Inspection Period for High Dollar Guns?

[fritz1255]

I’m not one of the “big spenders” at gun shows, but there must be some that are. Especially at the Antique gun shows (e.g. Allentown and Timmonium), I see flintlocks and the like priced in the $5000 range. The most I have ever spent on a gun was about $900 for a Luger, and I was confident of my investment simply because there is no source for reproduction Lugers that I am aware of. On the other hand, I have been burned on purchases that were misrepresented, most notably a “shaved cylinder” Webley sold as original. I had to live with that one, since I did not discover the alteration until months after the purchase. My bad for not doing enough research beforehand.

Paying a couple hundred dollars more than a gun is worth is bad, but you could really get burned on a $5000 flintlock if it had reproduction parts. If I were purchasing something like that, I would either want to have an expert with me, or have an expert take it apart later and appraise it. I am not Rick Harrison from “Pawn Stars”, so only the latter option is possible. Do these high-dollar antiques at gun shows usually come with some kind of money-back inspection period, or does the buyer assume all the risk?

[free]

I wouldn't drop $5K on anything at a traveling Carnival like a gun show....no matter what it was, or how good of a deal that it seemed.

If I saw something like that in which I were interested, I'd get the contact info for the guy, and let him know I would be calling him to arrange a viewing later (and bring my expert with me at that time).

If sells to someone during the show, or if the guy balks at that approach, then "oh well!" I don't need anything that badly.

I did spend $2K on a rifle in the middle of the night in a parking lot - but it wasn't of the "collectable" variety, and I did bring a buddy with me to give it a look-over. Whole transaction was under 30 minutes for sure...maybe 20. But honestly, that was a pretty straight-forward situation, no concerns about getting anything fake or along those lines.

[gghbi]

I’m not one of the “big spenders” at gun shows, but there must be some that are. Especially at the Antique gun shows (e.g. Allentown and Timmonium), I see flintlocks and the like priced in the $5000 range. The most I have ever spent on a gun was about $900 for a Luger, and I was confident of my investment simply because there is no source for reproduction Lugers that I am aware of. On the other hand, I have been burned on purchases that were misrepresented, most notably a “shaved cylinder” Webley sold as original. I had to live with that one, since I did not discover the alteration until months after the purchase. My bad for not doing enough research beforehand.

Paying a couple hundred dollars more than a gun is worth is bad, but you could really get burned on a $5000 flintlock if it had reproduction parts. If I were purchasing something like that, I would either want to have an expert with me, or have an expert take it apart later and appraise it. I am not Rick Harrison from “Pawn Stars”, so only the latter option is possible. Do these high-dollar antiques at gun shows usually come with some kind of money-back inspection period, or does the buyer assume all the risk?

I cannot speak for all, but some of the old timers at Allentown are gentlemen of the old school who take pride in their reputation and would make right if a gun was found to be sold in error. Sad truth is that this is a disappearing trait today. If you are into the esoteric market of 5K flintlocks I expect you should be either very educated yourself or have experts on call. What Free proposes is a good course of action. Make contact at the show and complete the deal later with safeguards in place. I do not know any reputable dealer that would have a problem with that. Possibly put down a deposit to hold the item.

[Walleye Hunter]

I cannot speak for all, but some of the old timers at Allentown are gentlemen of the old school who take pride in their reputation and would make right if a gun was found to be sold in error. Sad truth is that this is a disappearing trait today. If you are into the esoteric market of 5K flintlocks I expect you should be either very educated yourself or have experts on call. What Free proposes is a good course of action. Make contact at the show and complete the deal later with safeguards in place. I do not know any reputable dealer that would have a problem with that. Possibly put down a deposit to hold the item.

Good course of action and any dealer that would have a problem with that would not be reputable in my book.

[ItchyTick]

Having an expert examine it by appointment might be the best course.

[bamboomaster]

Track of the Wolf https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Category.aspx/485 offers a 10 day inspection period for many of its high-priced flint and percussion rifles - your only exposure is the cost of shipping (both ways) if the rifle isn't what you thought it should be. They're really quite thorough with the description. Of course, these are not auction items...

I did buy a nice-looking USED reproduction .36 cal Spanish percussion rifle at an on-line auction elsewhere - the pics looked great. They forgot to mention that the inside of the bore was a bit rusted and I've spent days cleaning it out.

Guess it was out of line for me to think I was getting a "deal" at $260

Seems better after about 500 bronze bristle strokes (20 strokes then 4 cleaning patches (10 strokes each patch), 2 oiled patches, repeat 24 more times). I used Flitz on the last 4 patches (20 strokes per single "Flitz" patch, then 4 cleaning patches (20 strokes each patch), then 2 oiled patches, repeat 3 more times.

Yeah, that was a lot of patches! I'm pretty sure that's about as clean as I can get it - and will take it to the range and see how it shoots - it does point very nicely.

This is certainly a good reminder for me never to purchase a rifle that I didn't personally inspect - or one that doesn't come with some kind of inspection period.