Can't Bring Myself to buy a used gun

[Hookeye]

Round count cont............

I had a like new Smith .44 mag (629 6") and I had it for a couple of years. Decided I wanted a 4" and put my gun on the block.

Guy looks at it (had it on consignment in a shop) and loudly exclaims the gun has had the "crap shot out of it". I was actually working then and asked how he knew that to be true?

He said by the flame cut of the top strap.

I said that can happen in a box or two, depending on what ammo was used.

He flat out called me a liar.

I then told him it was my friggin' gun, that I shoot 180gr bullets on 31.5 gr of ww296. I aksed if he shot ball powder light bullet .44 magnums and his answer was "no".

AA#9 or H110, same dayam thing. It makes a mark (big whoopie do) and it only gets so deep. Continued usage will erode the forcing cone........my bud wore his out on his original 29 w 6.5" bbl...........but I bet he had, no kidding, 10K rounds through it, most comparably hot ball powder light bullet loads.

BTW, my forcing cone was fine.

So what one thinks is high wear, might not be, and such evidence may be the result of a low round count and fool the unknowing (or all knowing) into thinking it's something else.

No, he didn't buy the gun.........and he didn't apologize for calling me a liar when he was in complete error (the gun had no mark on topstrap when I got it, but it was there after 100 rounds of my handloads). And I didn't shoot it much past that "round count".

 

[Hookeye]

Oh yeah, I bought a chancy Rem 870 Express Supermag, all camo taped with an extra stock for $265. Took 2 hrs of fighting the goop to get all the tape off and clean it up. Sold the extra stock on an auction site. In the end I had a like new 870 Express Supermag turkey model..........choke tube concentric, no dings or scratches, not even wear on the cheap bolt finish............for $215.

It could have been rusty underneath, nobody knew..........but if it was I would have blasted it and Gunkoted. It was to be my HD/turkey and beater loaner gun.

Unwrapped and cleaned, it was like freakin' new (suspect who had it shot 3.5" turkey loads, hence the lack of usage). I only shoot 3" turkey loads

 

[Hookeye]

BTW, when I get a gun that has an issue I fix it before selling it OR..............take it back to the shop i got it from. I NEVER pass along a problematic rig.

If a dealer sold me one, he can get it back. I wouldn't try to dump it on somebody else.

Do know folks who play that game, seen it way too many times. That's being dishonest and really burns me up.

On the very limited bright side.....I've seen a couple of guys want to sell a gun, or trade it, who actually said there was a problem, were very honest about it. They got the better deals.



On round count again (yay caffeine)........I shot a lot of hit 180 and 200 gr stuff through a different 629 Smith. But within one cylinder, broke the gun shooting max'd out 300 grainers. I sent it to Smith and they fixed it (cost me $5) but think about that...........lots of light but hot stuff, no problem. One dang cylinder of max 300's and the trigger pivot broke.

They say that even a lot of 240 gr max stuff can break the pivot on the old models, that hotter heavier stuff most probably will. Fixable though.
I don't shoot anything over 240 gr in older non endurance package Smiths.

Round count..........maybe type is more important than number