LGS to find several C&R on consignment. I did pick up a couple but there was one that I debated about. It was in a caliber that I don't currently collect and thought "I don't really want to add another caliber" so I passed. For some reason I didn't bother to look up anything about it on my phone while I was in there, too excited about the other two rifles I was getting and the store was closing.

I didn't think much of it until about a week later when I saw one on gunbroker that wasn't as nice and already bid up to three times the price of the one that I saw. Checked completed auctions and confirmed it wasn't a fluke and they regularly sell for at least double of the one I saw in the shop

I immediately called the shop and it was already sold. The kicker was when I was in there they said it had been in there for a couple months already and hardly anybody was paying attention to "all that old stuff in the corner"

I've been waking up every morning for a week now kicking myself

[Armistice]

^ That sucks. My LGS was going out of business and they said I could buy their .32ACP at 2 for 1 at cost. I bought 5. Next day found out that it's not plentiful ammo and expensive, so went back to buy more after work and they had sold the rest during the day

My worst overpay was my RIA 1903 for $1,212. Made up for it with a free bubba'd M39

[23 Blast]

Some years ago, when I was young and immature, I sold off a somewhat extensive collection of milsurps (well, it was only like 8 or so guns) both because I needed the money, and because my tastes were trending toward plastic fantastic and tactical mall ninjery.

Included in the gun dump:

Soviet SKS
SVT-40
Polish M44
Finn M91 (with very clear Czarist markings on receiver)
a nice Czech VZ24 Mauser which was the very first gun I ever owned. Actually, it wasn't that nice, being a Big 5 backroom cosmoline drenched, no-blue having worn-to-the-hub example of a Mauser, but it was my first gun, and the action was so, so, soooooo smooth (which I of course never appreciated at the time) and I could have likely turned it into a nice custom rifle based off the action, or just kept it as "my first gun."

[I Swan]

I rarely make such mistakes but I have. I stupidly passed up a Finn Mosin bayonet a few years ago for $25! Like one of the ones for a M28. I still think about that. What was I thinking?

[Bainter1212]

My first gun was a Turk Mauser that I bought at Big 5 in 2000 for $50.
Several years ago, my (no good) cousin expressed interest in going shooting with me. I took him out and he liked that Mauser, so I gave it to him.

He proceeded to dry fire it in his room until the firing pin broke. I fixed it for him, but not happily.

I was hoping that rifle might teach him responsibility, but no dice so far.

Wish I had that rifle back.