"Only ten rounds through it..."

"...After the movie Dirty Harry came out..." M29 sales went up every time it was aired on TV too.
People do a lot of really daft things when it comes to firearms. "while I slept with it." See? snicker.
I knew a guy with a large milsurp collection who didn't shoot at all. Worse that if you saw and talked to the guy you'd think there's no way he should have any firearm.
Sometimes it's financial too. Generally speaking, a firearm is like money in the bank you can play with. Won't always increase in value, but over time even a commercial hunting rifle will not lose value.
 
I one hundred percent agree with both of the above. I'm kind of a hybrid of collector/shooter. I own a lot of guns, but typically shoot the same 4 a couple times a month. It leaves me in a funny situation where I have 4 guns that have a total of about 40,000 rounds through em (combined) and 20 that probably average 40 rounds each.

I do have a friend who owns a dozen guns and I don't think he's ever fired a single one.
 
I know a guy who just likes guns and is curious; but not super attached to most of them. He'll buy just about any gun he can afford - Hi-Points, collectible Winchesters, etc. However since he isn't a millionaire and his wife thinks he already has too many guns, the only way he can satisfy that urge to try something new is to thin the collection.

So he ends up trading and selling probably more than some small town gun dealers.

On a related note, the breechface is usually a good place to look to get a rough idea of how many rounds have been fired. Once the gun is past 1000 rounds or so, it gets less useful; but provides a rough measure.
 
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Lots of good and valid reasons offered here. Some hit close to home. :o

I planned on getting into long range shooting and competing regularly in the PRS series. It was all the excuse I needed to have a sweet custom 260 Remington built by a top builder. I got the rifle, and put exactly 50 rounds through it when my rifle range closed. :mad: In the meantime, other life priorities became bigger and more important, and I never got around to joining another rifle range. I'll hold onto the rifle, but I could be one of those guys who sells exactly the rifle you're describing. It's a great rifle, nonetheless.
 
I always liked shooting, picked up a M1 Garand for $ 100. at a gun shop, that was 1969. Bought a Mossberg 500 12 gauge for trap shooting with friends. Then I married, 2 children. The rifles were living in the closet. Sold them to friends of mine for the same price I bought them. That Garand haunts me till this day. Some rifles you should keep forever.
 
Ive bought several rifles and handguns that I wanted, but never got around to shooting or shot a few thru it and didnt like it. I have handguns that Ive had for over 20 years and never fired them.
Most of my rifles will at least get scoped and sited in. I know several have less than 20 rds thru them, and a cpl have never been shot at all.

I know my dad has a couple of shotguns that are at least 40 years old that he has never fired.

AR's and AK's id be skeptical of a low round claim but there are a ton of hunting rifles with very low round counts around.
 
A lot of personal taste in firearms. Someone may bu and really hate a gun because of ergonomics and it may be great for someone else. It may still shoot tny little groups and run reliably, so they will say it shoots great.
 
I put no value in "low round count". While I know there are a lot of firearms out there with extremely low round counts I also know there are a lot that are not. Go by what you can see on the gun - does the feed ramp look worn? Do things feel worn? Are things loose?
 
I just created an UPS account so I can send rifles directly to a gun dealer because my normal dealer doesn't like to ship rifles. I did this because I feel I need to thin out what I have.

My buddy I shoot with that owns the land we shoot and hunt on is more interested in playing with his home built airplane and spends most of his time at the airport. You want something to change and control your life? Get an airplane.

My health has not been that good lately and if something happens to me it will be easier if my wife and son have fewer guns to deal with. I saw this when my dad died and my mother and I were trying to figure out what to do with his tractors and tools. We sold a lot of it but I think we got skinned on a few things.

I have several unfired guns and guns that I have only fired a few rounds through that I want to sell. Like the Remington Mountain Rifle in 7x57 that I have fired 9 rounds through but doubt I will ever hunt with it. Thats just one example. There are more.

Lots of my guns just get fondled then returned to the safe. I could use the money too.
 
Looking at a rifle? Ask him what range it's sighted for.

Examine feed ramps to see how much brass/ copper has rubbed off.
 
Just recently a 78 year old Father was at the range with his 40ish Daughter. Dad wanted to teach Daughter how to shoot. She was slim, about 5' 6". Dad let her fire his 22LR H&R M992 revolver, a revolver Dad had purchased new in around 1953. The woman was not intimidated by the 22 LR. Dad carried in his pocket a 380 pocket pistol, similar to the S&W Model M&P BODYGUARD or the Kel-Tec P-3AT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kel-Tec_P-3AT. His daughter was unable to rack the slide and barely had the finger strength to pull through the trigger. This pistol was inappropriate for her to use as a self defense weapon.

They also had an aluminum frame P-38 which the Daughter fired. She was intimated by the thing, claimed it hurt her hand, and the manual at arms was beyond her understanding. It was hard for her to rack the slide. They were going to the gun store to trade the P-38 off for something simpler. Maybe they did, or maybe it will show up for Craigslist.

Used guns can be a bargain if you closely examine them. I purchased a very old five screw Smith and Wesson in 32S&W Long that had been in the family before WW2 and had been in a leather holster about as long, for the holster removed some of the bluing from the side of the barrel. After I cleaned out the dried crud that had jammed the lockworks and the barrel, I found a perfectly timed revolver with perfect rifling. I doubt the thing had been fired for sixty to seventy years.



The 32 S&W Long was a good price, the mixed parts P-38 the seller also had was not. He had gone to a Gun Store for an estimate and they were not interested in the gummed up S&W and they told him a price for the WW2 era P-38 that would have been correct if the thing was matching parts. It was not. I was not interested in a mix master at a known high price and an unknown functionality.

Few people shoot their weapons, the greatest problem is rust as these neophytes don't clean their firearms and the things rust. That was something I was explaining to the Father/Daughter combination. Their P-38 was an old military pistol from Interarms, had not been cleaned or oiled in a long time, they had just fired it, and I told them that they needed to wipe off the powder fouling or it will rust. Who knows if they cleaned it or not. Also take a cleaning rod and bristles, and if you can't easily get to a bright, pristine barrel, pass on the thing.


I did not do that for this Stevens M43






I did not have a cleaning rod, assumed what I saw in the barrel was lead fouling, and it was not. The barrel is a sewer pipe. The pistol will go bang and that is about all it is good for.

 
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