Buying Used - What to look for?

[EatsEverything]

When dealing with used gun sales, what should the buyer be looking for when inspecting the gun?

I presume that the etiquette allows for a quick field stripping to inspect the interior?

[smith and wesson]

I usually look at the rifling of the barrel, check the slide for cracks and check for rust. Depending on price I'll let some things slide, such as dings and scratches.

A kahr 40 I bought had a few dings and a bit of rust I polish off, it was a good price and I liked the style and feel so I didn't have buyers remorse.

You can also check the springs and inside of the slide for any unusual damage.

[CK_32]

First and for most I rack the firearm 1 making sure it's unloaded, feel for any binds cracks or bends that shouldn't be there.

Then I make sure the trigger, reset and mag release and slide lock function, THEN I open her up after a exterior visual inspection.

Once doing that I remove the spring, barrel and mag. Take a look for abnormal wear, scratches or "hill billy smithing" and if there is after market parts in there and try to find out why.

Then I look down the barrel for rust, scratches, pitting or bulges. Also make sure to look at the throat and rifling to get a good idea of round count either high or low. Check the slide and barrels to see how well they have been lubed and maintained after factoring in the round count. Then check the crown and exterior. Reassemble again checking each part as I replace them into place and make sure they fit and go back as they should.


I also watch the sellers face and tone when I disassemble and look over specific things. Like poker many sellers show their bluffs and I have found hints from inspecting a part and watching their face cringe or them get nervous and then I inspect further and find something is not right or been modified. I have found many a add ons or self jobs and one time a crack from doing this.


This is for a semi auto obviously. Wheel guns have a whole other laundry list of things to check.

[Dhena81]

What to look for usually depends on the gun make and model. I don't buy guns that has been modded by anyone other than a reputable gunsmith and even then I'm hesitant.

Some examples I have a Glock 17 that has north of 12,000 rounds on it and it looks brand new minus some holster wear.

I have a Sig P226 with less than 1k and it looks like its been to war.

A revolver look at the forcing cone for excessive wear, straightness of the ejector rod, timing of the cylinder, cock the gun in single action and make sure you can't push the hammer to fire, ect.

[sealocan]

as stated above it depends on a type of firearm you are purchasing.

for me personally the easiest used gun to check for function and reliability is a revolver.
you can actually see the function of the hammer / firing pin hitting the area of the chamber, with the chambers empty of course.

if the caliber is large enough you can put a chopstick or a pencil down the barrel and against the firing pin and actually see a chopstick/pencil move when struck by the firing pin but only on handguns with the barrel is short enough to see the movement. most revolvers you can even open the action and put your finger against where the hammer hits.

you can also close the action look down the barrel with a flashlight and see the barrel and cylinders are aligning when the gun is cocked and when it is in its firing lock up position.

there are some great videos on YouTube on how to make sure the used revolver your inspecting has proper lock up and timing.
and a few other things from the last paragraph from the post above mine.

most of these things that are easy to check on a revolver are not so easy on a semi auto you can check the barrel for wear both interior and on the exterior if its a semi aut, If it's never been shot at the outside of the barrel will be brand new.
I would think any good gun store would let you disassemble the semi auto and check out the internals you're looking shiny metal parts although that just means use it also means potentially a lot of use.

other things like weak springs, weak magazines springs and extractors are much tougher to check until you take the gun for some live firing. Although again with the gun stores permission they may have some dummy rounds that you could cycle through to make sure it will at least eject them.

and I think proper etiquette is to always ask the seller to either field strip it or show you how to field strip it, before you go ahead and do so.
I hope that helps.

[Librarian]

Two stickies in this forum, one for semi-autos and one for revolvers.

[EatsEverything]

Librarian, I see a checkout sticky for revolvers and a how to guide for buying semi-autos. Is the semi-auto checkout buried in a different sticky?

Thanks, everyone else for the tips.

[MrElectric03]

I always check the barrel rifling to see how clean it is, few people keep their guns as clean as I do. I've looked at quite a few that they say "I just cleaned it"...you missed the part where you clean the barrel. Rack the slide to make sure it's smooth, field strip it and check the wear on the internals, timing on revolvers. I look real close for dings and scratches, I usually prefer to buy new because I'm kind of a nut about that. I like my guns pristine with a few exceptions, some guns I just don't worry about.

I find most of the time you don't have to worry about function as long as it's a good quality gun. When you go cheap is when you really need to look close.

[morrcarr67]

Librarian, I see a checkout sticky for revolvers and a how to guide for buying semi-autos. Is the semi-auto checkout buried in a different sticky?

Thanks, everyone else for the tips.

He's probably referring to this one http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/s...d.php?t=397489 which is the how to guide for semi's