Display guns

Status
Not open for further replies.

CrypticStatic

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2012
Messages
30
What are your opinions on purchasing display guns if it's the last one they have in stock?

If the gun seem's to be in great condition except for a few wear marks from being handled and such. Would you still purchase it as it still being sold as new?
 
I won`t, as a rule. I would worry about how the gun was handled, by how many people ? Was the slide slammed home, dry fired (it does matter after a certain amount), things like that. If there was a good price break, I wanted it real bad, and it looked real good, maybe. Or find the same gun online or somewhere else.
Hope you have good luck.
 
For the most part I can't remember when was the last time I bought a display model. Typically the gun shop or store has a few more in the back. And like others have already stated I would buy the display model if: 1) it's the last one and a gun that's very hard to come by, 2) after close examination it appears to be in perfect working order (also free of any cosmetic issues with the finish), and 3) that I receive a fair discount for buying it.
 
Depends on the gun. A revolver, probably not - with all the mutants flipping the cylinder around and the utter lack of revolver etiquette out there. A modern striker gun, no problem. Honestly, if some dingus can damage a glock from the case while in the store - not a gun I would want to buy any way. Scuffs and handling marks don't matter to me if I'm just going to stuff it in a holster and sweat all over it the next day anyway. If it's going to be a safe queen, it would not be a display gun. Who buys a safe queen anyway?
 
IMO, it sort of defeats the purpose of buying new, which is to have a firearm, straight from the manufacturer, which hasn't been
mishandled, or mistreated, by somebody else.
 
Is there a significant price break or do you have some particular attachment to the seller?

It may or may not be worthwhile to seek the firearm elsewhere.

No particular attachment to the seller at all. It's a Sig p365XL which the store ended up giving me a discount on since it was the display model and the only one they had left in stock. The only mark I could tell on it was on the slide a little bit where I could see because the gun was racked and obviously as it was a display model I'm sure it was racked a few times at least.

Other than that the gun looks brand new after a good cleaning and lube.

and as obturation said, which makes a lot of sense to me too. If a gun can't handle being handled by people then it's probably not worth owning it. I didn't think of it that way before hand but I would agree thats true too.

I was hesitant at first to buy it cuz it was a display model but I ended up getting it anyway with an added discount.
 
Last edited:
I took my SIG to the range today and went through 250 rounds of range ammo of several different brands and it shot great! Only had one fail to return to battery but that only happened once using some cheaper ammo that I had. Same kind that I ended up having a squib load on my SA sub compact so I'm placing the blame on that particular ammo.

Other than that it's a great pistol, I'm loving it already!
 
Most of my gun purchases have been made in smaller shops where the gun on display was the only one they had. Choosing another has only been an option for me a couple of times and I have chosen the display model before because I liked it better. It can't possibly have as much wear being handled by other shoppers as I'll put on it after one shooting session. This is a non-issue with me.
 
No qualms about buying a used or display firearm, 99.5% of everything at a gun show fits that description. Even new guns get handled by hundreds of lookers unless it's NIB and never been opened.
 
I haven't bought a new gun out of a shop in over 30 years, but I can't see a problem unless its really scratched up. You are going to handle it anyway, so it would be a non issue to me. If I got a discount because of it, great, but it would not stop me from buying. It would still have the factory warranty, so I wouldn't care. Many years ago, I bought a lot of S&W revolvers from a dealer in the area who is long dead, but he would insist that you dry fire any gun you were think about purchasing. He wanted to make sure you were comfortable before spending money. This of course meant that all revolvers would have a turn line even though they had not been fired. I have a NIB Model 27-2 with a 5" barrel that was purchased from this dealer in 1972-72. Never fired but has a turn line. I don't think that little be of handling hurts the value.
 
As long as it's not scratched up and seems functional, I don't care.

I even figure that if enough people examine it, if it has an obvious problem, someone will eventually notice it. Thus many other customers and the sales staff have examined my new gun for me. I don't mind that at all.
 
Most of my gun purchases have been made in smaller shops where the gun on display was the only one they had. Choosing another has only been an option for me a couple of times and I have chosen the display model before because I liked it better. It can't possibly have as much wear being handled by other shoppers as I'll put on it after one shooting session. This is a non-issue with me.

Same here. As a matter of fact, my LGS will tell you "no" with a straight face if you ask for a display discount. They dont keep many in stock, and if you dont buy it, someone else will. I don't see that as bad business or rude. Its business supply and demand.

Would I prefer a new one from the back? Sure. However, i have never had an issue with a display model. My LGS rotates stock enough by NOT keeping a bunch on hand that i can be pretty sure that the display model was not mishandled for months on end. They tend to rotate out stock with in days or weeks.
 
If it was a special model, commemorative, fine top of the line with collector value, no. Regular gun, decent price discount, new gun warranty, I don't see a problem.

Dealers at shows put their new guns out for the public to handle all the time and expect new gun price.
 
As far as I'm concerned, a long-time display gun is a used gun.
It has probably taken more of a beating than most actual used guns.
I'd just tell the dealer, "Just charge the discount as advertising."
Luckily for all concerned, I only buy used guns... .
 
What are your opinions on purchasing display guns if it's the last one they have in stock?

If the gun seem's to be in great condition except for a few wear marks from being handled and such. Would you still purchase it as it still being sold as new?

Display guns, used guns -with firearms it relatively easy to inspect critical components. Without abuse they seldom go bad. Much easier than buying just about a used anything else. Wouldn't bother me one bit buying a display model. And if it was marked up a bit I would expect a discount.
 
I only buy used guns... .

I stopped doing this. I used to be big on gun show buys, but that was decades ago. Today's gun shows suck. Used guns, whether at shows or on online classifieds, seem to sell for 80% or more of the new price; I'm not paying that. At that point, I might as well as put in an extra hundred bucks and buy new. Gun shows seem to no longer allow private sellers to have a table, so I'm going to have to do the NICS check anyway, AND pay 80% of new? AND pay entrance fee and parking fee? No thanks.

I stopped buying through local online classifieds because, honestly, that's some dodgy stuff there. Three people have been robbed in shot in my town this year buying guns from online classifieds. Gunbroker prices are too high plus I have to pay shipping and an FFL fee, AND fill out a NICS? Never mind, I'll just go to Sportsman's Warehouse. Bud's can't compete with my LGS on anything due to shipping and FFL fees.

I just don't see the attraction on used guns anymore.
 
D.B. Cooper writes:

I just don't see the attraction on used guns anymore.

I certainly do, especially if it's one that is no longer available, or if the current version is not as appealing to me as an older one. For example, I recently bought a used 67-1 because that's what I was issued my first day on the job, and I wanted another for nostalgia. I wasn't issued a 67-8, or whatever they're up to now.

It really just depends on what I want, and what I want it for. But, yes, I do agree that late-model, used samples of guns still available new have a very hard time competing with the "actual new." The prices on new guns are just too low these days in many cases.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top