What is your opinion on buying used guns. Do you own any?

One used gun

I found a Springfield XD-9 at a good price at a dealer I trust. The gun had been fired only a few times and traded in for a bigger caliber. I cleaned it (that's a good way to check out the innards) and went shootin'. It's good. I'm lucky.
 
Wondering what kind of experience posters here have when they have purchased used guns? good experience or bad?
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I've purchased a number of used guns (rifles and handguns) over the years and never been disappointed. Usually they come from one of the local dealers, so I can give them a good inspection before buying. But I've also made purchases online and never been burned. Look the item over carefully and ask questions. If it's an online auction, check the seller's feedback. Send him an email with a basic question and see how he responds. If for any reason you get a bad vibe, then walk away. You'll find another one soon enough.
 
What is your opinion on buying used guns. Do you own any?
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Viper, I own ALOT of used guns. I'd say 90 percent of my guns were bought at pawn shops!

I'll give you some help here.

Glocks work everytime. So they are a safe pick at a pawn shop.

So are Rugers and Sigs (at least the older Sigs.)

S&W revolvers are to as long as they are in good shape.

The trick is making sure they ARE in good shape.

That and knowing what is a good deal pricewise.

Deaf
 
Trust my life to a used gun? I won't trust my life to any gun without first examining it, new guns aren't immune to malfunction or poor design. And being used does not make a good design less reliable, once you verify it's integrity.
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+1

I suspect that if you were to look statistically at the incidents of failure, unrelated to ammunition, over the service life of firearms, that the distribution is generally U shaped. That is, problems become apparent relatively early in their service life, or much later due to wear. But if they make it through X number of rounds, they're likely to be trouble free.
 
When buying used it is best to know something about the gun you want to buy. Things like price, normal wear areas and things that will tell you if it is in good working condition. A bring it back for something else policy from a shop is a nice bonus. At least half of my pistols were purchased used. Only 2 of them were ones I didn't know much about and I still got good deals on them.

Take the time to do some research on a pistol you see that catches your interest. If it is gone when you get back you will be better prepared the next time you see another one of them.

I shoot my pistols. If they were bought new, they will soon be very used. If they were bought used they will continued to be used.
 
Viper, I own ALOT of used guns. I'd say 90 percent of my guns were bought at pawn sho

Deaf Smith
That's what I was thinking too. Stick to the major manufacturers. Although the P38 they had for tempted me.
 
I have to agree with some of the posts above. New guns can have even more problems then used ones. My Mossberg 500 used to drop shells out of the bottom when I cycled and my 1911 kept jamming. All of these problems disappeared after the first 100 shots.
 
I have been buying, shooting and selling handguns for going on 30 years. In that time I have owned at least 50.

I currently own about 1/4 that number; due to financial considerations, I am a "sell one, buy one" guy.

That said, only one of the handguns I currently own (LCP) was bought new. And I carry pretty much everything I own...or I sell it and buy something else. :)
 
I've only bought one "new" as in new in the box unfired in the last decade. Got one (a discontinued model, but still NIB) the decade before. And I currently have several dozen handguns.:D

Where are you going to find a new Luger, or Broomhandle Mauser? Where are you going to find a new WAa pruf P.38 or Mauser HSc?

Where are you going to find a new Webley MK VI or ,a Colt agent?

Where are you going to find a new Auto Mag or LAR Grizzly?

Where are you going to find a new Savage 1910, or even a Ruger Vaquero (Not the NEW Vaquero)?

Where are the new pinned and recessed S&W magnums? (rumor has it the lock is finally going away in the future...)

IF all you are into is a single personal gun, and new ones appeal to you, go for it. But if you are interested in more than that, ignoring the used market just doesn't do away with half the good guns, it does away with most of them!

Everybody always tells about the lemons they got used, and truth be told, I gotten a few myself, over the years, but generally I know what I'm looking at, and I reached the point where I'm seldom wrong (about guns, anway:))

If its a model I'm interested in, I'll buy a good condition used gun before I will buy a brand new one! And most of what I'm interested in is only found used.

I like guns with ...character.... better than cookie cutter new ones, so long as they are mechanically good, its a win/win for me.
 
The second handgun I bought, way back in the eighties was used, a Ruger Redhawk .44 mag in stainless. Ruger wasn't making stainless ones at the time and nobody had them. Evidently Ruger used to make an entire run of blued or stainless guns but not both at the same time. Only blued could be found. Found a Redhawk in SS at a local gun shop and had the guy hold it for me until I could see it. It looked brand new and the counter guy said the guy that owned it traded it on a .357 mag. Probably didn't like the recoil, but couldn't have put a box through it. Price was right, so I bought it. It remains the only used gun I've bought, but I'd do it again, no problem.
 
I have bought only a handful of NIB handguns. Most used handguns are really "preowned" rather than used, they may have been carried much and fired little, more often not even carried.
 
I've got about 40 guns, more or less, now. About a half dozen of them were purchased new. I doubt I will ever buy another new one. Why, I don't even look at new guns anymore.

I've had one problem with one gun in my life. That was a 22 rifle that I found to have a bulged barrel. The dealer gave me a full refund.
 
Have sold many used guns for a whole lot less than the money and the care that I put into them.

I wouldn't purchase a used gun.
 
So far I have only purchased new firearms as I don't like
having a gun where I don't know where its been :D

I'm warming to the idea of buying used though. It would
save me money.
 
Perhaps its a sign of the times, or maybe the era and area where I grew up, but it is foreign to me, the idea of anyone learning shooting, and handguns in particular, not starting out with a used gun!

What did you learn to shoot with, a new in the box gun? I can't imagine many people doing that. SO most of us began shooting some gun we borrowed, rented, or were issued. Generations of us began shooting some family members gun. These are by definition used guns. So you should automatically know that there are good used guns.

Guns are a lot less complicated than cars, and a lot easier to determine any large and most small problems with a simple inspection. If you don't know how to do it, you really should learn. I can't see anyone worrying or not trusting a gun to do what it ought to do when needed, because they don't know the entire history of its existance. All that really matters is its condition and performance after you get it.

Verify, then trust. That's all you need to do. And include your ammuntion in that also. IF you are relying on a gun for a serious use, test it and the ammo you will use (don't trust that if it works with bargain ammo that it will work with hi dollar ammo. It should, and most likely will, but don't trust it, proove it!).

Once you are satisfied, what's the only practical difference between that and a new in the box gun (which you are going to do the same thing with, test it before you trust it)? Only what you paid for it.
 
Perhaps its a sign of the times, or maybe the era and area where I grew up, but it is foreign to me, the idea of anyone learning shooting, and handguns in particular, not starting out with a used gun

44AMP-- I have never shot a used gun that i did not buy new,BUT after reading all these posts,That just might change now. I have always been very leary about used,but it seems im in a small group and apperently worried over nothing i guess. :o
 
I have bought a couple or few used pistols and several used rifles. A little knowledge goes about condition, function and value goes a long way when buying used. So learn about what distinguishes a fully functioning fireram from one that is not, learn a little about how to rate condition; not just cosmetic but mechanical and parts wise in that it has all the parts, and also get yourself a good book on gun values. A little common sense also goes a long way toward an enjoyable outcome in such a purchase - common sense would dictate that you probably are not going to find a gun worth $500 on sale at your local pawn shop for $150.

A little work at gaining knowledge and a little application of common sense and you should be able to get yourself some nice used guns, if of course you have the money.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
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