PPT/Used Gun Inspection Process

[Konicalou]

Curious what process y’all have (if any) for inspecting a gun when doing a PPT or just buying used in general? What kind of things do you check? Does anyone insist on shooting the gun first? Curious where everyone stands on this

 

[Funjeff]

You check feedback, look at the gun, then roll the dice. Very few strangers would let you shoot it 1st.

 

[RustVendor]

If it's basically any modern striker fired gun with less than 10k rounds there's nothing that could be wrong with it that can't be fixed very cheaply. pistol barrels last 80k rounds for instance. Very few people even shoot their guns. If you are venturing into AR15s or bolt acions, it's a bit more complicated but not much, I don't know if I have ever seen a clapped out AR with 10k plus rounds for sale on here. The vast majority of guns have less than 1000 rounds which is essentially new. In some ways, since guns have such a long functional life, having a higher round count can be a good sign that it works and any issues have been corrected. If you get into 1911s or wheel guns, you should learn about the platform so you know what to look for. You should be able to tell what's wrong with them without shooting them by how they are wearing. There's no universal thing, you gotta just learn about the specific platform. Incidentally I would never let someone shoot it first unless I knew them in real life, I'm not meeting a stranger and putting a loaded gun in their hand.

 

[BONECUTR]

If you don't know what you are looking at I recommend buying new. I have had to facilitate 100's of PPT on beat up/trash guns where the seller is telling them its brand new when it clearly is not.

You can always bring a friend to look it over like buying a car and bringing a mechanic.

 

[Hindsight]

Agree with other comments. Ask for videos, pictures, close ups, documentation, whatever you want pre-sale. See if they’re willing to do a field strip (full disassembly might be a bit much).

I’ve sold many five figure 2011s and no one has ever asked for a test fire or demo range session. I’m not sure I’d really say yes either unless they were already an acquaintance, a friend of a friend, it was a trade of some kind, or it was one of the deals I’ve done which was $100k+ where there were a few guns in question and obviously that’s a totally different situation where one dude brought his gunsmith to perform a full disassembly and inspection of all the guns from top to bottom for the sake of provenance lol.

 

[Shellbackitup]

It depends on whether it's a long gun or handgun. Handguns are much, much simpler, as there is less to look at.

I have a simple checklist on cosmetic and functional inspection that takes about 2 minutes. I am very fond of guns with 'stories' and used guns in general, so it's pretty straightforward.

I bring a small flashlight to inspect the barrel and internals.

Checklist:

• Functional: Open and check safe. Work the action, lockup (if revolver), mag release (pistol/rifle), and trigger.
• Functional: Inspect barrel with flashlight. Inspect crown.
• Functional: Inspect receiver at firing pin, brief check of internals for obvious wear/debris.
• Cosmetic: Any scratches or gouges on frame/receiver that weren't shown in pictures.
• Cosmetic: Grips/Stock inspection for same as above

Then I hand over the cash in a plain white envelope.

I like to call the shop before hand to ask if they allow gun inspections. For some reason, a lot of the pistol PPT purchases I've done have been at Turner's (seller's request unfortunately), so I've had to do a lot of parking lot 'trunk' inspections, trying to inconspicuously inspect with a flashlight in daylight is difficult, so I've foregone that part a few times.

Other than finding out a gun was loaded during inspection, I've never had any issues.

 

[HarleyLowRiderST]

Don’t forgot to multiple the “round count” in the ad by 5x the number they say. Lol

For a striker fired hand gun, just do a mechanical check slide release etc. I typically release the slide to remove and just give it a quick glance inside. If it’s cleaned and oiled, you should be good to go.

I’m guessing I’ve bought over a dozen used pistols, and have never gotten one that did not work.

 

[Konicalou]

All great points here. I also usually just do a visual look-over and maybe a dry fire, but I was curious what the “norm” is for people. Sounds like basically that

 

[miles888]

Quick inspection and a dry fire that’s about it.