A few words of advice for anyone chasing that “deal of a lifetime”.

by Paul Mazan

Anytime you are hunting for a used gun at a bargain price you had better go armed. Armed with knowledge of the gun, the maker, the mechanics, the variations, and what price is reasonable based on condition. The more you know, the better your chances of avoiding a costly mistake. I buy a lot of firearms online to use as the basis of my restoration articles so let me share some thoughts with you.

The safest places to pursue this risky business are your local shops where the friendly owners, and even most of the not-so-friendly ones, will have looked the gun over and put what they consider a fair price on it based on condition and Blue Book value. Unfortunately, that limits your choices and a specific model or caliber that you want may never come through a local shop.

Taking your search to the next level of risk would be to start haunting gun shows. If you’re just starting out to collect examples of one type of firearm (for example, battle rifles of WWII, or L.C. Smith shotguns, or whatever) you have a pretty good chance of finding something to fill the bill. But, once your preferred treasure becomes more specific, you have to cast a wider net and the danger level increases.

The firearms auction sites like Gunbroker, Guns America, and Auction Arms are …

Read more in the July 2020 issue.

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