Buying Used from Pawn Shops

[dbla]

Do many of you guys buy used guns from pawn shops?? If so what are some of the common areas of the gun that you'll check. I can assume that you check the action, trigger, chamber, barrel etc etc... Is there anything else in particular that I should be looking at? Do you have any tips in regards to bartering or anything?? Thanks for any info!

-Aaron

[Will H]

The first thing I ask before even looking is the old "If I buy one today and take it to the range and it don't fire?" question. I do not want to be repairing something I just got. I get what they say in writing, especially if i do not know them.

[Guest hawkeye10]

I buy a lot of my guns from local folks in middle Tennessee or from online dealers. Most of the time pawn and gun shops have their prices too high. If I am buying a gun FTF I look the person in the eye and ask "Is there anything wrong with this gun". I find that there are very few people that will lie to you. Another thing is I like nice looking guns and if a gun looks good more than likely it has been taken care of. Another thing is a lot of gun companies guarantee their guns no matter who the owner is so if there is something wrong with it you can get it fixed at little or no cost to you. I have done this before. There are other ways you can check out gun. I bet if you go on Youtube there will be a video on how to check out a gun. My suggestions aren't 100% but you might use some of them as guidelines. Don

[UncleJak]

I made friends with the guy at my local pawn shop. He also sells new firearms as well. After a few trips and purchases in there, we kinda got to know each other. This has been super for me, as he hooks me up with deals and gives me the truth about used guns he gets. I am not sure if this is normal for him, but I have always appreciated his friendliness. It has helped him make some sales, and has helped me make some purchases.

[TNWNGR]

Pawn Shop's are hit or miss with an awful mark up, some will deal with you andlower the asking price some will not. Know what your looking at and what it is worth then start working your deal. Most of the folk's you meet working in the pawn shop's are fine folk's but you will run into some that you don't want to be around again. The bottom line these folk's are there to make a living and if the store get's a reputation for cheating they cease having customers.

[broox]

The "Cash America" pawn shops have a thirty day money back policy. I once bought an m & p 40 there and took it back because I did not like the way it shot. I also bought a marlin camp 45 at one for 260$ and sold it for 500$, so you can get some deals.

[JeffsSig]

If it is a revolver check that it locks up. Also check the timing.

Semi autos, Put the mag in and see how it acts. I also do this although some might frown on it, I load up a mag with a few rounds and rack them by hand until the mag is empty. This tells me a lot about how the gun will function.

I also take the gun down or field strip it. If the owner wont allow it ask them to do it for you.

Inspect the gun in good light. Bring a flashlight if needed.

[gregintenn]

Buggered up screwheads and punch marks around pins tell me someone has been inside the gun who shouldn't have. If those giveaways are absent, there's no bulge in the barrel, and the action seems to work correctly, I figure the inside to be in at least as good condition as the outside. One exception would be old police turn ins. Most of them have been carried a lot, so they'll show holster wear, as well as banged up grips, but they are usually like new functionally.

[Guest]

If those giveaways are absent, there's no bulge in the barrel, and the action seems to work correctly, I figure the inside to be in at least as good condition as the outside.

Forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by a bulge in the barrel? And what would cause it?

Thanks

[Clod Stomper]

Forgive my ignorance, but what do you mean by a bulge in the barrel? And what would cause it?

Thanks

It means a point in the barrel that is wider than the rest of the bore. Usually caused by a bullet lodged in the barrel and another round fired behind it.

Will

[JAB]

My advice would be, if you can, to price compare anything you find at a pawn shop with prices (new and used) at other local dealers. For me, in my area, I have yet to find anything even remotely approaching a 'deal' on a gun in a pawnshop. In fact, most of the stuff I have seen has either been total junk or, sometimes, would still be priced too high at half the price they are asking (or both.) A good, general example would be the Rohm .38 Special I saw in a pawn shop last year. Pretty rough cosmetically. I don't remember the exact 'sticker price' was but I recall that it was two hundred and change, closer to three hundred than two. Not that I wanted it, anyhow (although I might have bought it for $50 just to mess around with) but just to give an example of the kind of prices I see at pawn shops in my area. With prices as such, I don't even bother haggling. I know some other folks in other parts of the state/country have found good deals on pawn shop firearms but I have yet to find anything that I couldn't find better, and a better price, at my LGS - to the point that I don't even bother looking in pawn shops all that much, anymore.

Edited November 16, 2011 by JAB

[tnhawk]

I've gone to pawn shops a few times to look for used guns. I didn't usually find anything I wanted and the prices were high enough I didn't attempt to haggle.

[Randy L]

The "Cash America" pawn shops have a thirty day money back policy. I once bought an m & p 40 there and took it back because I did not like the way it shot. I also bought a marlin camp 45 at one for 260$ and sold it for 500$, so you can get some deals.

I too have bought several guns from Cash America you just have to know your stuff because most of the time they won't just know what the price should be before you buy.

[Guest Broomhead]

I've bought four guns from Household Pawn on Charlotte. Every gun was perfect function wise, one was a little worse for wear. Everyone of them was reasonably priced, all at or under local used prices. They'll let you do just about anything with the gun, short of loading and firing it. Friendly staff, every time I look at a gun now, they'll tell me how long they've had it and whether than can give me a break on the price. With my 870 Express Magnum, the cosmetically lacking gun though it functioned flawlessly, it was $150 and she the manager comped the background check fee for me. I took it home, broke it down, scrubbed the hell out of it and removed the surface rust, with the exception of the bluing it works and looks like new.

And no, I don't work for them.

[gregintenn]

I've went to many pawn shops and left empty handed. I've been to several many times and not purchased anything. You just have to be at the right one at the right time. I've left a few pawn shops very happy.

[MarkInNashville]

I was once able to buy a used Colt Commander from a pawn shop for quite a deal..... but that was a long time ago in a land far, far away from middle Tennessee. Generally speaking the shop owners know what they are doing. You may well find a decent gun and if you know what your doing and know your prices you may reach a satisfactory agreement, but you wont be getting the deal of a lifetime or anything.

[Ramjo]

I took my Norinco SKS in a pawn shop to see what they would give me for it. Yeah it has been nutered, but even without the bayonet it's not a bad looking rifle...a few nicks in the stock and scratches on the barrel. They offered me $125..and then said he would turn around and sell it for $215. I kept it.

[Guest gunnutt]

ooops

Edited November 16, 2011 by gunnutt
in wrong place

[JAB]

With my 870 Express Magnum, the cosmetically lacking gun though it functioned flawlessly, it was $150 and she the manager comped the background check fee for me. I took it home, broke it down, scrubbed the hell out of it and removed the surface rust, with the exception of the bluing it works and looks like new.

And no, I don't work for them.

Now those are exactly the kind of deals that I used to look for in pawn shops. I'm also glad to hear that some folks can get such deals. Instead, I see ragged-out looking single shot shotguns that look like they were pulled from trunk of a rusted-out car in the junk yard for $150 - as in I can buy new ones for less. A few months back, I saw a Ruger 10/22 with a synthetic stock that literally looked like it had been dragged behind a pickup truck on a long, gravel road (was covered in scratches and the stock nicked all over) and then left out in a cow pasture in the rain (actually had a little rust in places) after the synthetic stock got a really bad, DIY 'camo' job. The sticker price was about $10 shy of the price of a NIB 10/22 at Walmart or the LGS. Like I said, not even worth haggling because at those starting prices a 'reasonable' deal just ain't going to happen.

[Guest Broomhead]

Now those are exactly the kind of deals that I used to look for in pawn shops. I'm also glad to hear that some folks can get such deals. Instead, I see ragged-out looking single shot shotguns that look like they were pulled from trunk of a rusted-out car in the junk yard for $150 - as in I can buy new ones for less. A few months back, I saw a Ruger 10/22 with a synthetic stock that literally looked like it had been dragged behind a pickup truck on a long, gravel road (was covered in scratches and the stock nicked all over) and then left out in a cow pasture in the rain (actually had a little rust in places) after the synthetic stock got a really bad, DIY 'camo' job. The sticker price was about $10 shy of the price of a NIB 10/22 at Walmart or the LGS. Like I said, not even worth haggling because at those starting prices a 'reasonable' deal just ain't going to happen.

That is exactly how the 870 looked when I first looked at it, there was even a little still-wet mud under the forearm. There was surface rust all over the barrel, mag tube, forearm action arms, and receiver. The forearm was wood and nicked all to hell, the butt stock was synthetic with nicks and dirt. But the action worked every time without fail, pumped perfectly, dry-fired it twice and the trigger was smooth with a clean break. I got it for 150 out the door, they really just wanted it gone. I probably could have gotten them lower, but I was in a rush to get my girl from school. I took it apart, cleaned and scrubbed it, used some '000' synthetic steel wool and a bronze brush on the rust, lubed it up real good, switched out the furniture for a better all synthetic set I had, ground out the mag-follower stopper indents at the front end of the mag tube, and added a 3rd extension to it. She's purty now.

[Guest]

This is probably a stupid question (because there's probably no what to tell) but is there anything you can do to help ensure that you don't buy a stolen gun or one used in a crime? Let's say you found available locally FTF (not from someone on TGO). Do you just use your best judgement? Or is there a list of "hot" serial numbers somewhere? What if the person seems quite honest but someone before them stole it, etc.... I suppose, like buying a jacket or a kitchen table from an individual, that's just part of the risk.

[Guest Broomhead]

If you're buying from a pawn shop, then you can rest assured its probably not stolen. They have to report serial numbers to the police when they buy items like that.

As for a private individual, just use your best judgement. I think you can call the police with the serial number, but not sure about that.

[z90HD]

As for a private individual, just use your best judgement. I think you can call the police with the serial number, but not sure about that.

This was my experience with buying a used handgun ftf.

Long story short: The dude told me out right "he was a fellon and a drug dealer and sells a hell of a lot of pot". With this information I was still not sure of buying the glock from him but a G19 for $225 I made the deal. As it turns out, I have a friend in the Blount County Sherrifs Dept and I asked him to run the numbers. He told me that if they came back as stolen or used in a crime he would have to confiscate it from me. I waited about a month and had the numbers run and as luck was on my side it came up clean. So you just never know. He still has a Sig Im wanting but he has not decided to come off it just yet. By the way I did get a bill of sale from him and did verify his ID.

[MarkInNashville]

As for a private individual, just use your best judgement. I think you can call the police with the serial number, but not sure about that.

This was my experience with buying a used handgun ftf.

Long story short: The dude told me out right "he was a fellon and a drug dealer and sells a hell of a lot of pot". With this information I was still not sure of buying the glock from him but a G19 for $225 I made the deal. As it turns out, I have a friend in the Blount County Sherrifs Dept and I asked him to run the numbers. He told me that if they came back as stolen or used in a crime he would have to confiscate it from me. I waited about a month and had the numbers run and as luck was on my side it came up clean. So you just never know. He still has a Sig Im wanting but he has not decided to come off it just yet. By the way I did get a bill of sale from him and did verify his ID.

Did he let you get a copy of his drivers license, too? lol Seriously, I might have run the serial number first. And better him confiscate the gun than you get jammed up with it some how!!!

[Guest]

This was my experience with buying a used handgun ftf.

Long story short: The dude told me out right "he was a fellon and a drug dealer and sells a hell of a lot of pot". With this information I was still not sure of buying the glock from him but a G19 for $225 I made the deal. As it turns out, I have a friend in the Blount County Sherrifs Dept and I asked him to run the numbers. He told me that if they came back as stolen or used in a crime he would have to confiscate it from me. I waited about a month and had the numbers run and as luck was on my side it came up clean. So you just never know. He still has a Sig Im wanting but he has not decided to come off it just yet. By the way I did get a bill of sale from him and did verify his ID.

Is it more or less an instant process to run the serial numbers if you call the local sherrif's office? Just curious at this point, but I figure it doesn't hurt to be safe if the occasion comes around.

Did you wait the month in case it had just been stolen recently and not yet reported?