Who are the goofs who don't clean up their trade-ins?

I love buying sweaty, dirty guns and bringing them back to life. I am not surprised that people sell them rusty and dirty. I am amazed at the sellers at gun shows that are sitting around basically doing nothing for periods of time. They could be cleaning these used guns in order to get more money out of them. It really does not take a bunch of time to clean the barrel, remove surface rust, add a coat of oil and remove 10 to 30 years worth of grime from a stock. Their loss, I love doing it and love the prices of crappy looking firearms.

 

I get that. Truth is, I did kick out of just cleaning up, tuning up and breaking in that little LCP...and that was a very simple project.
Still astounds me that (a) someone gave up on it so fast and (b) traded it in dirty.
Lot of dudes here pointed out that tons of people don't clean their firearms regularly, and they're fight. It's just such an alien idea to me. Dad insisted we do it, and the habit's never left me.

 

I work for a fairly good sized dealer and we don't clean used guns unless they are so dirty they have function or cosmetic issues. Just being dirty doesn't typically lower the price of a trade nor does it lower the final sale price enough to make the cleaning cost worthwhile. I don't ever trade in but if I did I certainly wouldn't clean a gun before handing it over for half of what it's worth, in fact I'm pretty sure it would still be quite warm at the time

When I started collecting a gunsmith friend of mine who I trusted implicitly told me that more guns were screwed up during cleaning than anything else. I took this to heart and while I do run a bore snake after range sessions I rarely deep clean my guns unless they need it. Most of my collection is older and out of production so if I lose a pin, spring, or worse break something it hurts the value way worse than being dirty.

 

Could be the ones paying $65 for a box of 9mm. But who am I to judge? If you need it then you need it.

 

In the old days thorough cleaning after shooting was a necessity. Black powder fouling tends to get into most all the books and crannies of a muzzleloader, and is hygroscopic, so it absorbs humidity in the air very readily and converts it into rust.

In the early part of the 20th century shooters learned that cleaning was still very necessary because the corrosive priming compounds would very surely rust the bore if the gun weren’t cleaned after shooting.

Today, such cleaning is totally unnecessary, but old habits die hard.

 

I'm sure there is some truth in this, but I don't think I'll ever be able to consider a basic field strip and clean as unnecessary. Don't know if it's conditioning, pride of ownership or some combo, but they get put up clean at my house.

 

If it weren't for those goofs that were willing to sell their dirty guns for half price then I wouldn't have so many guns... .

 

Two points - I'm sure you carefully inspected it before buying and saw the grit. Also, since you asked, my guns are always kept clean whether they are to be sold, shot, or just stored. I guess some people are just lazy.... anyway, enjoy your purchase.

 

Oh, absolutely did notice the grit. Price was right, though, and that pistol is a bit hard to find these days. I figured (correctly) I could put it right in no time. Plus, already own one LCP Gen 1, so have mags, holsters, etc.
I think my added cost setting this one right (minus the nominal cost of materials from my bench) was $16 for a pair of recoil springs, including shipping. I did then add some Talon grips (the granulate ones), so call that another $21.50. I really like those on a wee .380. So, in the end, was quite happy.
I don't know why, but people not cleaning their guns kind of saddens me. I don't know, to me, seems you get a lot of utlity for a little effort.

 

The more important question is; What does it say about the shop when they don't go through the guns they take in? The last shop I worked at, if you brought a dirty gun in for consignment, the standard charge for a Disassembly, clean, lube, and test fire was subtracted from your price. Guns taken in on trade or bought all had a going through before they hit the floor.

 

Years ago I bought a 44 spl. that just arrived at gun store and cylinder and barrel (new one arrived by UPS) was filthy and had to be cleaned.

 

A while ago I was passively looking for a .22wmr for pest control on the farm. I walked into the lgs, and there was a used Marlin model 25m on the rack, in real rough looking shape. Decided to buy it and a box of 40gr hollow points for $60. Took it home and cleaned the ever living snot out of it, and it actually cleaned up very nicely! Had to order 2 new magazines for it, the old ones didn't load a round unless you pushed up on them. Still to this day it is my absolute favorite pest rifle, and is an absolute tack driver!

 

I'm always ragging on The Evil Pawn Shop Guy,,,
He takes a filthy gun in on pawn,,,
And doesn't clean it at all.

Just puts it in the case for sale.

Like I said I rag on him all the dang time,,,
I say, "How can you expect me to buy a gun when I can't even see the bore?"

He just points to the cleaning rod hanging on the wall.

Aarond

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I'm with you there! I clean all of our guns before putting them out for sale.
I've handled used guns offered to us for pawn or sale and had to wash my hands before typing up the transaction. I can understand that, sometimes someone brings in a gun that someone in their family left to them for which they have no working knowledge, but I can't understand a shop not wanting their merchandise look as good as possible.

 

Can't really see the rifling or lands' condition because of a dirty bore? Why even trust the seller, if an unfamiliar person offers it?

I've never bought such a gun because this ...might be... a Deceptive tactic to hide the condition. If it is part of a large collection which was recently inherited, that's a very different scenario.

This is in regard to gun shows.

 

I was in my favorite LGS today.
The salesman said that he got a filthy 1953 Russian SKS in yesterday.
Before he could do more than wipe it down, someone offered him more than he had planned to price the gun at.
The gun got a super-basic cleaning and went right back out the door.
Sometimes a dirty gun is not the fault of the seller... .

 

If you don’t buy the gun, does he pay you for cleaning it for him?

 

If it is in the shape I'd shoot it, then I'd trade it as is. I don't give a gun any cleaning after it is sold. Learned my lesson the hard way. Sold a gun, tried to clean it and stripped off the finish with the cleaner. After that, once its sold, you clean it.

 

But before a gun show starts, most people should have time to run four quick patches through a dirty bore, if only one or two guns are dirty.

This was my only suggestion.

The retail business has so much more going on-even before the recent “The sky is falling” anxiety among many buyers.

 

I've not thought of that,,,
I'll try it next time.

Aarond

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The worst I ever got was a DOC trade in Smith Model 64. It was so caked in carbon i believe nobody had ever, and I mean ever, cleaned it before.

After giving it some Hoppes #9 love, it looked brand new and had a butter smooth trigger. Not a bad buy for $300.

 

This is my belief.

I don’t change my oil after every trip across town. I don’t polish and wax my mower after each use. I don’t clean my gutters when a leaf falls in them.

Same thing with my guns. I don’t detail strip a pistol or yank the bcg of my rifle just because I shot 100 rounds. Add some lube, wipe down the muzzle of a pistol and call it good.

There’s a whole lot of middle ground between white glove clean and so disgusting that it impacts the function and reliability of the gun.

If people want to clean them after each range visit because it’s how they’ve been taught or how they’ve always done it or because they simply enjoy the process, have at it, but let’s all at least accept the fact that it’s not necessary with modern firearms and ammunition.

As far as cleaning it before selling it? I wouldn’t sell someone a dirty gun, that’s just me.