[Dwolf00]

I was at a local gun shop the other day and was looking at a nice looking S&W 686 2 1/2". The one clerk told me that they'd gotten the gun in a collection and had to send it back to S&W and have it rebarrelled. The previous owner had throated the forcing cone to make it "feed" more reliably. As another customer put it, they should have a 5 day waiting period on Dremels. :biglaugh:

So along those lines, what have other forumites found in their travels.

 

[ken_mays]

I once traded a rather beat-up old Savage .30-06 bolt rifle for a Winchester 1917 Enfield at a gun show.

When I got it home, I gave it a quick once-over, checked headspace, ran a bore snake down the barrel, squirted some oil on the bolt, and headed to the range.

I loaded it up, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger. I heard a "snap" but the round didn't go off. I jacked the round out, examined the primer, no dent at all.

Figuring the firing pin was broken, I pulled the bolt and looked very closely at it. At some point, someone had welded up the cocking notch in the bolt body to prevent the firing pin from going all the way forward, converting the old M1917 into a wall hanger.

I had to wait a week for a new bolt body to show up from Numrich before I was able to actually ignite a round.

 

[b540glenn]

I bought an H&R Sportsman (9 round .22 revolver) that shaves lead. I found out while shooting a couple hundred rounds through it. At one point the cylinder wouldn't rotate. I took it off and noticed a "growth" of lead near the barrel. While taking off the lead I also removed a bit of the nickel plating.

But for $80, I should have figured.

 

[scubie02]

In general I've had pretty good luck I guess. I had an old savage bolt gun that I discovered the first time out had a broken extractor--no big deal, bought a new one and it worked great, and was a super tack driver. I'm sure that guy traded it in thinking something was really messed up.

I've seen several butchered shotguns lately--Browning auto 5's and the like that someone tried to install one of those side scope mounts on and had drilled the side of the receiver with a dozen holes or so...just ghastly. I've seen alot of home gunsmithing butchery jobs alas...

 

[SamColtFan]

Here's one for you. I ran across an all original early military Springfield Armory 1911. Made in 1915 or 1916 the gun was all original.........except for the wire wheel brush marks all over the slide and frame. Yep a wire wheel and and electric drill really did a number. The idiot thought he would improve the piece. How sad, how very sad.

Regards,
Sam

 

[Brian Dover]

John Taffin just did an article about "gun show finds" in the Guns magazine "Tactical" special issue, I think it was. Sounds like even he can still be hoodwinked....

 

[Mus]

Here's one for you. I ran across an all original early military Springfield Armory 1911. Made in 1915 or 1916 the gun was all original.........except for the wire wheel brush marks all over the slide and frame. Yep a wire wheel and and electric drill really did a number. The idiot thought he would improve the piece. How sad, how very sad.

Errr, can you even speculate as to why?

 

[SamColtFan]

Mus.....
I don't have a clue. It appears that there was overall finish wear to start with and it may be that the fellow wanted to remove the rest of the finish to improve the looks. Imagine wire wheel brush marks on top of the slide running perpendicular to the length of the slide. YUK!
Regards,
Sam

 

[hipowr]

To be honest, i've been really lucky. I don't know if i'm just careful or insanely lucky, but I don't have any major gripes about any of my used guns (and there's alot of them). If pressed for an absolute worst it would be the Blue Sky Garand I bought in college. I knew it had a yucky barrel, and it was old, but the receiver had a bit more wear then I expected and needed a new op rod to keep it from jumping off track and a couple other internal parts needed freshening. I still got more then I paid as I had it for about 10 years when I sold it, so it wasn't all bad. Of course I knew I wasn't buying a pristine example. I really believe for the right price, any used gun can be made to work just fine and more often then not, I just don't have the problems previous owners may have had with them if any.

later,
AJ

 

[1saxman]

On the wire-wheeled 1911; I thought at first maybe the guy was trying to 'jewel' it, but since SamColtfan described it further, it sounds like maybe he was giving it a 'brushed' finish. I would have it bead-blasted and re-parked.

 

[yucapote]

Last Saturday I was looking at the used gun bin and saw a nice looking stainless Colt s70 I asked to the clerk if I can handle the gun. It had nice trigger and little frame/slide play. Upon close inspection I saw, to my surprise, that the previuos owner has engraved all along the dust cover and front strap his name and gun permit number It looked as if he did the engraving with a nail. No wonder why the gun has been there for almost a year!

 

[Cacique500]

Several months ago I got a Colt Officers XS (slightly used) from GunsAmerica and the day I received it I broke it down and cleaned it real well. When I put it back together (after checking again that it was still unloaded) I racked it and put the safety on.

I held it and looked at it for a couple minutes then wanted to test the trigger so I took the safety off and guess what? Hammer fell without me pulling the trigger - scared the crap out of me.

Long story short, it was a bad sear that the previous owner had tried to modify. If I would've had one in the chamber it would've gone off.

A good reminder to always check to make sure the gun is unloaded before you clean it or 'play' with it.

 

[SamColtFan]

On the wire-wheeled 1911; I thought at first maybe the guy was trying to 'jewel' it, but since SamColtfan described it further, it sounds like maybe he was giving it a 'brushed' finish. I would have it bead-blasted and re-parked.

Only thing is the gun was originally blued back in 1915. Yep, what a mess.

Regards,
Sam

 

[Cowgunner]

I have a Mossberg 550 that had a rusted recoil spring. I didn't know until it decided to break on me while I was shooting. I took it the gunsmith and he put a new one in.

 

[Zenmeister]

My vote goes to an old Remington Rang 1911 which I had the chance to inspect. The barrel and feed ramp were "polished" by a grinder of some type. A sad shame on a classic.

 

[Andy]

I've always thought that more 1911s have been ruined by people who thought they knew what they were doing than any other type of handgun. That's also why they're reputed to be "unreliable".

 

[CQBvoodoo]

I bought a Kahr K40 (one of the first gen. models) at an absolutely insane price of $200 at a gun show... This was the blued version, so it had a lot of finish wear and that is what I thought was the reason for the price. I brought it home and cleaned it thoroughly and 2 days later, me and the guys usually go on our once a month shoot at one of their parents' camp in the mountains in Northern Georgia. I brought the Kahr and figured I put at least 400 rounds through her... Well, after 3 mags worth, the trigger fell out completely while during a tact reload... I immediately removed the fresh mag and cycled out the loaded one and inspected it. Seems that the pin that holds the trigger in place worked its way out on the right side of the pistol and was lost somewhere in the grass... Turns out that those first gen. Kahrs have a tendency to back out the pin that holds the trigger in place. Took almost 4 weeks to get a new pin and even that one backs out after one mag id fired. Rather than keep applying Locktite every coupel of hundred rounds, I sold it and bought one of the new ones that don't have this problem... Sometimes that used gun is TOO GOOD to be true...

 

[BaconStrip]

My buddy bought an old Remi 700. The guy at the booth said that the bore was nice and shiny, and when he checked it, he concurred. When he got it home he discovered how this old gun had such a refined interior. The jackass salesman had taken coke cans and sliced them open to line the bore with. The "shinny bore" was nothing but the aluminum interior of the cans. Imagine the liability this guy would face if my friend had fired it before inspection and something would have happened? Some people are just dumb.