Selling dirty guns.. Ok or taboo?

[Joe13]

Not unhappy or pointing fingers, but I have noticed that every single firearm I've bought in the last year has been dirty to some degree.

Everything from some schmutz in corners to full on nastiness.

I have yet to buy one that was 100% cleaned.

Do you clean your guns before selling them or do you figure the new owner will do it anyway so why bother.

Just curious.

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[Just Jim]

One of the guys posted a picture of his gun for sale and with it several mags. The mag floor plates were muddy so I figured if he didn't take care of his stuff I won't buy from him. I can see burning up your ammo before the sale but to post muddy parts won't help the sale.

 

[G1GRANDEUR]

it wouldn't be a red flag, but something to reconsider about.

 

[IronMonster]

I have had many times where I ended up with things that I knew from the get go would not be part of my personal collection. Sometimes you just see a good deal. Sometimes there are packages where you buy several with the intent of selling all but one. So I cant say that I would clean guns just to sell them. If I happened to notice it was filthy Id clean it but I wouldn't go out of my way otherwise. I probably dont clean my guns as often as I should. If I hauled out a couple and shot a few hundred rounds over the weekend I dont feel bad about sticking them back in the safe until next time. There are exceptions. I have a few high end guns that would not go back in the safe dirty. Now that you have made me hyper aware that I might be "graded" by the purchaser on the cleanliness I will give stuff at least a cursory glance before rehoming it.

 

[Joe13]

The ones I've bought have also all been smoking deals so beggars can't be too choosy I suppose

In fact at least one of them I am positive could not have functioned at all, much less reliably, before I cleaned it.

 

[jbett98]

I pay less for dirty guns.
What really turns me off and runs up a red flag is seeing the screw heads all buggered up by some bubba sitting at his kitchen table, and not using hollow ground screwdrivers.

 

[brentb636]

I'm quite sure that one of the "bargain" pistols I bought, was a bargain because it was never lubed. I got it cheap, cleaned it up and greased it, and it never failed. There is an upside to gun owners who don't take care of their weapons.
Brent

 

[bolus]

If Im buying some cheep milsurp I expect some cleaning work. But I otherwise wont bother with a dirty used gun.

in med school in my surgery rotation, I once got yelled at because I put the tape on the incision crooked after the suturing was done. I was told that if it looks like a bubblegumty job on the outside, the patient will assume you did a bubblegumty job on the inside.

So if a gun looks dirty on the outside, Im going to assume the stuff on the inside got treated like bubblegum.

It still surprises me to go to a gun show and see some old collector guns with what looks like moss growing in the breech. Geez, at least blow the dust off of them if you want them to be purchased.

 

[drewp]

I dont clean guns. I just sell them when they are dirty and buy new ones...doesnt everybody do that...

 

[etrain16]

When I sell a gun, it gets completely cleaned and lubed. I like to turn over a nice, clean gun - which is how I keep them at home. But yes, I've bought a number of used guns that clearly had not been cleaned. It does surprise me that people don't bother to clean them for a sale - and it makes me wonder if folks even know how to clean them. The big one seems to be .22's. I don't know if it's just too much trouble or what, but the last Marlin I bought looked like it may never have been taken down for a nice deep clean. I spent some time with it and it cleaned up very nicely.

All that said, I've yet to pass on a gun purchase just because it's dirty. It does irritate me, but if the gun is in good working order, wear isn't excessive, bore looks good, I'll still take it. Usually the grit and grime cleans up pretty nicely. The last pistol I bought had so much lube it was literally dripping from the gun. It was almost like trying to de-cosmo a Mosin (not quite as bad though)

 

[DieselScout]

I am going to tear it down to lube and inspect it anyway so I frankly don't care.

 

[skydiver]

The liberal media thinks all guns are dirty.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Never sell your guns.

 

[Hrethgir]

Bought my S&W used from a shop, and it was pretty dirty. Probably so nobody would notice the crown was jacked up. Spent $550 for a used revolver that doesn't even shoot accurately. Learn a lesson from me, that dirt can hide big problems.

 

[IronMonster]

Never sell your guns.

Its completely acceptable to sell your guns, But only to buy different, better guns

 

[drewp]

Its completely acceptable to sell your guns, But only to buy different, better guns

thats how Ilearn what I like. Im new to guns and I like to find out things on my own....ive bought and sold probably 50 guns and now I have a couple dozen that im happy with

 

[IronMonster]

I'll tell you a story. Many years ago (early 90's) I bought pretty much every gun and accessory from the same shop. I liked the folks, they where nice to me and I like to trade. One day I went in and the owner said "I just want to say thank you, We don't have a lot of customers that spend over $20,000 a year" I was shocked. At the time $20,000 constituted around 2/3's of my yearly income. The thing is that evey trade was booked as a sale. I would be buying a new gun evey few weeks but trading in stuff I bought 6 months ago. It was an eye opener though. According to Coinflations calculator $20,000 in 1990 money would be about $37,000 today. I make a whole lot more money these days but that still seems like an absurd number.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Its completely acceptable to sell your guns, But only to buy different, better guns

does not compute

 

[Legs]

Never sell your guns.

Guns are like dogs, motorcycles and women... they come and they go.....

 

[Certaindeaf]

lol.. I don't do glocks so there's a clue