Weird Horror Stories/Buying And Selling

[Confederate]

Years ago, some guy tried to sell me a 6-inch Security-Six that clearly had some parts interchanged. The cylinder barely fit and the barrel/cylinder gap was so large I could have watched a movie through it! I didn't even need a gauge. And when I pulled the trigger, it was fine at first but built up to the point where I could barely get it to break.

The guy had driven about 15 miles to close what he thought was a sure deal, and he was pi$$ed when I declined the sale. I showed him the problem areas and he assured me that's how the gun came from Ruger. I didn't want to call him a liar so I told him that whoever sold the gun to him in the first place had most likely swapped some key parts with another Ruger. At that point I got a little too close to the truth, I think, and he put his gun back into the brown paper bag he'd brought it in and left. I watched him leave through an upstairs window to make sure he didn't key my car on the way out (he didn't), and the next day I got a call from a mutual acquaintance who was a bit miffed that I hadn't bought his friend's Security-Six. He said he had inspected the gun himself and that there was nothing wrong with it.

It got me wondering whether you guys had any interesting/horror stories. I didn't even come close to buying this Frankensteinian nightmare, but how about you? Do you have any stories where you bought a lemon, almost bought a lemon or was presented with a handgun that was so horrendously awful that it's hard to believe that someone would try to palm it off on you?

And how did you handle it?

 

[American Finn]

Never bought a lemon (thank goodness); the closest I came was at a Cabela's in 2019. I was in their Gun Library and came across a S&W Victory Model in .38 that looked awesome. The price at the time was reasonable (I thought) at $499. I asked the salesman to let me see it. He pulled it out and then I could see the side with the sideplate and without even thinking blurted out "are you [blanking] kidding me?". You could tell it was a kitchen table gunsmith slob job; some clown used a pry bar/screwdriver/awl to remove the sideplate rather than using the proper technique. When I pointed this out to the salesman he developed a little bit of an attitude and said "well, there's nothing wrong with this gun". A highly collectible Victory model ruined. I left the store and for several months afterwards it was still there; it think it finally sold during the pandemic (I didn't see it again after it collected dust for a few months).

 

[Howland937]

I bought an Auto 5 16 gauge at a gun show several years back. Was in really nice shape and an unbelievable deal. Then I found out it was chambered in 2 9/16" instead of 2 3/4, which is even harder to find. It wasn't necessarily junk, but it was pretty much useless to me.

I've also sold a few guns over the years. One I had posted on a website that used to allow such things. An old Ruger P89, had some cosmetic condition issues but was a solid shooter. The finish on one side of the slide had some sort of stain spots, which were mentioned in the post along with pictures. I priced it accordingly for around $225 IIRC. Guy came to look at it, said it was worse than he thought and got mad because I wouldn't sell it to him for $150. Like cussing, yelling, making a scene.

I mentioned that it was still $75 better than a High Point and sent him on his way.

 

[Confederate]

My grandmother kept a .32 Colt revolver in her dresser drawer. When she developed dementia, my father slipped into her room and removed it. She was at the point when it was starting to get bad, but even so she had the wherewithal to know who took it and she was furious. This happens often and disarming someone who has always been armed is, and should be, a painful experience, and you can imagine how you would feel if one of your kids same to visit, violated your personal space and removed your only means of defense.

At the same time you can't let her keep it if she's forgetting who people are; but that's irrelevant to how she felt. She had a color television that stopped working (COLOR!!!). It was a modular design set and she watched the repair guy pull things out and replace them. For the next week she told everyone who would listen that the television repairman had changed her channels, and she wanted him to come back and put her channels back in so she could watch Lawrence Welk. So that aside, she thought she made complete sense.

Anyway, we had her gun, which was beautiful on the left side; however, on the other side someone had put something on the sideplate that had removed a large swath of bluing. It must have been a chemical or navel jelly or something because the white steel under it was exposed. I couldn't help but be upset because you know how nice Colt bluing is. My dad had also lifted her box of ammo, which must have been bought with the gun because it was old. My grandmother had grown up with guns, so I felt for her. It was her .32 pistol that caused me to buy my first gun, a Security-Six revolver. I only wish I could have showed it to her and gotten a story or two.

..

 

[Riomouse911]

Where I live we can’t do FTF sales so I haven’t had that type of situation. I have had the urge to inspect numerous consignment guns at local stores that I handled and knew were future nightmares due to bubbas choppy action jobs or difficult to operate controls. These I set down and walked away.

I’ve had four GB purchase that were less than stellar, a DW .22 that went funky about 400 rounds into my owning it, a S&W Model 48 that locked up in the same way the Dan did and a “.38 Spl.” Victory model that was actually a bubbaed .38 S&W. The first two are the ones that I wouldn’t have caught without shooting for a bit, the Victory I wouldn’t have touched because it was obviously a hack job. The fourth was a Blackhawk .41 that had some light strikes, probably from a home trigger job. Ruger fixed that gratis.

Stay safe.

 

[Monac]

My horror stories are mostly about my own stupidity, like buying an expensive pistol whose picture showed it had a cracked frame. On the other hand, I am debating whether it's a good idea to buy a used ~$300 gun from somebody whose seller name is "badboybill", so maybe I have learned something. He's only got 9 completed sales (all positive, though).

The cracked frame thing worked out better than it should have. I didn't feel I could return it, because the flaw was obvious to anyone whose brain was switched on. But it was rare enough that when a friend of mine with machinist skills turned it into a cutaway and sold it, I got about 1/3 of my money back, even after splitting the money with my friend.

 

[Dustbowl]

Bought a Martini Henry in .303 off a gun shop’s website that when arrived turned out to be an Afghan cottage copy. Guess what they had in big bold letters all over their sales page? NO RETURNS......

So I unscrewed the barrel by hand, didn’t need a wrench!! Bought a 22 blank barrel and made it a useable .22. Sure the receiver was wayyyy oversized and I had too much money in it but it works safely now and the guy I sold it to was happy.

Also got hosed on a Smith K frame .22 before I became better educated about guns. That bead blasted matte finish? Yeah they came from the factory like that!

 

[JT-AR-MG42]

My horror stories are mostly about my own stupidity

Yep, been there.

Gun comes in with a flaw and I'm getting ready to get huffy.
Back to the computer and there it is, right in the pictures.
The only person who has 'taken' me while buying on-line is me.

I've since learned not to bid/buy when the seller does not mention a pictured flaw in the text as well though.

JT

 

[welldoya]

A few years ago I was selling an old High Standard snubnose .22.
I got an email from a young guy. He seemed ok, good grammar,etc.
He said he wanted to buy it for his Dad’s birthday but he seemed awfully anxious, in a hurry.
Before I committed to a meeting place, I checked his FB profile - full of profanity, throwing up gang signs, etc.
When he contacted me a few minutes later I told him I decided to keep it.
Another time I drove 30 miles to buy a Marlin 336. The guy pulled up and raised the price on me $100 because “a friend told me it was worth that.”
I left.

 

[stonebuster]

I bought a SP101 DAO snub for $450 through Armslist from a seller who had it for a month and stated "it wasn't the gun for him". I did a quick inspection during a FTF transaction in Home Depot parking lot. When I got home I realized something was very wrong with the trigger and probably the reason for the sale. I sent it to Ruger, they fixed it for free so I got a pretty good deal. Not a "horror" story though.

 

[Meeks36]

My grandmother kept a .32 Colt revolver in her dresser drawer. When she developed dementia, my father slipped into her room and removed it. She was at the point when it was starting to get bad, but even so she had the wherewithal to know who took it and she was furious. This happens often and disarming someone who has always been armed is, and should be, a painful experience, and you can imagine how you would feel if one of your kids same to visit, violated your personal space and removed your only means of defense.

At the same time you can't let her keep it if she's forgetting who people are; but that's irrelevant to how she felt. She had a color television that stopped working (COLOR!!!). It was a modular design set and she watched the repair guy pull things out and replace them. For the next week she told everyone who would listen that the television repairman had changed her channels, and she wanted him to come back and put her channels back in so she could watch Lawrence Welk. So that aside, she thought she made complete sense.

Anyway, we had her gun, which was beautiful on the left side; however, on the other side someone had put something on the sideplate that had removed a large swath of bluing. It must have been a chemical or navel jelly or something because the white steel under it was exposed. I couldn't help but be upset because you know how nice Colt bluing is. My dad had also lifted her box of ammo, which must have been bought with the gun because it was old. My grandmother had grown up with guns, so I felt for her. It was her .32 pistol that caused me to buy my first gun, a Security-Six revolver. I only wish I could have showed it to her and gotten a story or two.

..

Same thing happened to my grandparents. Left the long guns took all the ammo. Took all the pistols. Wasn't pretty. Better then them shooting each other or the kids, grand kids.

 

[Pat Riot]

Back in the 90’s I was all enamored with WW2 guns and paraphernalia. I had an M1 carbines, an M1 Garand, my Colt 1991A1 (yeah, not WW2, but close enough) and I had all the tools and trimmings that went along with these small arms.

Two things happened on one weekend gun show that I learned valuable lessons from and luckily I have never been badly burned regarding used guns or gun parts.

I had heard of the M1 Garand “Tanker” and wanted one. What I had heard was a myth. I did not know this. They never truly existed as an issued gun. But, I had read a story in some rag about the Tankers and I convinced my wife that I had to have one. We were living paycheck to paycheck then so all big purchases were discussed and approved.

My friend and I headed off to the Gun Show.
We came to a table where a guy had some really nice looking “Tankers”. If I recall correctly decent looking Garands could be had for $500-$600 at that time. This guy had “authentic” Tankers for $700 - $800. I was all excited. I had finally found “my tanker”.

I was looking at one that had fine looking wood except for the rough cut of the little bitty piece of handguard in front of the stock. It looked freshly cut and unfinished, but the gun was $700. That was in my budget. Luckily the discussion about this wood piece and it’s authenticity attracted an older gentleman to our conversation.
He walked up, looked at the Garand “Tankers” on the table. Looked at the one I had lying in front of me. Looked me right in the eyes and said “Son, this guy is ripping you off. There were no real M1 Garand Tankers in World War Two, hell, there were none in Korea! Read up on ‘em. The Army made some prototypes, but that’s all they were. This guy’s telling you a bunch of horse (crap). He oughta be run out of this show, if you asked me. It’s your money. Do as you please but this guy is lying to people.”
The guy behind the table was red faced and mad. He told the guy to perform impossible sex acts with himself and the older gent just laughed at him. He looked at me and said “These guys try this crap all the time. You need to educate yourself. They’re ripping people off right and left at these shows.”
I thanked him and he walked away.
The guy selling the Tankers just stood there, red faced and angry. I walked away.
I did report him at the Gun Show Office. He was at subsequent gun shows but his big sign touting “World War 2 Original Tankers” was gone.

Same show - different table.
I was looking for M1 Carbine and Garand spare parts and WW2 accessories. I also wanted a new stock for my Garand as mine looked like a boat oar.
I came to a bunch of tables where a guy was selling M1 Carbine and Garand parts and things for various other military surplus type guns.
The guy had a deal on M1 Carbine bolts made by Saginaw. Buy one get another 1/2 off.
At the same time I was looking at these items my buddy wandered over to the next set of tables where a guy was displaying laminate and various wood gun stocks for M1A1s and Garands. Expensive looking beautiful stocks.
Anyway, I was handling a walnut Garand stock debating with myself on the price when my buddy walks over and says “Come over here and look at these stocks.”
I told him that I thought I had found the stock I wanted. I figured I had better put that nearly $800 to work that I had in my pocket or my wife would find another use for it.
My friend insisted that I go with him to the other tables, so I did.
The guy at those tables grew to become a trusted vendor with me and my friends. His business was called “Sergeant At Arms” and he built match guns of M1A1s and M1 Garands. He also was a gunsmith that specialized in WW2, Korean and Vietnam war small arms. I only ever knew him as “Sarge”. Very nice fella.
Anyway, Sarge tells me to stay away from Saginaw bolts “the ears break off” he said. He also told us how to spot real Carbine and Garand gun parts versus Korean, Taiwanese and Chinese knock offs.
Pretty much everything at the guy’s table selling the Saginaw bolts (which were legit) were knockoffs.
Long story very short I used my $700+ to have Sarge put a laminate stock on my Garand. Bed the action, install a .308 barrel and accurize it for me. I put a photo of it below.
Because of Sarge’s tutoring I was able to spot fakes and knockoffs of many mil surplus gun parts and saved myself lots of money and frustration in the process. I list track of Sarge over the years. I would love to see him again and thank him but I had heard he went out of buddy due to medical issues.

I have been very vigilant regarding used guns and gun parts ever since.

Here’s my Garand today. I love this rifle.

 

[1KPerDay]

My first M1A I got for a very good price from a guy who met me in the FBI building’s underground parking lot. He said it had been fired less than 20 times and I believed him based on the condition. It looked NIB and came with 100 rounds of FGMM. I didn’t know enough to check for hammer follow and sure enough when I took it out for the first shoot it would only fire one shot and then I had to cycle a (live) cartridge out of the chamber and recock the hammer.

I stopped shooting immediately and felt like a fool. I read up on the issue and called Springfield. They offered to fix it but I was nervous I’d never get it back or they’d swap the very nice camo GI fiberglass. I bought a cheap chicom wood stock on a whim and Lo and behold it fixed the hammer follow issue because the trigger group fit the stock correctly.

No problems since and I run it hard. Sold the spare stock. Not a real “horror story” but definitely a caveat emptor.

One more I can think of was a very nice CZ75 Omega I got at Cabelas in the gun library for $400. The sales guy triple checked the price when I was checking out as he couldn’t believe it. Neither could I. Gun looked new. No box. Anyway it had lots of weird trigger issues once I started shooting it. Hammer dropping to half cock, etc. turned out it was out of spec in quite a few places.

A call and a parts kit from Cajun didn’t fully fix the issues so I sent it to them to sort it out. They ended up having to make a custom DA roller and fix a few more things. So my “bargain” pistol ended up costing me about $800. It’s a dang nice shooter now though.

My Uberti Walker came to Cabelas (luckily I selected the pickup in store option) out of time, but I checked it in the store and they were kind enough to let me swap it for a different one they had in the back that was in time.

 

[EMC45]

Years back I bought a TC Contender from a guy I knew local to me. I bought the frame for 150 and a barrel for 150. He threw in some fore-ends and grips too (the tiny kind that destroy your hand when you shoot the gun). Well......I have to believe he sold me the most clapped out worn frame he had (he had several). The bluing was good and the trigger was perfect, but the gun would open when fired and eject the shell. I called it my "auto ejector" Contender. I contacted TC and they said they wanted to look at the gun. The called me back and notified me that it was unsafe in it's current condition. They sent me a new G2 as a replacement. I let the fella know what had happened. His response was "ooooh you wanna sell that new G2?" That angered me a little bit. I did make out with a nice new G2 though....

 

[jak67429]

My horror story is one that I did not buy. back in late 80s my son was shooting rimfire matches and I was shooting high power. When my son and another girl wanted to start shoo-in high power all the club had was grands. so they got permission from cmp to sell the grands and build AR for the kids. I could have bought an accurized m1 grand with 1000 rounds of cmp ammo for $399. still kicking myself for that.

 

[swg1]

Bought a Steyr M95 from the late Al Pickles at the WAC gun show. Got home and when I ran a brush down the bore it was truly rotten and shot as one would expect. What looked like a decent bore at the show was actually grease. Not blaming Al, buyer beware as they say.

Picked up another one later at Big 5 and got the serial number of 44.

 

[Meeks36]

Only crappy one ive bought was from my old boss. A s&w sigma. Was a turd. Took it to my local smith. He did what he could. Just never worked right. Sold it to my dad for him to mess with.

 

[Pat Riot]

A couple of you mentioned Cabela’s. It reminded me of these...

I was looking at some metal framed semiautos one day in the new Cabela’s in Oregon. The salesman came over and we were talking and he began handing me various pistols from the case. He would verify they were unloaded then hand me guns with the slides locked back. As he was handing me a pistol I noticed the firing pin protruding from the slide. The gun was some eastern European model that I honestly cannot remember the name of. I believe it even may have been from either Turkey or one of the “Stans”. Anyway, the firing pin was stuck. I told him about it and handed it back to him. He called another guy over and told him to take it to “the back”.
I thanked him and moved over to the revolver display.
There was a ratty looking S&W model 15 in the case. The price was way too high. $799, I believe. He pulled it from the case, opened the cylinder and handed it to me. As I was looking at it I closed the cylinder and looked at the gap. It looked okay but the cylinder wasn’t quite locking up. I thought maybe I hadn’t seated the cylinder all the way into the gun. I pushed the cylinder release and pushed the cylinder out and everything looked okay. As I tilted the gun back to look at the hand and the firing pin openings the cylinder slid back and hit my thumb on the grip. The portion of the frame that stops the cylinder was missing.
I handed the clerk the revolver and asked if all their guns were checked out by a gunsmith.
He said “Yes, we have a gunsmith on site.” Looking embarrassed.
I said “Fire him” and walked away.
I went to Customer Service and spoke with a manager.
Apparently there was a staff butt chewing that day. I found out later after talking with that same clerk that they had a new gunsmith on staff. He wouldn’t say what happened to the old one.
To be fair I bought several guns from that Gun Library and only had one minor problem with a model 19 that came with 2 sets of grips. One of the grip screws was missing. They got a replacement screw for me.

 

[CapnMac]

Mine is less "horror" and more just "horrible."
I had seen ads by Navy Arms that they had genuine 1911A1s for sale. And at middling reasonable prices.
So, I had my LGS order me one up.
I get a call when it shows up, and head over there.
Eddie sees me and is all hesitant and the like. He tells me the shooter is in, but to brace myself.
So, he hands me the box.
Yes, it's a Remington-Rand 1911A1. It appears to have been found in a barn. And after years of maintenance by farmers. The trigger guard has what looks to be dog teeth marks. The slide stop pin had broken at some point, and had been replaced by a drill bit (which had snapped off and fit through the flat); the barrel bushing had seen time on a drill press, and not to it's benefit. The finish, where it was was a decent semi-gloss black; where it wasn't, it wasn't.
Now, this thing was around $400, or about what a used 80% Series 70 was going for.
I asked, he delivered, so, I paid for the thing and took it home.

The field strip became detailed disassembly (things would fall off) and turned into "exploded parts diagram." I still swear I found oats & hay seeds in the thing. Did I mention it was missing the detent spring? Yeah, not obvious until disassembly (and the detent tube was only held on by the port-side grip panel).

I had a number of spare 1911 bits about, so I repaired a number of items. Not much help for the barrel, which looked like Cos' Clem's experiment in DIY home cold 'blueing' (uh, why?). There was rifling in the barrel, barely.

But, it was a legit RR 1911A1, if significantly less than the best example of one.

Traded the thing for a 'Scant' stock 1903 with a Segely USMC barrel. Well, and with $175.

 

[swg1]

Cabelas, that reminds me,...

Never again, will I purchase a gun from Bass Pro or Cabela's after the last experience. Why myself and many others have to mill about for HOURS, literally HOURS while the staff sniffs at each other muttering, "can I get a check on these forms?", "ok, can I get a recheck?", "can I get a manager check?" and then after that three hours of that nonsense to simply purchase the gun, when I show up two weeks later to pick it up I get another two hours of the same BS.

On top of that, at the Lacey store I was at, they won't remove the trigger locks anymore from any of the firearms and give you a key to remove them after you leave the premises. Seriously, they expected me to purchase a used firearm from the gun library and not even inspect it for function?

At that point they lost my business forever. I don't give a damn how good a price they may offer, the store front is a thinly veiled Walmart to begin with, then when they started treating customers like a liability it was time to call it. Fill that Library with my grail guns, I don't care, the hassle is not worth it. And from the number of folks that day with even less patience than myself, walking out after asking for their driver's license and tearing up the paperwork, it's clear I'm not alone.

 

[Confederate]

My father was having lunch with friends in Paducah, Kentucky, when one of them mentioned he had a German Lugar he got just after the war. As they continued to talk, my dad offered to buy it sight unseen for $500. The man agreed, they shook on it and when they left the pancake place, they drove to the man's home to get the gun. That's when the proverbial $&#@ hit the fan. The man's wife was not happy and she tried to quash the deal, but the man had the money and they'd shook hands. So my dad got the gun and three man was happy to get the $500.

My father tried to cycle the gun's action but it wouldn't budge, but no worries, he had the gun. Some years later I got possession of the gun and discovered the gun wouldn't cock. I began working on it and discovered the problem. There was a 9mm cartridge struck in the action, keeping it from working. The firing pin also was incorrectly inserted and was sticking out. I got my tool box and began working on it and, with some force I was able to free the action and remove the cartridge. But with the firing pin sticking out, had someone tried to chamber a round, the producing firing pin would have slammed into the primer and there was a good chance the gun would have gone off. I removed the firing pin, reinstalled it, put the gun back together and the action worked perfectly.

I have no idea who put the gun together and could never see how it could even go together. Whoever did it, had they been able to get it together in working condition, might have had an ugly surprise. I never shot it, and sold it for $1,500. I sometimes wish I'd kept the gun because it was beautiful. But the person who bought it seemed to have a higher appreciation for it than I did. I still wonder how long my dad's friend was in the doghouse for selling it. I don't know how much it's worth today, but I have no regrets. Guns come and go, and sometimes you win and other times you don't.

..

 

[defjon]

My weirdest experience was driving about 20 minutes to sell a sw 659. I'd bought some extra mags after Sandy hook. And made and sanded some nice wooden grips.

The guy I was meeting drove 5 plus hours. Had a buddy with him.

Immediately had an attitude. Demanded I field strip it in his trunk. Okay. Did that. Offered several hundred less than the agreed upon price. No sir, I'll just hang on to it then. (knowing full well you don't generally drive 5 hours to walk away, lol)

Then wants some kind of guarantee from me. I just told him, look. It's a good gun. I knew it shot great, I'd taken it out a few times.

After the song and dance (all of this took place largely outdoors in a blizzard) he finally pays our previously agreed upon price and they leave and say they're going right to the range.

I get a text a few hours later raving about the gun and thanking me and now they want to be bros.

Yeah, maybe I'll save your number in my phone so I know who to not do business with again. "bipolar lowballer"

 

[defjon]

I would say 99% of the folks I meet face to face are awesome, normal people and a nice chat is made with a handshake and everyone is happy. Gun folks, generally in my experience have run the gamut but seem to be salt or the earth great people. Usually it's a smaller group and it's a lot of fun to do some horse trading and sell back and forth.

Beside the previously mentioned encounter there was also one guy who wanted to buy my gp100. He hopped in the cab and was checking it out, but never really said a word and proceeded to just furiously dry fire the revolver and then handed over the cash and was off.

Honestly though, people skills aren't universal. Here you have to ensure both parties have valid foids. Legal is legal.

I hope face to face sales stick around.

 

[defjon]

There have been a few folks in the communication phase that have rubbed me the wrong way and I won't proceed with the sale.

Like anything, you need to have some sense and trust your gut.

I read a sad story the other day about a kid (20s) selling his 2k dirt bike on facebook marketplace. He met a buyer at his apartment (stupid). He went alone (bad idea). Kid was murdered for a dirtbike, body left in his car, and the murderer rode the dirt bike back to the apartment and apparently left it out on the balcony in full view.

Happened in Louisiana I believe.

Just be safe out there. Bring a friend to any kind of sale if you can. Meet in a public place, with cameras. If any misgivings at all wave off. No sale or item is worth your life.

 

[Goes211]

S&W m29 with a crack in the forcing cone.
It was the first thing you saw when you opened the cylinder and impossible to miss.
I showed the seller and he said something about how they're all like that and it doesn't matter.