Questions to ask a seller of a used sniper rifle

[Screagle]

[Misterclick]

Was it used in a crime? Lol!

[The War Wagon]

How many snipes has it taken?

[vintagearms]

Rounds fired. Factory build or custom? If custom, who was the builder and components used.

[Calif Hunter]

You can ask if there are particular loads that it likes and how well it shoots them. Then take the answer with a large grain of salt unless the seller can produce targets.

[Featureless]

Don't need to ask anything. An inspection of the rifle will tell all.

[sacrvrrat]

[LynnJr]

Consider the barrel to be shot out and factor that into the price.
Most guns that shoot extremely well are not for sale so figure $700+ for a new barrel and installation.

[PaperTarget]

Rounds fired. Factory build or custom? If custom, who was the builder and components used.

I'd add the question:
What modifications, repairs, or gunsmithing has been done to it?

You may find in addition to needing a barrel, you may also have a trigger you want to replace if it was hacked.

Most sellers are honest. Most guns can be fixed or renovated.

Inspect and test.

[DueceMcGurk]

Every used rifle has "less than a box shot through it". Look at the bore. Dry fire,. If you see any amateur gunsmithing evidence........walk.

Ask if he/she owns Dremel too. LOL

[bkz81]

How many confirmed kills?

[RickD427]

In evaluating a precision rifle, always make sure you identify the chamber specs. Most really good rifles are not going to have SAAMI spec chambers. They're going to have a tighter neck, and some may be set up for bore-rider type bullets.

I'm working up a new benchrest rifle. It was chambered using a reamer from Pacific Tool and Gauge. They were good enough to supply me with a specification drawing of the chamber so that I can set up my loads to match.

The barrel is going to be the big question mark. I would pretty much assume that the barrel on a used rifle is going to need replacement. I've always judged my barrels by round count and a change in group size. I don't have a good system for evaluating barrels without using trend data. We do have a very gifted barrel expert on this forum (Randall) and hopefully he can add some commentary on barrel evaluation.

I'll second the previous comments about running from a weapon that has been amateurishly worked on.

If your objective is to simply make small holes in your target with a lot of bullets, then you may want to look at 6.5 Creedmoor. It's gaining a lot of popularity as a sniper precision rifle round. It doesn't have the terminal ballistic properties of the .308, but the exterior ballistics are quite good and the recoil is more manageable.

[TKM]

Male snipe or female snipe. I suppose California has thirteen other options.

What are you, some kind of anti-snipist?

[DueceMcGurk]

How many confirmed kills?

lol

[sigstroker]

If your objective is to simply make small holes in your target with a lot of bullets, then you may want to look at 6.5 Creedmoor. It's gaining a lot of popularity as a sniper precision rifle round. It doesn't have the terminal ballistic properties of the .308, but the exterior ballistics are quite good and the recoil is more manageable.

Maybe. Maybe not. Depends on the range.