A rifle fired with a poorly-fitted stock, or one dried out from decades of storage, will often crack light behind the tang. Look closely for cracks or repairs.
WHILE THE SATISFACTION of buying a new firearm, from the standpoint of warranty and features, appeals to many shooters and collectors, sometimes "used" is the only route. After all, how many new-in-the-box Winchester pre-64s still exist? Sometimes the only way to acquire the firearm model, or the firearm with the features you desire, is by buying it used. We all have budgets, and purchasing a used gun is much easier on them! Read on and learn how to buy "used" – safely.
If at all possible buy from an established dealer, with a track record and reputation. Even better, a dealer who has an in-house gunsmith who inspects all their used firearms and makes sure no lemons slip through. In the event one does, a reputable dealer will take it back or make it right.
What should the dealer warranty? The normal and expected performance and durability of that model firearm, and that he presented it correctly as to its features and performance. If you buy a plain old used 30-30 and find it shoots three- to four-inch groups at 100 yards, don’t expect to be able to return it. If, however, it shoots those groups four feet to the left or right, you have every right to return it. An as-new benchrest rifle better do well under an inch with its provided ammo, or you may have cause to return it (assuming you can shoot that well). If the dealer doesn’t have a written warranty, ask what the return policy is.
If you are not buying from a dealer, you have the standard business-school Latin to guide you – Caveat Emptor: "Let the buyer beware." One approach that some of my customers took – and more should have – was to have their purchase inspected by a pro. If you have any doubts about an attractive purchase, take it to a gunsmith and explain things. Don’t just drop it off for a "strip and clean" and count on him (or her) uncovering hidden problems.
Come right out and explain: You just bought it, and you want it inspected for safety, durability, function and headspace. If there is a limited return time, the gunsmith needs to know in order to inspect it within the allotted time. Many gunsmiths are booked solid for months and may not get it back to you in time if you leave your purchase for what the ‘smith understands is just a "regular cleaning." By explaining your inspection period time constraint you can get your new purchase back in time to meet the refund terms of the sale, should you need to return the gun.
To start, give the firearm in question a quick visual inspection. I call it the "tire tracks and hammer marks" look, and it is the same regardless of the type you are thinking of buying. The inspection of a firearm to determine the percentage of finish remaining is covered elsewhere. The purpose of this initial inspection is to uncover damage, repairs or abuse. Is the stock straight and clean? Is the barrel straight? Are the sights centered? Are there dents, scratches, cracks or repairs to be seen? Does the bluing have the right color? Are the barrel markings clean and crisp, or are they blurry or smeared? Is the barrel, the correct length? Is the muzzle uniform? Does the chambering marked on, the barrel match what the seller tells you it shoots? Try to get a “feel" for the history and typical condition of the gun you are looking at. Does it match the description of the one the seller is trying to sell you? A firearm that doesn’t match what the seller describes is probably best left on the table.
Just because you are looking at a worn, used-to-gray rifle the seller describes as "the best he’s seen" doesn’t mean he’s fibbing. If you are holding a Remington 700 in 308 Winchester – yes, he is. On the other hand, if you are holding a pre-’64 M-70 in 300 Savage – no, he isn’t.
Open the action. With a light or reflector – and with the action open and bolt removed if appropriate – look down the bore. Clean, shiny and clear of obstructions, right? If not, let the bargaining begin!
While many rifles will shoot accurately with a slightly pitted bore, some won’t – and all will require more frequent cleaning. Work the action and see if there are any binding spots or if the action is rough. Ask if you can dry fire it to check the safety.
Some people do not like to have any gun in their possession dry-fired; others don’t care. If you cannot, you may have to pass on the deal. Or, you can assure the owner that you will restrain the cocking piece to keep the striker from falling.
Close the action and dry-fire it. How much is the trigger pull? Close the action, push the safety to ON, and pull the trigger. It should stay cocked. Let go of the trigger and push the safety OFF. It should stay cocked. Now, dry-fire it. Is the trigger pull different than it was before? If the pull is now lighter, the safety is not fully engaging the cocking piece, and you’ll have to have someone work on it to make it safe. If the rifle fires at any time while manipulating the safety (even without your having touched the trigger) it is unsafe until a gunsmith repairs it.
A rifle fired with a poorly-fitted stock, or one dried out from decades of storage, will often crack light behind the tang. Look closely for cracks or repairs.
While you were checking the safety, just what was the trigger pull? A very light trigger pull is not always bad, but may need adjustment. As an example, if you are handling a Remington 700 or Winchester 70, and the trigger pull is one pound, someone may have adjusted the trigger mechanism. If you are handling a Winchester '94 and the trigger pull is a pound, someone has been stoning the hammer or sear. On the first two, you or your gunsmith can adjust the weight back to normal ranges. On the '94 you may have to buy a new hammer or sear – or both – to get the pull back into the normal range.
Are the screw slots clean, or are they chewed up? This screw is just tolerable. Any worse and it would indicate abuse instead of 59 years of indifferent attention.
Inspect the action and barrel channel. Is the gap between the barrel and the channel uniform? Ordoes the forearm bend right or left? Changes in humidity can warp aforearm and, if the wood touches the barrel, alter accuracy. The owner may be selling it because the accuracy has "gone south," and not know that some simple bedding work can cure it.
Look at the action where it meets the stock. Is the wood/metal edge clean and uniform? Or do you see traces of epoxy bedding compound? Epoxy could mean a bedding job,and it could mean a repair of a cracked stock. Closely inspect the wrist of the stock, right behind the tang. Look for cracks and repairs.
Check the edges of the stock where the action rests for signs of glass bedding. Bedding is not bad; in fact, it can be good. But don’t pay collectors’ prices for a working tool that has been modified.
Turn the rifle over and look at the action screws. Are the slots clean, or are they chewed up? Mangled slots indicates a rifle that has been taken apart many times – and at least a few of those times with a poorly-fitting screwdriver.
Be sure of the chambering, and be sure it is clearly marked. This Marlin was not a 38-55 when it left the factory; but is now and is clearly so marked.
Remove the bolt if you can. If not, use a reflector or light to illuminate the bore. Is the bore clean and bright? Look at the bore near the muzzle. Do you see jacket fouling or lead deposits? Many an "inaccurate" rifle can be made accurate again simply by cleaning the jacket fouling out of the bore. While looking down the bore, hold the barrel so a vertical or horizontal bar in a window reflects down the bore. If the reflection of the bar has a ‘break’ in it, the barrel is bent. Sight down the outside of the barrel and see if you can spot it. A slightly bent barrel can still be accurate, but will walk its shots when it heats up. A severely bent barrel must be replaced.
Consider rarity when assessing condition. A 30-06 with signs of honest use and hunting wear is a tool. This same rifle, were the barrel marked “300 Savage” or “35 Remington,” would be a collector’s dream.
Pumps and autoloaders require the same safety check as rifles do, with a few additions. Safety on, pull the trigger, let go, safety off. Dry fire and see if the weight of the trigger pull changes.
When inspecting the barrel, look for dents or creases. Also, inspect the rib (if there is one) to see if it has been dented. While a dented barrel or rib can be repaired so the damage is almost unnoticeable, you can still see evidence of the repair.
Remove the barrel to inspect the bore. Is the bore clean of plastic? Is the choke clean? If not, swab them clean. If there are screw-in chokes, do they unscrew easily and smoothly? While you have the forearm off an autoloader, look at the gas system. Is it clean? Or is it crusty from powder residue? Powder residue can be wiped off, but rust requires more a vigorous remedy, and may leave the shotgun as a non-cycling autoloader.
Doubles require a different inspection. While looking over the barrels, look to see that the side or bottom ribs are smoothly attached along their length. A lifted rib that has been repaired will have a different appearance at the repair.
Open and close the action. Does the lever move smoothly into place, or do you have to push it the last fraction to fully close it? How far does the lever move? Levers are initially positioned to not go fully to the centerline. As the action wears, the lever moves further and further, taking up the wear. A shotgun with a lever too far past the centerline may have been shot a great deal, or been taken apart and put back together with the lever mis-timed.
Are screw-in chokes easy to remove? Or do you have to wrestle with them? A bulged choke may mean a ruined barrel. Always unscrew the chokes to make sure they work as intended.
Next, check to see the barrels are tight. Often, the forearm will put enough pressure on the action to make it seem tight. Remove the forearm and then check barrel tightness. Does the barrel assembly move or wobble when closed? Can you see the joint at the action changing size when you try to move the barrel? A loose barrel is an expensive repair, so be sure to check. Pull or twist the barrel in all three axes; attempt to move the rear side to side, lift as if you were opening the action (but not pushing the lever), and pull the barrels forward. The action should be as tight as a bank vault.
The screw-in chokes in this barrel, while functional, doom the barrel for resale. The wall was cut too thin on one side and chipped out. The owner will never be able to sell the barrel, for who would buy it? You might, if you neglected to check.
Next, the triggers. You’ll need snap caps and the owner’s permission. Insert the snap caps and close the action. Put the safety on. If the double is a twin trigger, check to make sure the safety blocks both triggers. If it is a single trigger, make sure the safety blocks the trigger when the barrel selector is set to each barrel in turn.
Push the safety to OFF and snap one of the barrels. Open the action (keep your hand over the action to stop the snap cap from being launched across the room) then close it and select the other barrel. Snap that barrel and open the action again, stopping the snap cap from being ejected. Both barrels work? Good. Close the action, snap one of the barrels, and then slap the butt of the shotgun with your hand. If the shotgun has a non-inertial trigger – like the Ruger Red Label – you can forego the slapping. Does the second barrel now fire when you pull the trigger? If so, the inertial trigger is working. If not, you may have to slap it harder, or the inertia weight needs adjusting.
Handguns come in two types: revolvers and autoloading pistols, and each has sub-types with their own peculiarities. The four types we’ll cover are the single-action revolver and double-action revolver, single-action autoloading pistol and double-action autoloading pistol.
The single-action revolver is known by many as the cowboy revolver. Your quick visual inspection of the exterior should start with the sights, to make sure they are straight, and the grips to make sure they are without cracks or dents. Also look at the exterior edge of the muzzle, and the corners of the frame, for signs of dropping. Bent sights and cracked grips indicate a dropped handgun. Dropping can bend the barrel, warp the frame or throw off the timing.
Hold the revolver up to the light, sideways, and look at the cylinder gap. There should be daylight, but not too much of it. The SA comes in the Colt pattern, old Ruger, and the new Ruger.
In Colts and old Rugers, open the loading gate, cock the hammer back to the (half-cock) notch that frees the cylinder, and rotate the cylinder. Look to see that it isn’t loaded. On new Rugers, opening the loading gate frees the cylinder to rotate. To close up both action "systems," close the loading gate, cock the hammer and, with your thumb on the hammer spur, pull the trigger and ease the hammer forward while holding the trigger back. Check the cylinder for play.
For those who may not know, spinning the cylinder at high speed, or fanning the hammer are both considered abusive handling, and will likely end the sale before it starts. Don’t do either!
The wood on this shotgun can be repaired, but what caused it? If a previous owner used magnum shells in a non-magnum-capable gun, the action may be loose. Check the tightness of the barrels to the receiver.
On doubles, check to see if the top lever is easy to move and the action easy to open.
Does the cylinder move back and forth? Called endshake, it can be easily fixed, but if there is too much it indicates a revolver that has seen a lot of use. On a Colt-pattern revolver it could mean that the cylinder has been replaced and not properly fitted, or the bushing is worn – or peened – from heavy loads.
Does the top lever go past center? As the locking surfaces wear the lever moves farther and farther. When it reaches the far side of the top strap, it needs to be refitted.
Does it wobble from side to side? The cylinder stop may be worn, or the slots may be worn or too large. Look at the slots. If they have been abused, the edges will be chewed up. If they appear sharp and clean, the cylinder stop may be worn or its spring weak. A worn or abused cylinder is expensive, while a new cylinder stop or spring is relatively cheap.
Slowly cock the revolver, watching the cylinder. Does it come fully into position? Or do you have to push the cylinder around the last fraction of an inch to get it to lock? A cylinder failing to carry up will require a new hand – or require that the old one be "stretched."
Check each chamber. It isn’t unusual for a revolver to have one chamber that has a slightly different timing on the carry up than the others do. Once you’ve checked carry-up, test the trigger pull. If the owner is leery of letting you dry fire, catch the hammer with your other hand each time you cock it and pull the trigger. Is the pull within normal limits? A heavy pull may indicate someone has fussed with the trigger – as would a very light pull.
When doubles loosen their ribs and plates, the damage often starts at the muzzle. Check there first, and then work your way down the barrels.
While a trigger is relatively cheap, they can be salvaged only sometimes. The hammer is expensive, but you can often have the notch re-stoned (properly, of course) or in extreme cases, welded and re-cut. If the trigger pull has been "messed with," what was done? You can’t tell without getting out a screwdriver set and disassembling the revolver there and then. You will have to either take the risk, or insist on a return/refund option if your gunsmith finds something too expensive to fix.
You must remove the forearm before checking a double for tightness. If you don’t, the forearm’s support may mask any looseness present in the action.
To continue inspecting the Single Action, open the loading gate, release and pull the center pin, roll the freed-up cylinder out of the frame (to the right) and inspect the front and rear of the cylinder. On the rear, is the bluing of the ratchet that the hand pushes against evenly worn white? (A difficult inspection on a stainless or nickel gun, but you can see the wear if you look closely.) Each chamber should be clean, their edges unmarred. On the front face of the cylinder, check to see if there are marks from the cylinder face rubbing against the rear of the barrel. A cylinder with endshake may rub. The rubbing may even be only partial. Don’t worry unless the rubbing has been hard or extensive enough to have marred the face of the cylinder.
Hammer clearance on a revolver in single action mode is important. You can see here the hammer may bind on the frame if the spur is bent.
Look at the rear of the barrel. Is the end even and square to the bore? Or has someone been stoning or filing the rear face for some reason? Is the forcing cone clean and smooth?
A revolver that has been fired with lead alloy bullets will often have a forcing cone crusted with lead, even when the rest of the barrel is clean.
A revolver that has seen a lot of jacketed magnum-level loads will show the wear in the forcing cone, the edges of which will be slightly rounded from the heat and abrasion.
Look down the bore. Is it clean and are the lands and grooves smooth and shiny? A pitted bore means the barrel must be replaced. If you see a dark ring (or donut) that indicates a "ringed barrel," the barrel may still be accurate but will probably lead quickly. A bullet stopping partway down the bore, and then being jolted out by the next round fired, causes a "ringed" barrel. The bulge may not show on the outside.
The quick exterior inspection should include the hammer spur. Dropping a DA revolver can bend the spur, keeping the hammer from being cocked. Your inspection will reveal this, so be prepared when you get there.
Push the cylinder latch and open the cylinder. Does the latch move smoothly? Does the cylinder move without binding or catching? Check by opening the cylinder at each of its six (or five, seven or eight) positions. A dropped DA revolver can have a bent center pin, and the bend will interfere with opening at only one chamber. On a DA revolver, opening and closing it Hollywood-style, by flicking the wrist, is flagrant handling abuse which will get it snatched out of your hands by many owners.
To check single action engagement, cock the hammer and push the hammer forward with one thumb. Again, ten pounds is all you need.
Check carry-up, both in single action and double action modes. You may have to ride your offhand thumb on the hammer as you slowly do the double-action check, to keep the hammer (and the trigger) from jerking to the end of the DA stroke and thus hiding improper carry-up. If the revolver has been dropped and the hammer spur bent, this is when you’ll find out. A bent spur can still work fine in double action, but the hammer goes back farther in cocking for single action. A bent spur may bind against the frame and not allow the revolver to be cocked. With the hammer cocked, put your thumb behind it and give it a gentle push… no more than ten pounds worth. The hammer should stay cocked.
Does the cylinder unlatch smoothly and easily? Binding or requiring force to move is a bad sign, usually indicating a bent crane or bent center pin.
Years ago I had a run-in with a desk sergeant at a local police department about proper testing for push-off (my home state of Michigan requires a safety inspection for the sale of a handgun). He was pushing for all he was worth, with both thumbs, and rejecting every revolver my customers came in with. I finally had to bring in the S&W Armorers Manual, and show him and his supervisor what the factory-accepted test was. If the revolver you are testing pushes off at ten pounds or less, the single-action notch is worn – or has been worked on. Depending on theremedy required, it may be expensive to fix; sometimes requiring a new hammer.
A peened cylinder locking slot indicates heavy use, either many rounds or magnum loads. Peened slots can’t be fixed, and require a new cylinder, a major cost.
Check cylinder tightness with the trigger held back, as with the SA revolver, checking for play side-to-side and front-to-back. As on the SA revolver, side-to-side play can be caused by peened locking slots in the cylinder, which is expensive to repair. Or, it can be caused by a worn cylinder stop (less expensive), or a tired cylinder stop spring (cheap to fix).
Close the cylinder, dry fire and hold the trigger back. Check the cylinder for wobble: front-to-back and side-to-side. Then release the trigger and try again. The cylinder shouldn’t move at all when the trigger is held back, and only a little when released.
Endshake is a sign of use with heavy or magnum loads.
Endshake is easy and inexpensive to fix by stretching the crane or installing shims, but both increase cylinder gap at the rear of the barrel. If removing endshake increases the gap beyond tolerances, you’ll have to have the barrel set back, a moderately expensive fix.
Open the action and look at the front and rear of the cylinder. The front of the cylinder should not show rub marks from the rear of barrel. If it does, it is a sign of excessive endshake, which must be fixed. The rear of the chambers should have clean ninety-degree edges. Some shooters bevel the rear opening of the chambers to make speedloading faster and easier. Properly done, beveling does speed reloads but, improperly done, it can cause improper ejection.
If you see beveling, look closely at the ejector star. Has the star been beveled, too? A proper job bevels the cylinder but not the ejector. A beveled ejector that improperly ejects (the empties will not be fully ejected) is a moderately expensive repair.
Inspect the forcing cone. Is it clean, with sharp edges? A revolver that has seen a lot of magnum loads, especially jacketed ones, will have an eroded forcing cone. A worn forcing cone can cause spitting and a loss of accuracy. A worn forcing cone can be fixed, but only by setting the barrel back and cutting a new cone in fresh steel. The gunsmith will also have to shorten the ejector rod and center pin, and will have to remove endshake to do the job properly and the cost will be moderate to moderately high.
Look down the bore. Clean, shiny and straight? Good. If it is pitted, or ringed from a bullet having been lodged in the bore, you’ll need a new barrel.
The last check concerns the crane. The swing-out crane makes loading and unloading easier, but it is relatively fragile and can be bent by being dropped, or being flipped open Hollywood-style.
Gently close the cylinder, and see how much thumb pressure it takes to lock up. Does the cylinder swing into place and click shut without force? Great. Try it on all chambers, as a bent crane can be offset by other tolerances, and may be hidden on one or more chambers. If you find you need moderate thumb pressure to get the cylinder to lock in place, the crane may be bent.
The crane on a DA revolver is easily bent from abuse, dropping or incorrect gunsmithing.
A bent crane and its repair are brand-dependent. Rugers are so stoutly built that you need a ball-peen hammer to bend the crane. You also need one to straighten it. A S&W crane is more fragile and more sensitive to misalignment, but a simple job to straighten. The Colt system is less sensitive than the S&W, not as stout as the Ruger, and a more involved job to fix.
The icon of single-action autoloading pistols is the 1911 pistol. Of all handguns, this one is the most likely to be assembled from parts, played with, experimented upon – and had parts swapped in and out. Any used pistol requires a close inspection to ensure you don’t end up with a pig in a poke.
On your exterior visual inspection, don’t be put off by parts of different colors. The government never cared about matching the color of Parkerized parts on military-issue 45s, and many shooters through the years have come to favor deliberately two-toned pistols. It is not at all unusual to find a 1911 with a blued slide and nickeled or stainless frame, or blued or Parkerized parts on a hard-chromed gun.
A dropped revolver can bend the center pin where it protudes into the frame. It cannot be straightened and must be replaced.
Check the muzzle end of the slide for dings and gouges indicating it has been dropped. Look at the magazine well. A dropped pistol can crack at the magazine well if the well has been beveled for fast magazine insertion. You may see a crack on the frame forward of the slide stop lever. Pay it no mind. A cracked dustcover on high-mileage auto-pistols is not rare. If you see the crack and the owner says it has never been shot, be suspicious. Any crack in a slide is grounds for immediate rejection. Cracked slides cannot be repaired, cannot be trusted, and must be replaced.
Give the pistol a brief visual check for signs of dropping, or tool marks from previous experimenting. Work the slide. Does it move smoothly? It should move its full travel without catching, binding or hesitating. A binding slide could be a bent slide, dented frame rails, or a mis-fit replacement barrel. All will be moderately expensive to fix. Or, it could simply be a replacement slide that was not fully lapped to fit – which is cheap to fix.
Some home gunsmithing is beyond the pale. These home-drilled “ports” on this revolver have ruined the barrel. If the seller won’t subtract the cost of a new barrel and installation from the cost, pass it up.
Flip the thumb safety up and down. It should move smoothly and snap from one setting to another. Check the grip safety. It should move in and out without binding, and its spring should snap it back out when released. A grip safety that doesn’t move should set off alarm bells in your head. It was popular in competition circles a decade or more ago to pin down grip safeties so they would not move. A pistol with a pinned grip safety is probably a high-mileage competition gun that has seen tens of thousands of rounds. Even if it has seen only light use, you will have to have the grip safety unpinned and properly tuned.
A revolver with a cylinder that won’t fully “carry up” into position behind the barrel is dangerous. If it fires unlocked, the bullet won’t be centered in the bore, and will split fragments out through the gap.
Now check the function of the safeties. Happily, owners of the 1911 are much less prone to the "don’t dry fire" attitude. Check to make sure the pistol isn’t loaded, then cycle the slide and dry fire it. Hold the trigger back and work the slide. It should move smoothly. A pistol that is hard to cycle with the trigger held back could have disconnector problems – or an improperly adjusted trigger binding the disconnector. With the slide cycled back and forth, does the hammer stay cocked (It better, or you will be facing expensive repairs)? Next, push the thumb safety ON. Pull the trigger (using no more than ten pounds pressure), release the trigger and push the safety OFF. If the hammer falls, the safety isn’t blocking the sear’s movement. I’ve seen pistols that would fire when the safety was ON and the trigger was pulled. Not very safe and, potentially, an expensive repair.
The grip safety on the left has been pinned down, and doesn’t work. Don’t buy a 1911 with a pinned grip safety unless it can be unpinned and tested for function.
If the hammer stays back, you now listen. Lift the pistol to your ear, and gently thumb back the hammer. If you hear nothing (assuming you have properly worn hearing protection during all those years of shooting) then the thumb safety is fine. If you hear a little metallic "tink" then the safety needs adjustment. If the safety blocks the sear – but not entirely – the sear can move minutely when you pull the trigger. The "tink" is the sear tip snapping back into the bottom of the hammer hooks when the spring pressure is released. If the thumb safety passes the "listen" test, you’re on to the grip safety.
Does the thumb safety move smoothly, or do you need to force it? Forcing is bad, and indicates a poorly fitted thumb safety.
Once the safety is on, pull the trigger with about 10 pounds of force. Then push the safety off and listen to the sear.
Cock the hammer and hold the pistol so you don’t grip the grip safety. Pull the trigger. The test, and "listen," are the same as the thumb safety test, looking for the same problems. Now start looking for signs of abuse or experimentation.
Hold the slide partway back and look at the feed ramp. It should be clean and shiny. There should be a gap between the ramp on the frame and the ramp on the barrel. If someone has polished them to be an uninterrupted surface, they have decreased feeding reliability. An improperly polished or ground ramp is expensive to fix.
Should you check barrel fit? Checking won’t tell you much. The customary check is to press down on the chamber area to see if it moves, and having moved, if it springs back. The problem is, it doesn’t tell you much. I’ve seen apparently loose pistols that shot quite accurately, and tight pistols that wouldn’t shoot worth a darn.
To check the grip safety’s function you have to hold the pistol so you don’t depress the safety. Then pull the trigger.
There are some indications that something is amiss. If you are looking at a custom competition gun with a name-brand barrel fitted, and the fit is loose, be suspicious. The barrel may have been simply dropped in (with no attempt at properly fitting it), or it may have been shot tens of thousands of rounds until it wore loose.
If you have a pistol with a plain barrel, tightly fitted, and the front sight is very short, something is up. The barrel may be tight simply because the owner has fitted a long link to the barrel. In which case the link is propping the barrel up to be tight, and the front sight had to be shortened to get the sights to line up with the groups.
To check the disconnector: dry fire, hold the trigger down and slowly cycle the slide.
Lock the slide open and look down the bore. More so than many other pistols, the 1911 can be a high-mileage survivor. Is the bore clean, or fouled with lead or copper? Is the muzzle worn from cleaning? Is there heavy brass "marking" behind the ejection port? Signs of high mileage are not a reason to pass, but if the pistol is offered as "new" or "like new" and you see signs of bore wear, hold on to your money.
On the subject of the cost of repairs to a 1911, the same symptoms can be cheap – or expensive – depending whether the parts involved merely need adjustment, or must be replaced. Accept a dysfunctional 1911 into your home only after careful consideration and acceptance of potentially high repair costs.
Your visual inspection for the DAs will be the same as with the 1911, except that more of the DAs will have alloy frames. You must take a closer look, especially at a police trade-in, to check for signs of dropping. If you have a pistol with worn bluing, but new grips, look closely. New grips go on only when the old ones are too far gone to be presentable. Police guns get dropped, whacked into car doors and frames, door jambs, light poles, vending machines and seat belt buckles – and that is just when holstered!
Check the frame closely for cracks and signs of dropping, and pass on cracked frames. Glocks get an automatic "passing grade" here, as you can’t do more than cosmetic damage, even by throwing one into a cement mixer. Do the dry fire and slide cycle test just as you would with the 1911. Hammerless guns, or DA-only guns, where the hammer follows the slide down, obviously won’t show you a cocked hammer to manually manipulate. Dry fire them, cycle the slide, and dry fire again.
The bulge in this barrel remains hidden by the slide when cycled, and can only be seen by removing the barrel from the slide, or carefully looking down the bore.
The safety check is less involved than with the 1911, and is dependent on design. On Glocks, cycle the action and attempt to press the trigger back without depressing the centrally-mounted trigger safety. On DA guns, drop a pencil down the muzzle, eraser end first, and point up.
Push the safety lever to SAFE, or use the de-cocking lever. The pencil shouldn’t move. Don’t pay attention to vibrations. If the safety isn’t blocking the firing pin, the pencil will get launched out and upwards.
Buying a used firearm can be rewarding, fun and educational. By taking a few precautions, and using the inspection procedures outlined, you can avoid buying a walnut and blue steel lemon. Have fun and stay safe! *
A pistol should not “smokestack,” or trap the empties in the ejection port, as shown in this simulated malfunction. The cause can be ammo, the pistol – or the shooter. Take the pistol to an independent gunsmith for inspection before returning to the seller, so you know the problem’s source.