used as new

It depends on what your evidence is.

If you can prove it then they should take it back and refund your money or, at the least, reduce the price appropriately.

What makes you think it's used?
 
rails have marks like a scope was mounted. dirty bore and breach. dirty mag and mag well. It's not that dirty but it does look like someone gave it a once over cleaning and put it back in the box.
 
The rail marks might be significant.

The dirty bore/breech are to be expected. Most manufacturers test fire and none of them cleans (or at least none of them does a decent job of cleaning) after test-firing.

The manufacturer wouldn't know if it had been purchased before, the only way they might know anything would be if someone else sent in a warranty card on it.

There are sale records (ATF form 4473) in the possession of the dealer that originally sold it new, if it had already been sold as new before you purchased it. The problem is, I'm not sure if those records would be made available for a civil case.

Here's what you can do. At any point in the chain, you might end up stonewalled with no recourse since no one in the chain is obligated to give you any information if they don't want to. If I were you, I would be VERY nice/polite to everyone you talk to and see where it goes.

Contact the manufacturer and ask which distributor/wholesaler took delivery of that firearm. Contact the distributor/wholesaler and ask which dealer took delivery of the firearm from them. If it's not the dealer you bought it from, you can contact them and ask them if they sold it to another dealer or to a private party. If it's the dealer you bought it from, that could mean it's new, or it could mean you're out of luck since they're obviously not going to give you information to hang themselves.
 
Did you buy it from a local store? Did they have it out on display?

I know some places will mount scopes on guns to show them off and possibly sell them as a package.
 
Metallurgy is so refined today that the factory metallurgists can figure out the approximate number of rounds down the barrel.

If the warranty card is there, contact the factory and ask if your gun has already been registered. IMO, It is very unlikely that the factory will honor the warranty for a second owner (or at least they will not extend as much to the second owner as they would the first owner).
 
The Wholesale Sports store here in Helena routinely sells used firearms as new. It's dishonest and immoral, but I don't know if there's anything a person could really do about it.
 
New vs New...

New means unsold. It is generally accepted to mean unfired (outside of factory proof), but that is not a hard and fast rule.

There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning of "new". The NRA has standards, but they are only guidelines.

If the gun has never been owned by anyone (unsold to private party) then technically it can be sold as new, even if it has been fired, a scope mounted & dismounted, etc.

However, if that has happened, it should not be sold as "new", but "as new" or "like new", provided there is no visible wear. Its a matter of ethics, not law, really. There are some provisions of law that do apply, but unless its something blatently obvious, its rather difficult to proove.
 
After this same question came up on another forum(maybe it was this one) a while back, I asked my LGS about it. They claimed that there were only two possibilities where this could happen legitimately. First, someone(as in wife or girlfriend) buys a gun as a gift. On Christmas day, the recipient opens his gift, does not like the gun or caliber and immediately takes the firearm back to the dealer without shooting it. In this case, they claimed(and I believe them) they would reduce the price as trade in by 10% of the purchase price. They would then sell the gun as new, but would advise the new buyer, that altho it was new and unfired, about the situation and reduce the price to them by the same amount. They claim this happens every year and most buyers have no problem getting a new gun for 10% off....as long as the gun was not fired. The second situation is one they encounter all the time. Someone wins a raffle gun at a banquet(DU, NWTF, etc.) does not want that particular model and thus does not do the paperwork and it is returned to the store and they are allowed to pick another firearm of similar value instead. This LGS goes to these types of fund raisers to do the transfers on site. This is an example of where they may or may not disclose this info to the new buyer, as it is no different than taking a firearm to a gun show that does not sell. In both cases the firearms in question may have had a scope previously mounted and show marks to that effect. Those they claim, other than guns handled a lot at the counter, are the legitimate ways someone could get a gun that may look used, but isn't. There are, they also claimed, many non-legitimate reasons...............
 
Take it back to the store and ask them. As far as dirty bore and mag, I wouldn't take that as evidence that it is a used rifle. New guns can often need a good cleaning right out of the box.

The scope rail might be more telling but again it might just be a lower end rifle with some wear marks already onthe finish. Either way, if in doubt, take it back to where you bought it from and bring your concerns to them.
 
It may have come as a factory scope package and the shop split them up to make more money.

New is a plastic concept to many people, I get pretty hostile when I see a "new" car at the fast food restaurant that the dealer took out just because they can.
 
Did you buy it from a local store? Did they have it out on display?

I know some places will mount scopes on guns to show them off and possibly sell them as a package.
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This is a very real possibility.

When the gun I'm buying is the one that is a display model I tend to look it over a little more closely. If there is extra marks than I think should be but still worth me considering I ask for a discount up front.



I get pretty hostile when I see a "new" car at the fast food restaurant that the dealer took out just because they can.
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I dont get hostile but that does bother me too. I was buying a truck once and after the test drive I notice it had almost a 1000 miles on it.

I asked it if it was new/used or something such as bought and traded back in a month later.

They said no... it was a 'test drive truck' they said.

I thought for a second... and said... 'my test drive was less that 10 miles... this truck has been test driven 100 times?'

They ended up saying that the sales manager was using it too. :(
 
I get pretty hostile when I see a "new" car at the fast food restaurant that the dealer took out just because they can.
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But in most states there are specific laws the determine whether or not a car is new or used. I believe in most cases a car is new until it is registered/licensed. Exception is new cars that have been damaged either at the factory or in transit and have been repaired, not matter how slight, have to be sold as used. Many of those cars you see dealers(and their wife/kids) drive till the next model year comes out are sold as "demos"......:rolleyes:

If I was the OP and had concerns, I would go back to the dealer and ask. You then either trust the dealer on his word or you don't. Then again, the firearm could be just like those cars that Navy Joe gets so hostile about.
 
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