Who are the goofs who don't clean up their trade-ins?

Mark1964 said:

Sort of rhetorical question ('cause I know it's not us), but who are the goofs who don't clean up their trade-ins?

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I'd never consider trading a gun in unless I was desperate (since I can get more selling it) and if I was desperate, I wouldn't bother cleaning it unless it was going to increase the price that I got for the weapon. Chances are it wouldn't so....

I've gotten a few great deals in the past due to a used gun being dirty. Blueing and very mild surface rust look much worse when dirty - leading a few of the local shops to grade and price them 'competetively'. Noticing soot on a gun isn't bad to me if everything is in working order and checks out.

Cleaning it myself is worth saving $50-100 to me. I ain't buying fancy stuff most of the time, though...

Mars5l said:

I kinda question why didnt the store selling it didn't clean it? I think every used gun I've bought was cleaned. Even one store ive bought used from they give them a test fire since they have their own range

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I agree with that, when you trade in a car, the dealership doesn't put it out on the lot dirty, they clean it up to make it more presentable, and worth what they're trying to re-sell it for.

That said, I suppose it depends on what kind of store you're in, looking for used guns. A gun store that sells nothing but firearms and related merchandise (holsters, magazines, ammo, etc.) would seem to me much more likely to clean a trade-in than a pawn shop, where the store operator may not be as familiar with take-down procedures, or cleaning techniques, or just wants a fast turnover.

I recently bought a trade-in commemorative that took me more than 4 hours with Flitz and Hoppes #9 to get looking new again. I think if the seller had cleaned it first, he might could have asked more for it, giving him some latitude in bargaining price.

From time to time I consign guns with my local LGS. Last time I took one in he told me that I was one of the few who cleaned guns before putting them up for sale. This just floored me, since I clean mine each time I return from shooting them.

Back in July I bough a used Ruger SR1911 SS. It was in excellent condition and everything I could see was clean. When I got it home and broke it down it was clean as a whistle inside and also dry as a sack of flour. I applied lube and it's a great shooter.

When I worked in a gun shop I was amazed at the sorry condition of guns people would bring in for consignment. Dirty inside and out, covered in surface rust, just ugly. Then they'd want top dollar for them. I cleaned a lot of guns.

I've traded a few guns in to shops. Honestly can't say I've cleaned every gun I've ever owned. I've picked up a few guns over the years that were non-functional that wasn't disclosed to me, but I've never gotten rid of one that way. No offense to anyone, but 2 1911's, a Browning A5 and some 9mm clunker I picked up were re-assembled wrong rendering them single shots. Scrub the bore, wipe them down, and lube them. If you have the ability to fully strip them to clean, then do so by all means. Just know your limitations (which is why I haven't fully cleaned every gun I've owned)

Knowing 3 different instructors for 3 different police departments, I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard about firearms so neglected they couldn’t function at all. So, I would say people that view them as tools they don’t use would be at the top of the list.

Sort of rhetorical question ('cause I know it's not us), but who are the goofs who don't clean up their trade-ins?

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I do appreciate the credit of being smarter than a goof that trades in a gun.

The “why didn’t the shop clean it” questions had me go check Brownells most recent survey of labor charges.

https://www.brownells.com/userdocs/miscellaneous/shoppricesurvey.pdf

$50-180 for clean and oil, wouldn’t leave a lot of margin on a used pistol that sells for $199 new.

True that .... my gunny would’ve had me drawn and quartered if I fell in with even a dusty let alone dirty weapon.

I sent a gun to Walther for some warranty work.

The paperwork included a disclaimer that dirty guns would be charged a 35 dollar cleaning fee. I support that. Clean your guns you filthy dogs!

It gets hard when you have a large collection and take a lot of them to a range day.

But... Foaming bore cleaner, clp, and boresnakes are your friend!

Only firearm I ever owned and didn't clean was a Kel-tec P11. I traded some old cell phones for it, hoping it would be a good carry gun for the wife. She didn't like it and it was sold to a local gun store before we even got it home. Otherwise, I have cleaned everything else.

jmorris said:

Knowing 3 different instructors for 3 different police departments, I can’t tell you how many stories I have heard about firearms so neglected they couldn’t function at all. So, I would say people that view them as tools they don’t use would be at the top of the list.



I do appreciate the credit of being smarter than a goof that trades in a gun.

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Once a year (at one of our trimester training sessions) the armorers will take everyone’s gun into the armory and do a once-over.

These guys have told me they find and clean out from the firing mechanisms of the issued Glocks pieces of lint, water, rust, sand, powder fouling, too much oil, too little oil....the list is nearly endless.

The slobs with real issues will have a memo sent to their captain about the poor state of their duty equipment. Does it help? I don’t know because every year the scene is repeated over and over again.

Hollywood has created this belief that LEOs are Gun-savvy pistoleros who on a daily basis wreck three cars in a pursuit and then fire fifty rounds in a final gunfight...and then are back at their desk within ten minutes on the hunt for the bad guys cohorts...in reality my 29 years (and counting) has shown me that about 95% of the day is spent filling out paperwork, talking to people or driving from one place to another.

It has also proven to me that because one owns a gun, or even carries a gun as a part of their daily equipment, it doesn’t mean one cares enough about them to take care of the gun.

Stay safe.

Somebody said it---
Never let the Sun
set
On a dirty gun !

I used to buy guns at a large chain store the had a “Gun Library”. The guns may have had signs of being handled, finger prints and such, but they were clean. Along about 2017 when another big store chain bought them all that changed. They had used guns that were filthy.

I will not by a used gun from a dealer or store that isn’t properly cleaned. If they don’t have the time or inclination to clean it they don’t need my money, period! Same goes for dealers at gun shows.

When I sell a gun I clean it up, inside and out. If it has a defect I fix it or point it out and make it known.

I see a dirty gun as a gun that may have other issues or problems. I won’t buy from gun slobs either. If it’s filthy it’s also probably broke or about to be.

My 2 cents.

I picked up a Rem 1100 that was pretty heavily used. Just running the action you could feel the resistance. I tore it down and literally managed to get a PILE of gunk out of it. Suuuper smooth and easy shooter now. Even runs the cheap Val-u-pak type ammo.

Buy a dirty gun? Sure, I can clean it. Buy a clean gun, sure, I can get it dirty.
"Clean" will be in the eye of the beholder.
For me, "dirty" is "does not operate reliably."

It took a long time to break the boot camp over-cleaning habit.

That's not no cleaning, but considered cleaning. Like my Nylon 66--that's beast does not disassemble except to take it to bits. So, it gets a detail cleaning rather infrequently. But, it runs. It has horrified those still addicted to boot-camp-clean; but, it works on demand, which is good enough for me.

Now, the Mossberg M44 get more cleaning--but, it's simple to clean that beast, and it sits longer in the safe, too. Boot-camp-clean--eh, sorta.

I have a lot of things to keep track of--HVAC filters, vehicle maintenance schedules, daily medications, policing up trash in visited places; putting shopping carts in the kraals and laagers.

Riomouse911 said:

Once a year (at one of our trimester training sessions) the armorers will take everyone’s gun into the armory and do a once-over.

These guys have told me they find and clean out from the firing mechanisms of the issued Glocks pieces of lint, water, rust, sand, powder fouling, too much oil, too little oil....the list is nearly endless.

The slobs with real issues will have a memo sent to their captain about the poor state of their duty equipment. Does it help? I don’t know because every year the scene is repeated over and over again.

Hollywood has created this belief that LEOs are Gun-savvy pistoleros who on a daily basis wreck three cars in a pursuit and then fire fifty rounds in a final gunfight...and then are back at their desk within ten minutes on the hunt for the bad guys cohorts...in reality my 29 years (and counting) has shown me that about 95% of the day is spent filling out paperwork, talking to people or driving from one place to another.

It has also proven to me that because one owns a gun, or even carries a gun as a part of their daily equipment, it doesn’t mean one cares enough about them to take care of the gun.

Stay safe.

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Well, the other 5% is spent trying to agree on where to go for a meal break. And the captains ain't gonna do anything because the unions are so strong that officers won't get held accountable for not maintaining their equipment (that stuff doesn't get on cell-phone videos by citizens, end up on the evening news and spawn "protests" in the streets). Fortunately there's still enough old-school guys who are gun guys working on the job up here, but that cadre is diminishing quickly with every passing year's retirements.

To put my original post in context -- I wasn't calling anyone here out as a "goof" for buying a dirty gun; as a couple of you have pointed out, sometimes, if you know what you're looking at, you can get a screamin' deal by buying something that might look a bit disreputable. I got a great deal on a cherry Series 70 that was carbon-crusted, wearing some old Pachmyrs (one of the medallions long gone), smudged as heck, but I took a chance, bought it, cleaned and shined her up, put some old Colt medallion grips on her, and got a pistol I could probably sell for at least $500 more than I bought it for ... And she's a tack-driver to boot.

My point was, though, I don't know why anyone here would be surprised to learn that there exists a huge number of slobs who buy, own, shoot and sell firearms. Just like any other group of people.

I clean everything of mine that I want to sell- guns, trucks, motorcycle, etc. People don't want top buy dirty stuff.