To tell how much it has been fired, swing out the cylinder, and look at the bottom of the top strap of the frame, right at the barrel end. If you see a pretty good burnt line across the strap, it has been shot a good bit. Plus, look at the front of the cylinder, at how discolored it is around each chamber.
Also, if you don't have a bore light, open the cylinder, and use a piece of white paper, like a mirror, to direct light into the bore to check the rifling. A business card is handy for this.
What does the finish look like, does it look like it was mis-handled, or handled a lot?
Last, check the overall feel of the guns action; is it crisp as a new one, or is there slop in the cylinder, hammer, or trigger, etc.
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