Safe to loan $1500 with this M1A as collateral?

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Strmtrper6

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Hey all. A friend of mine needs to borrow $1500 and offered me this as collateral:

From my limited knowledge...

Springfield M1A Serial #111***
NM front and rear sights
Glass bedding visible around rear lug, reciever, and in magazine chamber, that he says was done by SA
Bolt says:
---

7790186
HRT A19
BVC

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Let me know if there is anything else I could check to get an idea of value.
I would really appreciate some information tonight as he needs the money in the morning.


Thanks,
Storm
 
any M14-alike that don't have the holy livin' puppy poop beat out of it and ain't built by commies is worth that
 
You know that you want this rifle.
K.I.S.S. = Consider buying the rifle at a fair price and loan him the difference in a separate deal.
 
The price of M1A's is that high now?! :what: I'm going to buy one eventually and learn how to reload .308, but now I'll have to wait even longer to buy one if the price stays that high.
 
yeah, that is a Supermatch M1A with rear lugged receiver and bedding. Check the profile of the barrel, is it a heavy weight Krieger barrel? $1500 is a fair price for a used Supermatch.
 
Does it have GI parts, the bolt is, how about the trigger group and op rod? If so, it is worth the $1500v even if it is not a supermatch. Being bedded, it might be a National Match, they do not have rear lugs but are bedded. I used to have one that would shoot just as well as my supermatch. I miss them both.
 
Make sure he understands there is a time limit to the "loan" and that the "collateral" will be taken for a few "test drives".
 
Just buy the gun from him.

He gets the money, you get the gun without having to worry about getting your money back. Which you won't -- if he's pawning his rifle, he's not going to have it. If he has no savings, and no credit cards to float the bills 'til his next paycheck, where's the $1500 going to come from? It means he probably has a net negative income, and a shot credit rating (i.e. he's already welched on commercial lenders). They issue credit cards to monkeys and english bulldogs. What does it say about his ability and desire to pay his debts, if he can't get one?

If he needs to borrow the $1500 from you, then that's a pretty sure sign you shouldn't lend it to him.

The problem is, you won't actually "own" the rifle, but you won't have the money, either. At what point, when he doesn't pay you back, do you "own" the rifle? 30 days? 90 days? A year? Might as well own it now, and enjoy it.

If he ever does get the money together (he won't), he can offer to buy it back from you. Unless that happens, you will own the rifle.

Keep it clean, IMO.

I doubt a pawn shop would give him $1500, and they'd have a contract specifying when they actually own the collateral when he doesn't pay them back. There's a reason they'd allow more "headroom."

Just buy the rifle from him. Otherwise, you will most likely lose a friend, lose $1500, and have a rifle in your closet that's not really "yours."

Or, if YOU need your $1500, and you can't really afford to buy the rifle right now, then for God's sake DON'T LET ANYONE ELSE HAVE THAT MONEY! You need it, and you will never see it again. But your "friend" won't want you to sell "his" rifle. STAY AWAY from that crap.
 
Last edited:
Thanks ArmedBear.

Those were all good points.

The reason he doesn't have the money is because he was laid off.

I will probably try to purchase the rifle outright with a deal to resell it back within a year.
 
I am concerned by the fact that "he needs the money in the morning" (i.e., less than 24 hours). What is the rush?

I agree with ArmedBear that you are not a bank or pawn shop and should not be a loan officer. Tell him that you don't want to risk ruining the friendship and have a policy of never loaning money to family or friends.

As to whether you should offer to purchase the rifle outright, there are two ways to go, depending upon the circumstances:

(1) he is a really good friend who is in a jam. Fine, just buy the rifle. Maybe it is worth $1,500, maybe not ... who really cares. The point of the transaction is to help him, not to get maximum value for your bucks.

(2) he is more of an acquaintance than a friend, and you don't feel any particular need to help him. In that case, don't be pressured into making any hasty decisions. If the idea of owning the rifle doesn't particulary appeal on its own merits, then (politely) pass. If you are keen on owning it, then take a few days to have it checked over by a reputable gunsmith or someone you trust, and obtain some idea of what it would cost to purchase an equivalent on the open market.
 
Another thing...

What if you take the rifle as collateral but, despite your best efforts to protect it, it gets a little surface rust somewhere?

Then what happens to the friendship or the deal?

And why would you want to baby a rifle that isn't even yours, when you're out $1500?

One final thing. What if he gets a job, but it doesn't pay as much as his last one (not a rare occurrence these days)? If he can barely meet his expenses, he won't be able to pay you back. Save him the humiliation: if he can't or doesn't want to come up with the cash, he can just not buy the gun back, with no shame, no pussyfooting around about it.

You keep a friend, he can keep his pride and try to get his finances into some semblance of order, and you have a nice rifle with no bad feelings associated with it. Win-win-win.:)
 
Never, ever, for any reason, loan money to a friend or family under any circumstances. It's the surest way to make you wish you'd never met the guy. Either buy the gun from him outright, or let him hock it someplace else. I wouldn't even do a set in stone buyback deal, because the condition can change and he'll get his feelings hurt.
 
I wouldn't even do a set in stone buyback deal, because the condition can change and he'll get his feelings hurt.
Click to expand...

So true.

And also, what if you want to put 10,000 barrel-burning rounds through the rifle? If it's really yours, that's your business. If you have any buyback commitment, you won't feel at liberty to really enjoy the thing (or you'll feel obligated to rebarrel it before selling it back to him for $1500, meaning you're out a lot of money with nothing in return).

If it's yours, it's yours. That means you can do whatever you want with it: upgrade it further, or stash it under your truck seat if you want, wear-and-tear be damned.:)
 
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