Judging used rifles

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bricz75

New member
When reading articles or forum threads in the past, some have opined it is a better investment to buy a used rifle than one of the budget rifles. This got me thinking about the risks of buying a used lemon. I read an article about how a gunsmith will check out a used rifle for a fee. IIRC, the fee was about $100. That would be a large part of a used rifle purchase if the rifle only costs a few or several hundred dollars.

If a person reads up on judging used guns, how well can one avoid used lemons?
 
I had a table at gun shows for right at 30 years. Lots of trade-in rifles. My main tool was a bore-light to check the leade and the bore. I could eyeball the crown.

After taking trade-ins home, I regularly checked them out at my home range, and often did a bit of tweaking for improvement. Never did get stuck with any "horribles".
 
I think the reason why it's sometimes better to go used than new is because of the used price. Well duh. But imagine you're looking at a gun rack most of those guns are valued at 60 percent of actual price. So if you could get a $1000 rifle for $600 wouldn't you jump on it? Or a $500 gun for $300.

I bought a Browning Citori 12 gauge that was 2 years old and had a bit of finish wear. I bought it for $1060 when the new model I was looking at was $1600-1800. Well worth the money for almost new.

I always check that all functions work, bore condition and in a great place testing first hand. Cabela's has a 10 day warranty on their rifles. I've never tried to return one but it would be well worth running to the range and if it wasn't good bring it back.
 
In the "old days", I basically saw two types of rifles traded in. One was the rifle that had been beat to snot and looked terrible. The other had hardly been used(but maybe not cleaned) and looked quite good on the outside anyway.
There seems to be another category these days: the rifle that has been shot to the point of worn out. Some folks will shoot hundreds and hundreds of rounds on a monthly basis and really do wear out the barrel. The external appearance may still be good since most of this shooting is on the range, but the bore is toasted.
Looking down the bore toward a light source may or may not give a good picture of bore condition and some folks will leave the bore dirty in the hope that the wear won't be as noticeable. Some will even note that cleaning the bore negates the return policy.
Most store front dealers will clean the bore and make the rifle look as good as possible so a slightly higher store price may be worthwhile for the advantage of coming back if the rifle is a dog.
 
The present economy has many guys selling hunting rifles because they need the cash and also don't have the money to go hunting. So, many good rifles available for lower prices.
 
This may bite me some day but absent ultra high velocity cartridges (.204 Ruger) or other things known to shoot through barrels I buy new. Most of what I even consider buying used tend towards being "African" bores. Most people chose not to afford to shoot through them because of the cost of ammo and recoil
 
In big/medium game hunting rifles, most are carried little and shot even less. Target and varmint rifles are another story, generally...... but even then, unless you are a target shooter or long range varmint shooter, you'll never notice the accuracy degradation ..... it's a rare hunter that can shoot up to his rifle under field conditions, even if the rifle in question is making 3 inch groups at 100 yards.
 
If you buy old quality you very very rarely buy a lemon

I have found out that many new cheapish gun even those with a sub-moa guarantee does not shoot as well as old quality

My dad found a almost NiB tikka that was probably built in the 60s

I have had savages, a rem700 and even tikka t3s and with premium ammo or handloads they have been submoa BUT several old sakos, sauers and a few other brands (my dads old tikka included) shoot pretty much to the same POI with several kinds of ammo and bulletweights

From new rifles today I only see that with blasers and sauers
 
It's been several years since I've found any deals on used hunting rifles. Back around 2008 or so when the economy tanked I bought a couple of used rifles at good prices. But since then anything of any real quality has not been a bargain. I used to be able to do pretty good and most of my favorite guns were bought used.

Since the election there have been a lot of deals on AR's, but not much else.

While gun prices have gone up, so have wages. You can buy a pretty nice gun right now and have to work fewer hours to pay for it than at any time in history. People long for the days when they could buy a nice rifle for $200, but forget that at the time a house cost $10,000 and the average yearly income for a family was about $12,000/year.

You can buy a very nice rifle new for under $1000 if shiny wood and blue finish is important to you. And relative to wages is about the same money as a $200 gun 40 years ago. Or you could spend $300 on a budget gun that will in all probability out shoot the gun that cost $1000 twenty years ago.
 
Two major hock shops in Thomasville with hunting rifles. One won't dicker over prices, so sells few. The other shop apparently operates on making some amount of profit being better than no sale at all, and offers truly fair deals. Guess who's a smiling owner.
 
Husqvarna said:
I have had savages, a rem700 and even tikka t3s and with premium ammo or handloads they have been submoa BUT several old sakos, sauers and a few other brands (my dads old tikka included) shoot pretty much to the same POI with several kinds of ammo and bulletweights.
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In other words a high quality old rifle will shoot accurately with various ammo brands/weights and not be particular to a certain load(s) like today's cheap, accurate rifles?
 
Art Eatman said:
Two major hock shops in Thomasville with hunting rifles. One won't dicker over prices, so sells few. The other shop apparently operates on making some amount of profit being better than no sale at all, and offers truly fair deals. Guess who's a smiling owner.
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Maybe I'll buy in the future. ;)
 
The $1000 rifle from 20 years ago will be more durable, no?
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Even the $150 rifle from 50 years ago will be more durable: these can be rebarreled. The el cheapos have press fit barrels, for the most part. Disposable.
 
They don't make em' like they used to. There is something to be said for the classics free of plastic and afterthought safeties. Mounted on slabs of wood entirely unique from the same rifle made right before or after.

The thought of em gets me going, but I don't see too many bargains on the racks near me....
 
They don't make em' like they used to.
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True.... they don't. By and large, they can make better guns today..... Actually, modern CNC machines can make them better than they used to ...... but those machines are expensive, budget minded entry level rifles are very cheap, and costs gotta get cut somewhere .....
 
Experience,thats all you need. And a Mk 1 Eyeball in working order :)
you probably seen and used enough rifles allready, looked down plenty of bores, chambers etc.
If it looks wrong, it probably is ;)
 
Collector firearms are sold for there value. Traded firearms are sold due to their owners wanting to either up grade or the firearm is flawed or troubled. {sometimes both reasons apply}

I seldom buy used long guns. Unless there Pre Winchester or dandy look'in Savage levers. Each rifle has its quirks to check for. Inspection before~~ my money slips into the other fellers hand. "If you don't know what that particular models troubles were? My advice is do-not buy it.
 
Just as many guys selling hunting rifles because they missed the shot and blame the rifle. Too early for that though. Happens after deer season every year. This time of year is the time for guys unloading varmint rifles. Some if which can make dandy deer rifles.
Sometimes you can get a scoped, higher end rifle, used, for the same money as an entry level rifle. A Remington SPS, for example, has an MSRP of $731 with no sights. $629.99 at Bass Pro. There's a scoped, .30-06, M700, with a sling, on Gunbroker with a minimum bid of $215.00.
Anyway, it really take an effort to screw up a modern commercial hunting rifle to the point it's a junker. Generally speaking, if a rifle has had any personal modifications done, including a trigger job, it's suspect and needs further investigation.
Budget minded, entry level ,rifles are very cheap because of the stock material and finish used.
 
T. O'Heir said:
Budget minded, entry level ,rifles are very cheap because of the stock material and finish used.
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Cheap stock material and finish doesn't bother me if the rifle is reliable and durable. Are "budget minded" rifles referenced among the likes of Savage Axis, Remington 783, Ruger American, Winchester XPR?
 
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