New Guy/ Marlin 12ga Bolt Action Goose Gun

A

abelacres

New member
I also posted this on the Smithy page...need all the advise I can get.

A friend of mine recentlly purchased a Marlin Bolt Action 12 ga "Goose Gun" with a 36" barrel and a gold trigger. He was told the gun was "real old" and "worth a lot of money". It has TWO bulges in the barrel, one about half way up and another about two inches from the end. The clip is broken, the gun is rusty and the flat head screws holding the gun together have obviously been removed. My question- Is this gun 'safe' to shoot? Is it worth fixing? He paid $300 for it and I'm pretty sure he got hosed. :confused:
 
He definitely got hosed. If it was in good condition, it might be worth $300 to a turkey shoot competitor who really wanted it.

Nobody here can tell you if it's safe to shoot. A qualified gunsmith can give you his opinion after thoroughly inspecting it but I doubt he'll give you a guarantee. If the rear-most bulge can be cut out and still allow legal length (18") then some functionality could be salvaged. It would do for home defense in a pinch but there are much better choices for $300.

I've got a version of the same gun in good condition with a 26" barrel and the best I've ever been offered for it is $60. IMHO- your friend has an expensive tomato stake.
 
The barrel bulges should have set of a loud alarm. Unless your friend had to have this gun to complete a collection, I concur with lockedcj7, he got maxi-hosed. Is there any way he can get his money back? For an additional $135 he could have had a Mossberg Waterfowl gun at MSRP!
 
You have a consensus already --- but he got hosed...at any price...:(

Its a lesson for you and your buddy ...you need to educate yourselves before you buy any weapon. Its better to lose out on a good opportunity / if you don't know anything about the gun ...than end up with something that is useless ...and then you'll be prepared to make a better decision next time you run into the same gun for sale.

I hate to see anyone get taken advantage of / but unfortunately I think it happens a lot in the used gun market.
 
Thanks for all the advice guys. My friend learned a hard lesson...one that could have been prevented if he had called me before buying that 'tomato stake'. I don't like to buy any gun that looks like it's been into, especially if the fasteners look damaged...a sure sign of using the wrong tool for the job which in my experience usually means al lack of knowing what your doing.

As for the barrel bulges, he said- "I thought they were supposed to be there, it looked like it was proffesionally done!" :confused:

It's really a shame, if he had wanted to pay too much for a bolt action shot gun I've got a Marlin 20ga with a poly choke that's in great shape I picked up for $25 and had reblued.
 
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