Info you've kept to yourself as you sold a gun to someone

[eight433]

I never knew you could sell a gun. I thought you could only buy them!

Cars, on the other hand, I try to tell them everything they need to know, but not more then they need to know. If you tell them too much or too little, they sometimes misunderstand the "no warranty" condition.

For instance, I am a mechanic. They do not need to know this, because they either want you to fix what may or may not go wrong after they buy it, or they will assume that you bought it and swapped a motor/trans/misc. parts and are trying to make a buck off it. I tell them how the car has treated me, in a fair and honest manor. It is up to them to have the car inspected by a mechanic on their dollar if they so choose. I would suppose the same should be considered buying a firearm from a private seller. They could agree to meet at a gun smith and the potential buyer should have it inspected before purchase if he is that concerned with it. I am by NO means a shady character, and am always as up front as I can be. But I also subscribe to the "buyer beware" philosophy.

 

[thebigc]

i have seen a few lemons bought by family members a single action cheapo herbert scmidt .22 revolver that goes out of time after a cyilnder a 1911 clone that had a worn disconnector that let go like 200 rounds after it was bought a 1917 that the follower was filed and it would toss the 5th unfired round out with the 4th caseing a Walther pp that the decocker is finicky and only works when you decok it with your hand then recock it without racking the slide all used all semi easily fixable to deal with but still a pain in the rear and not the kinda thing you want to deal with when you get a new to you item.

my first rifle was a 1903 that was verey nicely sporterized but bubba got his hands on it ripped the iorns off and made ever so slightly crooked scope mount holes so i had to get a no drill mount and it ended up getting traded to a friend for a sks with a finicky mag he knew what was wrong and i was willing to give it to him but he insisted on a trade.

 

[Avenger29]

First gun I ever bought was an M1 carbine. They'd taken two demilled receivers, tig welded them together, then fly cut the sides of the receiver and re-parked it. I cleaned that rifle after every use for about 5 years and never even saw it! Headspace was never right, but the thing worked, kinda... when it finally let go it sheared off the last 1/4 or so of the last cartridge it fired. I still have the end of that cartridge and the back half of the receiver somewhere.

A lot of Garand owners have been bit by this too. I don't know how to spot one easily, so I've always been very reluctant to buy one at a gunshow...

Shady manufacturers did this type of work, welding them up and slapping parts kits on them, not knowing what they were doing except that they are in a rush to make $$$$ at the expense of an ignorant consumer. As a result, for people like me, anybody selling a Garand is suspect.

 

[chuwee81]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=469595

 

[bababooey32]

By the way...quality reloads don't come "in a bag".

That's not true. Georgia Arms sent me 200 Gold Dot reloads in 4 plastic bags of 50. I've never heard anyone say anything bad about GA ammunition.

 

[kingdomassassin]

Rugers

My first handgun that I bought about 10 years ago from a classified ad was a Ruger kP95 (9mm). It ran just fine and like many Ruger auto-loaders, it's accuracy left a lot to be desired but it functioned. I probably only put a couple of thousand rounds through it. Then eventually I began having ejecting problems and I sold it to a pawn shop for, surprisingly, 300 dollars which is just about what I put into a decade ago. Was it ethically wrong that I didn't disclose the problem to the merchant? Perhaps. But had it been a problem that could have caused injury to the shooter, I would have offered it as a parts piece.

 

[Hold My Own]

I've never sold a gun, but I wouldn't withhold any information. Worst come to worst, I'd just flat out say "Man, it's a piece of crap. Seriously, it's junk. But if you want it, it's yours."

 

[searcher451]

I don't make it a habit of selling my firearms, but I've never knowingly sold a lemon -- or anything approaching one -- when I have decided to let one gun. I treat folks the way I expect to be treated, which is to be upfront and honest with them. I can say that I've bought a couple of guns that were described differently to me than what arrived in the post. My local 'smith has had a recent acquisition for some time now, fitting new parts so that the mag doesn't drop every third round and the safety doesn't fall into position while the gun is firing. That gun was described as "functions perfectly." Apparently not.

 

[PA Dave]

The way I see it, if I sell something that has a problem I am aware of, I must disclose what that problem is to the potential buyer. There is only one reason not to disclose, and that is because I know they may not buy or may not pay as much for the item if they know it has a problem. To my way of thinking, that is setting a price on my integrity, and integrity can't be bought back for any sum.

 

[MinnMooney]

Never

I feel too much comradere with other gun owners. I've never been sold a bill of goods and I refuse to do it to others.

I've sold "less than perfect" guns in the past but I've always been honest about the problems and sold them very reasonably. Those who've purchased them and been able to rectify the problem have been very happy indeed.

 

[longbeard48]

Back in the early days of fiberglass stocks, I traded a little Remington that I had merely reworked the wooden stock on. I had painted the stock flat black. While I was filling out the forms for the trade, I mentioned that I had done the stock work myself. The shop owner said "yeah, it's a good job, and that fiberglass is hard to work with, too!" I wonder if he ever noticed the difference before he sold it.

 

[FROGO207]

Guns can be sold? I have however purchased a couple that were AS IS you gotta fix em, for real reasonable prices. I have had more issues with NIB guns than used ones.

 

[cyclopsshooter]

For all the bad guns floating around there aint much fessing goin on up here

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Amen to this Tell the TRUTH!!!