Any tips/ questions to ask when buying a firearm online?

Question

I'm looking at buying a firearm online. Could you guys give me a list of quesions/concerns I should inquire with the ler?

Thanks!

**...with the seller.**

Answer 1

Typical questions would be

Are you the original purchaser? (helps to determine how the gun has been treated).
How long have you owned it?
Why have you chose to sell it?
How much have you fired it? (estimate of the number of rounds).
If pics are not given or unclear - What percent of metal and wood finish remains and what shape is it in and is it original?
What modifcations have been done?
If the seller is nearby - Can I personally inspect it or can we take it some place to test fire it? (More likely to occur if this is a costly gun - not your average $100 22 rifle).
How much are you looking to get for it? (Haggling helps too).

Answer 2

A few months ago, I was looking for a S&W mod. 57, .41 mag. I was using auctionarms.com.
All of the available guns I saw were priced way to high. Finally, I found one with a "buy it now" price of $380; about half what the other guns were going for. The seller had pictures posted on the gun. The gun's finish was in very poor shape and it wore a pretty ugly pair of rubber grips. I sent the seller an e-mail throught he acution site and asked:
1. Was the damage caused by rust?
2. Was the damage so great that I could not polish it out and refinish the gun?
3. Were the barrel and chambers rust and pit free?
4. Were the internal workings of the gun functional or damaged?
5. Had they test fired the gun?
6. Did it work?

All of my questions were answered quickly and to my satisfaction. I also looked at the seller's feedback. This particular seller is a professional dealer and has a high number of positive feedbacks and some negitive and neutural feedback. The key to looking at less than positive feedback is looking for patterns. Is the bad feed back for the same thing, i.e., product not as described, slow shipping, slow refunds, damaged items, etc.

The gun I got was as ugly as described but it was no surprise. By the way, it turned out to be a hell of a shooter. It has earned itself a nice refinishing job.

You can get some nice bargains or diamonds in the rough if you are careful. If you are buying a used gun, don't expect a perfect finish on your new buy. It never ceases to amaze me the number of times I've read bad feed back because the finish on the 30 year old S&W revolver was worn. Duhhh!

Answer 3

If you are purchasing through an auction site, check the seller's feedback to see if anyone else has had a problem with them.

Doc

Answer 4

You have to find an FFL for the firearm to be shipped to before you buy something online. Otherwise they're going to ask you "who do we ship it to?" and if you say "huh?" or "me" they're going to blow you off.