1858 Rem Auction gun, need opinion

M

magnumwideglide

Inactive
Like your thougths on this. I've bought one gun before on an auction, and it's a tack driver 270 Savage. Now I talked to this guy selling a 44 cal Pietta. Pics look decent. I put it on my watch list and the price was looking good so I emailed him some general questions. How's the bore, any rust? Is it a good shooter?
He typed back and said it was a personal gun from his collection, good shooter, selling it because he lost his job. So I then began bidding with confidence. I got the gun and was getting his address to send the $$. As I copied all of the auction pages etc to put in my safe to tell the story of how I got the gun, I see something I should have seen before.
On the original auction he says the gun is a 44 cal black powder revolver, that "seems to be in good condition". I hadn't looked at the auction page once I began corresponding with the guy. Now, I kick myself for not seeing a B.S. sales pitch. One doesn't describe a personal gun from a collection, that is a good shooter, as "seems to be in good condition." So, I know he probably got it at a garage sale or wherever. Anyway, it's safe to say he's not real familiar with this gun, as he represented he was. I have yet to make phone contact yet, or additional email contact. My thoughts are to say that I would be disappointed if this gun is not safe to shoot, in that the timing is off or whatever. He represented that it was a personal gun and is a good shooter. But then described it like a 3rd party salesman. I pan to tell him my concerns and go from there. This is the first day since winning the auction. Depending on what he says, I may get it anyway. But if he was blowing smoke, what would you guys do? $130 for a Rem 1858 44 cal. shipped to my door. Visually it looks fine. What would a gunsmith charge to fix timing? I just want a plinker to have fun with the kids. Thx for the input.
 
I don't think you're taking much of a chance. If this guy really doesn't know guns, maybe it's even better than he described. Maybe his sales pitch was just an amateur attempt at trying to make the ad more appealing. I think there's a very good chance you'll be pleased with the gun.
 
This is an opportunity

There are a lot of very smart guys on this forum who know the right questions to ask of the OP in an attempt to answer his questions about condition and safety of the pistol.

I think it would be a good idea and would develop a very useful thread to go a little further with this.

To Magnumwideglide,

I recommend that you post a detailed description of the pistol when you get it. Include photos. Then permit others to respond. These others will have questions for you because each may have is own aspect of a pistol's condition which he feels is important to safety, shootability and overall value. These aspects will require closer scrutiny...things you may miss in your description.

I am well aware that it is darned difficult to assess condition based upon a verbal description even perhaps with photos. But this is one of the ways that the people here share their wisdom. While I have nowhere near the expertise of most of these guys, I have learned a lot from them.

I would bet that each of them has purchased pistols in situations not unlike yours. They likely had the same concerns until the purchase arrived. I know I have.
 
Well I'm curious but will never know. I called him on a few things. He wanted to walk right away. Perhaps because it was junk and he knew. Or because after being enlightened he had no idea and wanted to start over. With many of those guns selling for 150-250 w/o shipping, he had it at a buy now price of $125. Don't know why he'd limit it. Pics looked good. Little things like he was jobless and needed money. Then he'd say I wouldn't be able to get ahold of him due to the nature of his work. then he said he was a contractor. Most of them I see have a Nextel in each ear most of the day. Personal firearm he could vouch for was a good shooter. Then asked general questions and he said it "appeared to be in good condition" overall, like he had picked the gun up at a garage sale and knew nothing of it.
 
If they're not on the phone, they're not lining up jobs are they? I dunno how to take what you mean. My contractor was getting blooped every 5 seconds. Figure of speech. I would say the harder you are to find as a contractor, the less busy you would be. Side point way off track from what the thread was aiming for.
 
I say again, as I have said many, many times before:


NEVER, EVER, UNDER ANY CONDITIONS, BUY A USED BLACK POWDER GUN SIGHT UNSEEN WITHOUT A MINIMUM 3 DAY INSPECTION PERIOD AND A NO QUESTIONS ASKED MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. NEVER. PERIOD.

With that policy in place you do not have to worry about the condition of the gun or little meaningless phrases like "seems to be" or "appears unfired".
 
robhof

As above, but if you get it and it's as bad as you suspect; please leave a detailed negative feedback. There is one commercial seller on GB that is selling alot old junk, but he has an A+ rating??? Smths for B/p are hard to come by, but parts are easy; so far. I got a junker ASM and found Deer Creek ph#765-525-6181, he has most any part you need. B/p pistols are pretty simple and most parts drop in without fitting, only the hand usually requires some fitting. The mechanism are quite simple.
 
These days any black powder pistol sight unseen ( if its all there and has a steel frame ) is worth a hundred bucks .
The parts alone are worth the money , anyone priced extra cylinders lately .
If you haven`t tried your hand at gunsmithing one yet , buy cheap and give it a go .
They arent that hard to work on and you might suprise yourself at what you can figure out , and with forums like this one most should be able to make the fixes needed .
Makes a good winter hobby too , then enjoy shooting it in the spring .
 
Sorry, If you bid on and won the gun, you should pay for it. When you get it, if it does not match the description in the original ad, then you have something to complain about.

Why is it when someone gets something from an auction sight or a private sale and then finds out (or knew in advance) the thing they bought is worth 4X's the money they paid for it, they do not complain?

I bought a pistol from a lady whose husband passed away. I gave her $50.00 for it. I ended up not liking the pistol and sold it about six months later for $350.00 and went back and told the lady what I had done and gave her another $100.00.
 
I think I would wait until I had the gun and inspected it before I got to concerned about it's condition. If the seller misrepresented the gun then see if you can return it, if not, leave appropriate feed back. At $130 shipped, a steel frame Pietta 1858 is a good buy, even for a parts gun.





I bought a pistol from a lady whose husband passed away. I gave her $50.00 for it. I ended up not liking the pistol and sold it about six months later for $350.00 and went back and told the lady what I had done and gave her another $100.00.
Click to expand...

Good Karma Uncle Buck.
 
Deal is back on

After a few spirited emails, we found some common ground. Seller is shipping it. If I like it, then I can send funds...Can't get better than that.
 
You must be very persuasive

That is indeed a good arrangement.

It says that the seller is confident of the value of his pistol.
 
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