Testing For Truely Unfired Rifles

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NotMeNotYou

New member
No, this is not a chemistry quiz. Well, sort of. When I was kid back in the day there was a chemical solution used to determine if a rifle had actually been fired or not. Swab the bore, bolt-head, gas cylinder, anywhere on/in the peice that would have been exposed to ignition or propellant gasses in firing and the solution reacts, changing color I think. Anybody know of something like this ? What the solution might be made up of ? Thank you for any help.
 
I believe all pistols are factory fired before shipment. I know my CZ rifles were fired because they send the test targets along with the rifle. I'm not sure how one could readily tell if a weapon were minimally fired after delivery.
 
Don't know what it would be...I suppose the police have something to tell if a gun has recently been fired or maybe they just use eye sight and experience?

Are you writing something about guns?

I could be wrong but I had the idea that all 'quality' guns were proof fired at the factory. (Although there is a member here who received a 'quality' firearm with a solid barrel...no hole at all in the barrel...direct from the factory.)

Found the thread about the 'unholey' revolver...
http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=526106&highlight=box
 
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The cop shows that feature the detective sniffing a gun and proclaiming that it had been fired always cracked me up... It's a gun, of course it's been fired... I would hope that the manufacturer has fired it too.
 
If your rifle has proof marks on it, it was fired a few times with proof loads to certify its safety; government regulations for firearms, both commercial and military. Microscopic inspection of the bore will reveal that, even after aggressive cleaning.

Some 'smiths test barrels they install, some don't.
 
he cop shows that feature the detective sniffing a gun and proclaiming that it had been fired always cracked me up...
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Although not a scientific test, a gun that has "recently" been fired will have a much stronger odor than one that had been fired hours, or days earlier.
 
Bart B. said:
If your rifle has proof marks on it, it was fired a few times with proof loads to certify its safety; government regulations for firearms, both commercial and military. Microscopic inspection of the bore will reveal that, even after aggressive cleaning.
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Bingo.
No firearm with proof marks has gone unfired. Unless the manufacturer falsified the mark and didn't proof the firearm. You might think of the proof mark as proof that the firearm has indeed been fired, and fired with 'proof ammunition' to prove it stands up to the pressure.


I was going to ask, "Would you buy a gun that hasn't been proven?" but thought better of it when I remembered that the majority of my US produced guns have no proof marks. Proof marks and the proof houses from whence they came are more an European tradition than American.
 
Many early manufacturer of the first WW produced 100's of thousands of firearms of different designs and purposes for the battles to follow. So many of these makes were remanufactured and reissued, including the bore caliber and specs.

I had brought my A3O3 to the gun shop to see if a scope could be mounted. When the gun smith saw the 30.06 Remington rifle with all original packetized rough finish, he first removed the bolt to peer down the boring. He stated that this rifle probably was not fired much.

He asked if he could show it to his coworker, for which I gave a go-ahead. He then told me that if this was his firearm, he would not put a scope on it because he would have to remove some of the metal to achieve the mount, which would reduce the value of the rifle.

I followed his suggestion and decided to leave it in its original state.

My point is, a pristine bore is worth keeping. It can handle a lot of shooting, but the intrinsic value of the firearm for collectors is of important consideration.
 
As a gun store owner told me. All guns bought that leave the building are considered used. Doesn't matter if you never fired it they can only sell it as used.

And of course all pistols are used before being bought. They even come with the fired casing.

As for fired I don't know but I was at a machine gun range in Vegas and they said to make sure you wash your hands before going back to the airport or somehow they can see the GSR.
 
most are test fired over SAAMI pressures to prevent law suites.my guess is that there cleaned afterward.not knowing when the guns will be bought to avoid caked fouling.not that a few shots would be a lot of fouling but im sure gun manufactuars dont take chances
 
Thanks, everybody. Yes proofing is not a concept alien to me. So the most pristine in my care remain that way. Fired or not. My personal favorite method of keeping them this way is by picking up other nice, clean, low mileage examples of the ones I really like. This has a number of benefits from racking up huge round counts to wear and tear & trades free of mental anguish.

Thanks again.
 
The field test exists. It is a chemical that reacts with nitrates. Problem is that the test is not very sensitive. A decent cleaning will cause there to be insufficient amount of nitrates to react.
 
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I think all rifles come test/proof fired.
I only have 1 un-fired rifle at the moment. It is a custom I built that I have not gotten around to shooting yet. Unfired barrel anyway, the action has about 800 round on it.
 
If my memory serves me right...and it doesn't always, I think the police test they use to swab hands to tell if you fired a firearm is the Harrison Primer Test. I would think something like this could be used.
Helping a friend in a gunshop once, we had a customer bring back a Taurus Judge that he couldn't fire. The star extractor was so out of line you could not insert the .410 into the cylinder. No way it could have been test fired at the factory.
 
No firearm with proof marks has gone unfired. Unless the manufacturer falsified the mark and didn't proof the firearm.
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This is not done in the US; there is no national Proof House as there are in European countries. Proof marks are done by the proof house as a third party and only for the barrels.

Most makers here do test fire guns before shipping, but that os not the same as proof testing.
 
Also don't confuse "fired" (at the factory or proof house) as "used".

A gun that has been test fired, but never sold at retail is not a "used" gun.

Likewise, one that has been sold, fired or not, is a "used" gun, for value purposes.

Generally, "new means new, never sold at retail. one that sat 10years in the stockroom could still be "new".

Once sold to a private owner, its used. Fired or not. ANIB (as new in box) or "unfired" could apply, but "new" does not.
 
Having a gun that remains un-fired is the same as having a beautiful wife that is kept a virgin to retain her value.
Antiques due to their weakness perhaps, but new firearms?
 
I have a lot of rifles I have never shot, but I only have one wife.;) Some rifle of mine is getting shot almost every day. I spread the love on the rifles, but only have one woman.
 
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