High Road Ethics Question

I think the ethical thing to do is to disclose known faults to a potential buyer. If you don't want the gun simply because you don't like it or because it doesn't function or shoot as well as you'd like then those aren't faults, they are simply opinions, and you have no ethical obligation to disclose opinions so long as the gun functions as it should.

I tell it as it is and I expect the same but due diligence and research is easy to do.

Tell it like it is....is generally good advice in life. That’s what I’d do. Be totally honest “look mate, this things a dog. I can’t get it too shoot. I’ll sell it to you but I wanted you to know first.”

Edit: the Romanian trainer I bought from a guy was, as he called it, a piece of s*** he couldn’t get it to feed rounds no matter what he did. It’s become one of my favorite rifles because I loved researching the problem and tinkering with it. I got it fixed and it feeds like a dream now.

There’s someone out there looking for a dog of a rifle to tinker with.

I usually just don’t sell it. I put dogs in the back of the safe until I have the gumption and motivation to fix it or send it back to the manufacturer.

This is the reason I almost exclusively buy Glocks and Rugers. Both companies will make things right so you’re not stuck with a POS. There are other great gun manufacturers but these are my two favorites.

I just can’t sell a crappy product to somebody. I don’t know how politicians do it!!!

I have never sold or given a problematic weapon with out full disclosure of the problematic issues to the new owner. A long-long time in the past I had a 1911 series pistol from Crown City that was problematic. I returned the pistol under warranty. when it came back there were still problems. I stripped down the pistol and had the frame flame cut in to sections.

Almost every gun I've sold has been for personal reasons, not a problem, but I always share that info
too even though I don't think I'm obligated to.
Example, I sold an M&P 9mm because I didn't like casings going straight over my head or hitting my hat brim when shot from retention. The gun was flawless and acurate otherwise.
I sold a Kel-tec .380 because it didn't like to feed certain ammo that I like in my other .380's.
In both cases I just laid it all out for the buyer. It's also true that I really didn't care if I sold them or not, but that's usually how I am anyway, at least with guns. Lol

The denotation of “fault” is important in answering the question. It usually means anything that makes a thing or person dissatisfactory to oneself. The word “defective” is entirely different as it denotes not working as it should. I think defects should be disclosed to a buyer. So is a trigger you have come to hate a defect? I do not think so if is in its original state when you acquired it or was a commonly reviewed criticism of the gun. However if the magazine drops out of the grip now and then I think it should be disclosed. Yardage, Yama, yardage......

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s not called the golden rule for nothing.

I go with the Matthew 7:12 concept more than the used car salesman way of thinking. If I am selling something it’s pretty obvious I don’t want it and not because I need the money but that doesn’t mean it’s a POS either.

If you feel that you can’t give an accurate description and don’t want to feel bad about selling something, sell face to face or offer a short time frame for return of firearm upon buyer inspection.

Not only in selling, trading, or dealing with firearms but with all dealings with others in life the advice of treating others the way you want to be treated should be our guiding example. If this is done what is the question? It is the right thing to do.

I will admit to having made an unethical purchase or two in the past. I bought an 1100 from a guy that wouldn't feed. I knew why and bought the gun at a very good price. If I had it to do over I'd probably tell him what was wrong and give him a chance to back out. But I think he was just turning it for a dime anyway.

I had a chance recently to buy an A300 from a lady who's husband passed. All she knew was 12ga were on walmart shelf for $400 or less and would have sold it to me for half that. I gave her $600 for it and still feel like maybe I should have paid more.

I bought a new S&W Model 60 way back when, and it must have been a Mon. morning after a drunken weekend gun.

There were at least 5 problems with it, including two which keep it from operating. How this thing was able to pass the most minimal of quality control I’ll never know.

Returned to the factory, then had to return it again because they hadn’t fixed everything. Second time the gun was fine, but I had lost confidence in it.

Since at that point the gun was operating correctly, I didn’t feel the need to notify the gun store I traded with. I had done the heavy lifting of having it put right and there were no other problems except my being upset about the whole thing, and being pissed at S&W for releasing such a POS.

Full disclosure IMHO. The Golden Rule, or Honesty Is The Best Policy.
It works both ways. Years ago I got my 1943 Walther made P-38 at a good price because it was "broken"-the safety wouldn't work. Got it home, got out my books.....the firing pin was broken. A new pin for $3 (?), a half hour's work......

Honor is a gift a man gives himself.
I recently purchased a foreign made 1911, I wanted to put a Kimber 22 conversion on the frame.
Upon firing it, the trigger would not reset...I contacted the seller, he refused to make thing right...this is the first time in 40 years of buying, selling and trading I had this happen.
I have always been completely honest in my dealings and if there is a problem or potential problem I always pont it out...never had a problem sleeping at night.

Bought a Ruger Old Army excellent condition except it has a hair trigger as measured in francrions of an ounce. One just can’t know when buying sight unseen.
My own policy is to list defects.

The only "dog" I owned was an 870 Super Magnum Express, couldn't get it to reliably eject even after a trip to the gunsmith, I gave it away with full disclosure to a family member.

I have purchased several firearms from people who sometimes were honest, sometimes not about function and reliability, in each instance it was a case of a good cleaning and proper lubrication. One item needed a small part, inexpensive part. I get these at a nice price and they're worth more than I paid.

I have sold a few guns that I couldn't hit crap with. Told the buyers up front and they came back and said they had no accuracy issues. Clocked barrels, sights off center are cosmetic issues and most of the time are only cosmetic. Folks make far too big of a deal of them online. Those are things like scratches and dings that should easily be noticed by a buyer. Giving some form of warranty to the buyer is something done by manufacturers for new firearms, not by owners of used firearms. IMHO, if folks want a warranty, they should buy new, similar to cars, motorcycles and ATVs/UTVs. Heck even major manufacturers like Ruger give no warranty on new guns, but still stand behind them. If you glue a broken stock together and it breaks on the first shot the new buyer takes, yep, you should compensate them, but other than that, you have no control over how they use it or care for it. While I don't expect anything "used" to be perfect, I also don't expect folks to hide details of major problems, and this goes as well for me when I sell. Be honest and fair. Can't tell you how many times I've asked a salesman in a LGS about the condition of a used gun and been told "don't know a thing about it, just took it in trade." I know darn well it was probably looked over with a fine tooth comb before it was accepted and any little problem was a major reduction in trade value.

I would not sell a gun without disclosing any problems that it had and would hope the same when buying used guns.
We check into firearms before we buy them to see if there are problems with a model in some cases we buy them anyway. The purpose we have for the firearm or the cool factor of the gun may outway problems with a specific model.

I've bought used guns that had issues I didn't know about, and didn't get butthurt over it. Most issues can be fixed. If you don't want to get it fixed, sell it cheap and say what's wrong with it.

I've been buying used guns long enough to know up front that sellers lie and will say just about anything to get rid of their POS gun that doesn't work for them. I take that into consideration when I'm looking at a used gun. It's great that many on this board are upright guys/gals, but definitely not the norm. Are all used guns for sale defective? No. But, enough are that you need to consider that up front when you're about to buy a gun. This is where buying from place that allows feedback is key. People have no problem calling out a person who sells crap. For places that don't have feedback, you are basically throwing the dice.

My experience is mostly from online dealings ...

I disclose everything that I know about the firearm that I am selling ... plus beaucoup well-lit, focused digipics.

From what I have experienced, assuming that the hundred+ Sellers with whom I have dealt represent a median, I am in the minority, unfortunately.