Gun Buying Mistakes: The Firearms We Shouldn’t Have Bought

This week on the No Lowballers Podcast, it’s just Logan Metesh of High Caliber History and Allen Forkner of GunBroker.com behind the microphones—and they’re pulling back the curtain on their own bad decisions. After more than two decades of buying guns, both hosts have plenty of stories about the purchases that seemed like a great idea at the time… but maybe weren’t. From emotional auction buys and hype-driven calibers to impulse gun shop purchases and questionable “innovations,” Logan and Allen share the guns they probably shouldn’t have bought, the trends they fell for and the lessons learned along the way. Along the way you’ll hear about overpaying for collectible military pistols, chasing magazine hype during the early days of the .40 S&W craze, falling victim to low-quality online photos and the occasional purchase that was just too ridiculous to pass up. It’s an honest, hilarious look at the mistakes every gun collector eventually makes—and proof that sometimes the stories are worth more than the gun itself. In This Episode • The collector trap of buying too early—or paying too much • When hype and emotion override good buying judgment • The early internet era and how bad photos fooled collectors • The rise and fall of the .40 S&W “future of handguns” era • When manufacturers release the version you actually wanted… right after you buy one • The weird impulse buys that seemed like a good idea at the time • Why some guns stay in the safe purely for the story behind them • The strange economics of collectible firearms and speculation Question of the Week What’s the dumbest gun purchase you’ve ever made? Maybe you overpaid at an auction. Maybe you bought into hype around a new caliber. Or maybe you impulse-bought something that looked cool but turned out to be totally useless. Drop your stories in the comments—we want to hear them. Listen, Watch and Subscribe If you appreciate thoughtful conversations about firearms history, hunting culture and the stories behind iconic guns, be sure to subscribe to the No Lowballers Podcast. New episodes feature collectors, historians, writers and industry insiders who care about more than just specs and trends. And as always: 👍 Like the episode 💬 Leave a comment 🔁 Share it with a fellow firearms enthusiast 📲 Subscribe and follow ⭐ Leave a review wherever you listen Every rating, review, and share helps us bring more firearms history and industry insight each week. Follow No Lowballers on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠ for behind-the-scenes content, historical deep dives and weekly drops every Thursday. Find Logan at ⁠⁠High Caliber History⁠⁠ and Allen at ⁠⁠GunBroker⁠⁠.