Used vs New handguns.

My very first long gun was a 1929 Ishevsk octagonal barreled Mosin Nagant. Consider it used. It's now costs three times what I paid but it's fun to shoot and I still have half the ammo I got with it. I hit the 8x10 target at 265 yards with iron sights and figure it's better than my old eyes let me be. Twenty rounds into a target and it's done for the day.

My LGS has great deals online. I bought my first pistol, a Ruger P345, over the counter used LNIB. It fits me extremely well and I'm quite accurate with it. Then I got a Neos new because used cost as much at the time. Then I got my Remmy 870 LNNB (no box but a cloth cover) on line & picked up in store. I doubt either used modern guns had more than 8 rounds through them. No issues ever with them. Then I got a Kahr PM 45 used in excellent condition on line and picked it up at the store. It was a one owner trade that was two years old. I worked through a feed ramp issue which may have been why it was traded back in. I had one severe jam issue but I believe it was a bad cartridge case. It's an excellent CC choice which was why I bought it.

Used guns have been pretty reliable except as noted and I look for used first.

Buying used or new the rules are the same: you research the firearm and understand what it's about. If new - really new on the market - you don't get a background history of thousands of owners who have proven it's reliable and durable - which are two completely different things.

Then you go search for that specific gun. When you find one at an attractive price, you then research the seller. It might be on Gunbroker, or at a table in a gun show, but the point is, you are now "buying the seller." Even if it's "some guy on a street corner," a scene I'd like to see in any modern metro these days. I'm wondering if he had a cart on wheels or?

Regardless, you consider all the information you are given about that seller, their reputation on the internet if available, or what you might personally know about them. If it's a "cold" face to face meeting, then you get dress, behavior, and language. You make your best assessment and live with the results.

Some have extremely high standards of "provenance" doing this - and if the results are less than exemplary, they have been noted to be highly reactionary about their expectations being deflated. One of the issues involved is usually thinking they were deceived, or that the seller was not as "honest" as they perceived. The problem is that most of it are notions in their head, none of which were discussed. If they had been, I fully believe the seller would have walked away.

There are no guarantees in any transaction, and the gun the seller offers may have issues even he/she has no knowledge of. Plenty of us buy a gun, run a few boxes of ammo thru it, carry it or put it in the safe, and a few months or years later, sell off to finance another purchase. There really isn't a long term commitment to that gun and putting 10,000 rounds thru it. Even police carrying an issue firearm are largely noted for having a casual acquaintance with it - they range fire it some but clean it more often, and could likely tell you where every scratch on the right side of the frame and grips came from, right down to the markings on that particular sidewalk. Not so much that it tends to wander up and right when the barrel warms up.

We do the best we can buying that specific gun. And some of us are a lot less particular about it than others. Whether it's a police S&W 4566 or a refurb Lenovo T420 laptop, we might have a good idea of what the model is, but until we get it in our hands, we don't really know what we have.

Usually it's ok. Some are hidden gems. Some result in dogs. Hopefully you got what you paid for.

The first two handguns I ever bought (a Ruger Single-Six in 1976 and a S&W Model 19 in 1977) were new. I have bought over 100 used ones since then.

Yeah, the whole "new vs. used" thing. It comes up from time to time.

It is a complex subject, and there are good arguments either way. You just have to determine how you personally feel about it all.

I don't want to beat a dead horse and state the obvious things that have already been mentioned. What I will say is that thinking back... for the times I had issues (which are few)... I got grief from new guns as well as used guns. And half of the grief on the used guns I take blame for; if you don't know what to look for or get too anxious to part with your money, I feel that is your own fault.


I guess my main point is that buying new isn't a guarantee that you won't get a lemon. I do feel that the odds are better for you with a new gun in general, though. There are people who refuse to buy used, but I feel they are missing out on some real jewels out there. Some of my most prized and favorite stuff is pre-owned.

Gently used is OK with me. Police agency trade ins can be excellent opportunities if you know what to look for.

Most handguns live their entire lives in a sock drawer. Possibly with the partial box of ammo that was fired at the time of purchase never to see daylight again for decades.
Like the 50 year old 10-5 I bought at the beginning of this year.

The one thing I will avoid is a bubbafied gun, I want stock or nothing.

My ratio of bad new guns to good new guns is about 1:1 now, but it used to be if I bought a new gun, it was usually problem plagued. There was one year, around 1980, where ALL the new ones were junk. Lately, I've been mostly buying new ones and they have all been perfect. Used ones have been almost perfect too. One gun needed a recoil spring, the slide was beating the slide stop. A new spring solved all it's problems.

Most of the guns I like aren't available for purchase in new condition

I pay for what I'm buying. Life really is that simple.

I work to get a good price on any thing I purchase, whatever condition that might be. If it's a rusted and pitted disaster, but I still have a use for it, I'll buy it for that use - but a guy can't expect me to pay much for it. I bought a safe full of flood damaged firearms following an insurance claim for pennies on the dollar - made good money in refurbishing them, and sold them as refurbished. If I'm buying a highly upgraded revolver, like a Bowen, Huntington, Reeder, Harton, etc custom revolver, then I fully expect to pay considerably more than the revolver might have brought new from factory. If I'm buying a used firearm which obviously has had kitchen table smithing done, then I'm not paying "like new" price for it - I bought a Remington 700 for $150 which had been krylon painted, and a timney trigger dropped in. Pitch the stock, blast the finish, cerakote, it was as good as if it would have been if I'd have bought it new. I've sold many and bought a few home-brew AR's, sometimes they're worth more than the sum of the parts, sometimes they're not - but it's surprisingly easy to tell the difference.

If I'm buying a used truck, if it's dented and rusted, as some top end noises, I might still buy it as I have use for "beater" trucks around the farm - but I'm not paying new lot price for it.

But similar to used vehicles, it's often a wise decision to let someone else knock the "new gun smell" off of a firearms purchase.

I saw a handful of threads on the "you can often buy a 44mag with a box of rounds with 6 shots missing" paradigm... I will also say, I worked at a shop for a VERY short time where the owner would take 6 rounds out of a box of ammo and make up a story to go with any big bore revolver which came through the door - which is why it was so short I worked there. Much like the used car industry - every car on the lot was owned by some little old lady who only used it to drive to church on Sunday... I remember once he got in a 458Lott Ruger No.1 at an auction - I was the one calling in the bids - but the owner would tell customers a rich guy from Kansas City had brought it in, used it for one trip to Africa then his wife sold it to his shop after he passed...

I buy firearms - not stories.

Used guns don't' seem to be as fragile or as susceptible to failure due to problems as other pre-owned items. A basic inspection and function test seem to suffice. That being said I do prefer new. Why not let the warranty and all of the "dings" originate with me?

Hi...
I have and will continue to buy both new and used guns.
I pretty much know what I am looking for and have a pretty good idea of what to look for in a used gun as far as wear and/or damage/ neglect.
I have had good success buying used guns and have only gotten rid of one a Taurus .357 that was simply the most inaccurate handgun it has ever been my misfortune to shoot.
I have bought used Colts, Rugers and S&W with no problems.

Personally, I’ve had horrible luck the past couple years on new and used guns. The new ones were put right back in the box they came in and shipped back to manufacture for repair. They own that problem. The used ones? Those problems I owned and had to pay for repairs. Never again will I buy used without range time with it. But, that’s just a streak of bad luck that will eventually end. Knock on wood.

huntsman said:

The one thing I will avoid is a bubbafied gun, I want stock or nothing.

Click to expand...

Well, there's custom and then there's bubbafied. A for me, I'd like to get my hands on a good custom Colt Single Action Army, with adjustable sights added. Or a good custom Ruger Blackhawk.

Bob Wright

I wouldn't turn down anything by Turnbull but a gun that the owner felt the need to "upgrade" then wants to sell is a no deal for me.

I just found a Used german sig226. You don't see to many of these new.

I have been buying quite a few used ones lately. Gen 3 Smith's have been finding me. I love old and used.