did a through the mail trade but have problems and need opinions

**556slinger** · January 2nd, 2010, 04:49 AM

ok, i did a trade with a guy from new york my rifle for his rifle.

long detailed story short, his rifle is in much worse shape than his photos show, water spoted barrel, rust spots on the bolt pitting on some parts severe dinging and scrathes on the trigger guard/floor plate and the bolt is pretty rough out of round in some places causeing it to scratch and catch my dummy rounds. i surely have gotten taken here but i still have my rifle as it was not sent to him yet. he also sent me a buch of replacement parts, it was a sported 1903a3 and the extra parts are gi replacements to bring it back to original. I want to send it back with a letter pointing out the problems but he payed almost $40 to ship it to me and I do not have the $40 to reimburse him plus pay the $40 return shipping.

I really want a 1903a3 but this one would cost more to bring back than it would to just buy a nice one.

what should i do?

**GunLawyer001** · January 2nd, 2010, 05:17 AM

If what he sent was not what you would reasonably have expected, based on how he described it, then you should send it back (through an FFL, since you can't ship a rifle directly to an individual in another state), and he should reimburse you for your expenses. Probably won't pay you for shipping, but you are not obliged to pay for him to ship something worth less than what you bargained for.

Or, you might have your dealer get a call tag, where the recipient pays for shipping.

Just be sure that what you received was deceptively described. Take some pics yourself, these things tend to become debate topics on the Internet, you'll say it was in bad shape, he'll say it was fine and you're a crawfish. Keep pics.

**556slinger** · January 2nd, 2010, 05:38 AM

Originally Posted by GunLawyer001

If what he sent was not what you would reasonably have expected, based on how he described it, then you should send it back (through an FFL, since you can't ship a rifle directly to an individual in another state), and he should reimburse you for your expenses. Probably won't pay you for shipping, but you are not obliged to pay for him to ship something worth less than what you bargained for.

Or, you might have your dealer get a call tag, where the recipient pays for shipping.

Just be sure that what you received was deceptively described. Take some pics yourself, these things tend to become debate topics on the Internet, you'll say it was in bad shape, he'll say it was fine and you're a crawfish. Keep pics.

pictures, thats a good way to stay safe. thanks buddy

**ungawa** · January 2nd, 2010, 11:04 AM

He may have spent $40 to send it to you, but you have to spend $40 to send that piece of junk back and you are left with nothing. You don't owe him anything. I agree he DOES owe you cost to ship it back, but that request is probably going to aggravate the crap out of the guy. Just send it back (to FFL I guess) and move on.

**tlgpa** · January 2nd, 2010, 11:19 AM

Send it back to him and eat the shipping cost. Thats the cost of doing buisness though the mail. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose.
He's not going to reimburse you, and I doubt you're gonna bother suing him for it.

**Dredly** · January 2nd, 2010, 11:26 AM

40.00 to ship to NY? wow thats expensive... Have you already taken it from your FFL? if not I would just call the guy and say "This is not the rifle I traded for. either send me the money to have it shipped back or my FFL will keep it and resell it as if it was not picked up.

**556slinger** · January 2nd, 2010, 03:50 PM

well, I have my 03ffl c&r so he shipped it to me but he let his c&r expire so i have to ship to a 01 ffl up his way, i just feel bad because he'll probably have to pay the typical pick up fee from his local ffl. i don't really want to make this any worse than it has to be you know. I'll gladly pay the shipping back to him and act as if this mix up never happened but i don't know what kind of guy he is. i took pictures as mentioned i should.

honestly, if i could find someone locally to give me a freebie and check the headspace and it has a clean bill of health I'll just go through with the trade and make this a winter project. i can't find a gunsmith anywhere near me that is still in business with a fair price and turn around. I got ahold of one and he wants to charge me one hour labor and advised me of a 2 week turn around blah............

**D10** · January 2nd, 2010, 04:12 PM

He will loose more then $40, that's for sure. If you have to ship it back to his FFL he will also have to pay for transferring it back to him. You could contact him and tell him that his rifle is not worth trading for yours and that you might consider it if he/she adds some $$.
Definitely take pictures of your gun and his and check the value of both. Regularly shipping a long gun through USPS should not be more then around $27. I don't know how he shipped it but $40 is way to expensive.