Are used guns better now?

[bushmaster1313]

I get the feeling that the used guns on the market are probably better now compared to the world of our grandparents and great grandparents.

Today, many gun owners have more than one gun and put perfectly good guns up for sale for any number of reasons.

I am guessing that 50 and 75 years ago many only had one gun and it only got sold when something went wrong.

 

[Fishslayer]

I will buy a used (pre-'82) S&W revolver over anything they're putting out today.

Come to think of it, all my revolvers were bought used, and all my bottom feeders were bought new.

A lot of "old revolvers" come on the market when kids want to sell off dad's/grandad's old gun(s).

I know I see more used guns in the cases around tax season & Christmas season.

 

[mljdeckard]

I think there are a couple of factors that may make them better now than they were a few generations ago.

One is quality. Modern guns are actually made to be a lot tougher, particularly modern service pistols. They are designed to far outlive their owners. I'm not saying it's impossible to damage them, but you have to get creative. Particularly polymer guns like Glocks.

The other thing is, it used to be unheard of for someone to buy a gun and sell it almost immediately. Now it happens all the time for a variety of reasons. Our grandfathers regarded such things much differently. They would live with something that they didn't find to be perfect and made it work. We regard things as being much more expendable. I think there is also a lot of short attention span and 'spoiledness' driving this as well. "I bought it, but then I decided I didn't like it and got rid of it." If my grandfather bought a gun, he kept it for LIFE. I know, because I have several of his guns now.

I also think, that in the current economy, there is a lot of pressure for people who filled their closets with toys to learn the difference between 'need' and 'want' the hard way. Yes, I want five service pistols, but I only need one. The rest go to the pawn shop in pretty good conditions.

The result of all of this is that the quality of guns in pawn shops is much different than it was when I was a kid. A lot of current, like-new guns available. I have started to give the benefit of the doubt to used guns that gave me the willies before. I just got my wife a like-new XD-9 for $300. I could handle a few more deals like that.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

People don't tinker on plastic like they do on steel. Secondly, with todays plastic disposable culture folk don't think about the insides of things..


Edit: Mljdeckard makes some very good points.

 

[shiftyer1]

I work in a pawnshop, most guns that come in are in pretty good to almost new condition, some are lightly used but over all in decent used condition. Some come in trashed and go cheap. I've had many people come in and sell a gun they bought and hated....maybe I had something they liked better.

If you know your guns you can really score in a pawnshop. The guns that are rusted on the outside go super cheap I own a few 25 dollar 22's, of course they had broke stocks and looked like they've been in a swamp for 20 years, but a little scrubbing and some glue and they're perfectly usable. I'd say that people dont appreciate guns like they once did........It's gone from a tool to a hobby.

 

[owlhoot]

I'm pushing 80 years, so I bought many used guns fifty and sixty years ago. I NEVER got one that had a problem other than worn bluing. As a matter of fact, the question of customer service was a question that was never asked. I am still amazed at all the talk on the forum about having to send guns back for warranty work.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Many states have banned the "Pot" metal guns.

Police turn ins remove many of the cheaper guns because they are paying more than a pawn or gun shop would.

I only really look at S&W, Dan Wesson,Colt and Ruger and as stated in post #5 condition is everything.

Two years ago ,when the stock market dropped more than usual, there where many quality handguns in the shops near retirement communities and each pawn shop had one or two.
Other than the higher end gun shops, right now there are few quality used handguns locally.

My Father and Grandfathers were not gun collectors, just had a few for practical use. Mainly a .22 rifle and revolver for controling pigeons and rats with .22 shorts and hunting with a 12ga. or a .30-30.
These were normally bought at Sears, JCpenny's or other similar stores or as a hand me down from a friend.

We are also lucky today to have so many more decades of fine firearms to choose from.
Guns that were too expencive to buy new in 1961 are still reliable and some are quite reasonably priced.

 

[Reloadron]

I will buy a used (pre-'82) S&W revolver over anything they're putting out today.

+1

The same holds true for me when it comes to older Colt and other top brand names of years ago. When it comes to pistols I'll hands down take a Colt 1911 MK4 Government model in series 70 before most of what is out there today. I just fail to see the quality that guns were built to in the 50's for example in today's guns.

Just My Take
Ron

 

[Sam1911]

There certainly was a time (probably any time before the '60s) when a relatively large portion of society owned guns and shot (at least to hunt) but the vast majority owned one, two, maybe three guns at the outside. They had what they needed and didn't go in for extras, or collectibles. Even though the prices in those old ads look tiny to us now, guns were very expensive compared to average income levels. The "shooting sports" hardly existed and there weren't many people who would think of spending the family's money on a case or safe full of guns they didn't need.

Now that "most" guns cost less than a few days' pay for most people, folks tend to collect them, buy-and-try, and sell off stuff they don't instantly like.

Another thing to consider: Today we have pretty high expectations, consumer protection laws (and a culture of lawsuits), and a lot of competition in the arms world (coupled with better and better CNC machining) pushing high-durability products at low costs. The great old guns of yesterday that we remember so fondly are the ones that WERE great guns. But there were LOTS-and-lots that weren't. Pot metal, crappy throw-away pistols and revolvers from no-name makers in Europe, low-end single-shot shotguns, and lots of other junk on the market that probably wasn't even worth trying to sell once it broke. The lower-cost rifles that were around were often military surplus, so the relative quality was probably pretty good, but the temptation was ever-present to make up a poor-man's Winchester with a hacksaw and file.

All-in-all, I'd absolutely expect that what's on the used market now is better. You've got the best of the stuff that survived from yesteryear, plus a whole lot of rifles and shotguns from the middle of last century that got sold out of deceased uncles' or grand-dads' closets and can be had cheap, lots of police-turn-in pistols (and some revolvers, still) from the last quarter of the 20th century as the polymer guns started to take over those markets, and all the newer stuff that didn't turn gamer-Jimmy into an overnight shooting rock star the moment he got it home and out of the box.

It's not a bad time to be buying used.

 

[Roadking Rider]

I've bought quite a few used guns in the last couple years. Many of these guns where just barely broken in and some not even. One of the GS I go to the owner was telling me that many gun owners are scaling down on there collections do to the economy. I'm pretty furtunate though I have quite a few GS in my area. Now is a great time to look for used guns. IMO.

 

[premier1]

Firearms today are made almost exclusively on cnc machines. They are constructed to ver stringent tolerances, and above all else they are all basically the same. So while todays firearms have less of a handemade manufacturing than days gone by you are less likely to get a lemon today than in days of old. Also one of the reasons that you hear of guns being sent back to the manufacturor is because we have less gunsmiths out there than years ago for that new gun you purchased that you need tweeked a bit.

 

[mljdeckard]

I would also repeat, consumers of today are much whinier than our grandfathers were. We love to complain about everything, where people used to work with it. twenty years ago, if you wanted an MOA rifle, it took a lot of gunsmithing and custom work. Now if you buy any brand name rifle and it won't print MOA groups out of the box, you consider it sub-standard. Consumer demand and modern manufacturing processes have really raised the bar. (Even if shooters today aren't the riflemen our grandfathers were. )

 

[BSA1]

It depends on a large part on who made the gun and when was it made.

For example IHMO Smith & Wesson revolvers made before 1980 are superior to anything made by the factory since then.

The steel today is imported from oversees and is of lower quality. MIM is common for the internal parts.

Parts in old S&W's were fitted by skilled craftsmen instead of the cookie cutter computer made parts today.

Other manufacturing shortcuts such as crush fit barrels and barrel liners for revolvers are common. Just look at far we have come with the Ruger LCR.

A quick search will bring up complaints about various manufacturers and models ALTHOUGH they should be taken with a big grain of salt as anyone can post anything on the Internet. But a series of same complaints by different users deserve note.

Finally look at the demand for used guns.

 

[Sam1911]

It depends on a large part on who made the gun and when was it made.

Absolutely. If every OLD gun on the used market was a S&W Registered Magnum, or a Winchester 21, or Remington Model 30, or whatever, we'd be able to say the modern used gun market sucks by comparison. But that's not so. You can buy a used Accuracy International rifle, or Cooper, or USFA or many others that will measure up favorably with the guns of old -- and often exceed their "quality" by a long margin.
Or you could buy a Jennings auto, and compare it to an Arminius zamak-framed wheelgun. The past is just as varied as the present.

For example IHMO Smith & Wesson revolvers made before 1980 are superior to anything made by the factory since then.

I'd think you'd want to push that date back a decade or two.

 

[Old Fuff]

The Old Fuff has detail stripped, examined and repaired an awful lot of guns (mostly handguns) that were made anywhere from before the Civil War to present; and he is far from convinced that from the perspective of workmanship today’s CNC produced products are better then those made earlier. Judging from the prices some of the “old junk” is commanding I don’t think he’s alone.

Anyway, a considerable number of handguns (mostly revolvers) were purchased to have “just in case…” Then put away and survive to this day in new or next-to-new condition. Fortunately in this environment a lot of young guys, who lack the maturity to have good judgment, are hooked on Tupperware pistols with magazines that hold half a box of cartridges with one filling. Thus sometimes-fine used revolvers languish in the back row of the used gun showcase and go unloved and unnoticed.

The Old Fuff could fill this entire thread with posts detailing the outrageous steals he has found – especially if the subject of his attention has a little finish wear but is otherwise perfect. He will admit that they aren’t the best for doing triple-taps rather then firing once and going on to what’s next. But in the unlikely event that he gets into a serious situation he won’t have to worry about where all the wild misses went or what (or who) they hit.

That said, the Old Fuff is much more interested in enjoying his “shooters,” then worrying about his next gunfight. All of those high-quality-but-mostly-ignored-guns are his cup of tea. Hopefully everyone else will stay focused on the new stuff.

But I doubt it.

 

[beatledog7]

The availability of nearly new used guns will probably keep increasing.

As long as the economy is on the skids, people who need cash to pay the bills and own guns they don't really need will find the impetus to turn these guns into cash.

 

[MtnSpur]

I prefer my used guns to be pre 1975 and made by master craftsmen that fit each part with great care and precision. There are only a handful of brand name gun manufacturers that I've focused on over the past 45+ years that I've been allowed to purchase and own such fine firearms. When I'm no longer around to care for these works of art, I hope I've instilled enough interest and intellect into my children to maintain what I began.

 

[BSA1]

I'd think you'd want to push that date back a decade or two.

I was using 1984 as a benchmark when Lear Siegler Corporation brought S&W. However I remember S&W coming out with some real pieces of junk before that although I don't remember the '70's revolvers being that bad. The 39 and 59 series had a bad repute although the 39 I had did not seem bad.

Like far out and be hip man.

 

[olafhardtB]

PpGuns last longer than people.

 

[parsimonious_instead]

The availability of nearly new used guns will probably keep increasing.

As long as the economy is on the skids, people who need cash to pay the bills and own guns they don't really need will find the impetus to turn these guns into cash.

I second that one. My Mossy 500 Cruiser cost me $200, and it was barely fired - not many places to shoot shotguns around where I live and the guy didn't hunt. He also needed to raise quick cash for his overseas retirement. Let me tell ya - I saw the face of the "selling my worldly goods retirement plan" that night, and it wasn't pretty...

My Mark II was also barely fired because the fellow (different seller) thought he was going to go into competitive shooting, but never found himself with enough free time, so it became a safe queen, and then mine.

 

[mljdeckard]

I love it when the Old Fuff speaks of himself in the third person.

 

[bracer]

I got my first rifle in 1949 and over the years have purchased new and used firearms. Most have ben bolt action rifles. Too improve accuracy of the rifles I remove the barreled action from the stock to inspect the bedding contact points. Its common to have a porley bedded action in new and used guns. I then clean the action and barrel of used guns with the next step adjusting the trigger pull down to three pounds on new and used guns. Accuracy was improved on most by glass bedding the action, free floating the barrel, and adjusting the trigger. A few needed the bolt locking lugs lapped or the barrel recrowned. It could be that people get rid of problem fire firearms and keep the accurate ones.

 

[HOOfan_1]

I generally don't even bother with used guns. The ones at my LGS which are in decent condition are not selling at a decent enough discount over the brand new guns to even consider. I've even seen them sell used guns at a higher price than the exact same brand new gun.

Most of the used long guns I see on their shelves are beat all to heck as well. They may be in fine functioning condition, but previous owners did a crappy paint job on their stocks, or put all kind of knicks and cuts into wooden stocks. Some of those guns can't be any more than 5 or 6 years old. I have 50 year old guns which would easily pass NRA excellent condition, and I shoot all my guns and take all my hunting guns out into the field.

 

[accrhodes]

I generally don't even bother with used guns. The ones at my LGS which are in decent condition are not selling at a decent enough discount over the brand new guns to even consider. I've even seen them sell used guns at a higher price than the exact same brand new gun.

Most of the used long guns I see on their shelves are beat all to heck as well. They may be in fine functioning condition, but previous owners did a crappy paint job on their stocks, or put all kind of knicks and cuts into wooden stocks. Some of those guns can't be any more than 5 or 6 years old. I have 50 year old guns which would easily pass NRA excellent condition, and I shoot all my guns and take all my hunting guns out into the field.

+1

Same thing around here.

 

[Old Fuff]

I love it when the Old Fuff speaks of himself in the third person.

The Old Fuff's ego is only exceeded by his good looks...

Thank You.