[GAD]

I've bought plenty online. Since you have to have it shipped to an FFL, you can inspect it before you sign the papers. If you don't like it, you simply refuse it and send it back. You'll have to pay to ship it etc., and you may need to pay FFL fees, but you won't get stuck with a lemon.

GAD

 

[necropimp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeywhat /img/forum/go_quote.gif Do you really want to buy a gun online? buying new isn't a problem...but you can never tell the condition of a used gun from a crappy cell pic. It's pretty easy to hide any imperfections. Same goes for cars...some people swear by it, but I'd like to get behind the wheel before I throw down some cash.

well if someone is selling with a cell phone pic it won't get bids

when selling a gun online multiple good photos and a good description are a good start... and most people sell with a non-firing inspection period (3 days is common)

and obviously you ignore the major online dealers and importers do alot of business selling firearms sight unseen (they also have good customer service and return policies in place)

 

[Methos1979]

I've bought a sold a few guns on GunBroker.com with no problems. Just make sure to do your homework on the gun and get good pictures. And fullly inspected it at the FFL dealers. The gun community is pretty good. There aren't many examples of people getting ripped off. Think about it - do you really want to try to rip off a guy you're selling a GUN to?!? Didn't think so!!!

 

[marvin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Methos1979 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Think about it - do you really want to try to rip off a guy you're selling a GUN to?!?

Yet people still do it. It's actually pretty safe. The vast majority of gun owners are predictably law abiding and wouldn't dream of threatening someone for something that minor.

Quite a few used pistols that I have in my possession didn't function correctly even though they checked out as cosmetically perfect. 3 day no-fire inspection periods can still have issues.

A Springfield 1911 had an extractor claw super glued on. Didn't find out until I fired it. A Colt CCO had the front sight fall out during shooting. My Sig 1911 has easily duplicated last round issues. Revolvers aren't immune either. A pair of Smiths had problems. One had a very small flaw on the extractor star that stopped it from locking up on one cylinder, another had a cylinder stop that intermittently failed to work. Plus quite a few issues with the micro-semi guns that I've cycled through.

While most of the gun community is honest, I've run into quite a few sellers who were dumping problem guns onto someone else.

 

[wareagle69]

Depending on your state's laws on private sales between individuals, one other possibility is to refine your search parameters on a particular forum to pull up items for sale near you. You can then meet the seller and see the weapon prior to turning over your cash. This has worked well for me on a number of transactions.

 

[necropimp]

also when searching for a local FTF sale keep an eye on the classified ads in the paper... i scored my 1941 VKT M91 from a newspaper ad