Poor Front Stuffers!

[deerslayer303]

So me and the wife were out and about today, and I stopped in a few pawn shops. There were quite a few very nice looking side locks, well on the outside, but when I peered down the barrel corrosion and pitted barrels. One was a very nice Renegade but the barrel looked nasty. How can someone sleep at night treating a rifle like that??? And the kicker was they were asking a normal price for it, I guess pawn shops don't look down a barrel. Just sad sad sad...

[arcticap]

Bring the rusty barrel to their attention.
If only 1/2 of the gun is any good then only offer them 1/2 of the price, or even less.
Let them know that there's a new sheriff in town!

[Pahoo]

How can someone sleep at night treating a rifle like that???

This is all too common and in part, it's cause is taking BP and Pyrodex for granted. Replacement propellants aren't much better. Too many folks just don't understand what you have to invest, to keep them clean. .....

Most gun stores will not even talk to you when trying to sell a SideLock. They have been bit, too many times and find them to be a waste of time. Most wind up being wall hangers. .....

Be Safe !!!

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

Shame its rusty. Get it cheap. Make'em and offer he can't refuse Mr. Mafioso._
I've read there are ways to clean most of it out. What caliber? (deerslayer)

[deerslayer303]

Sure Shot, I beilieve that one was a .58 but don't quote me on it, I looked at a bunch today. I was surprised at how many were available around here. Probably because of TN's Front Stuffer Season.

[4V50 Gary]

It would make a good project gun - if the price was halved for the rusted out barrel.

[johnwilliamson062]

My thunderhawk sits with a fowled barrel as I type this. Going to shoot it again tomorrow AM and I just didn't want to clean it. It is stainless and have let it sit for as many hours while hunting before without any noticeable problems though. It will get a good scrub tomorrow afternoon before I head out for the weekend.

[Hawg]

Don't automatically trash a pitted barrel. I have seen some nasty ones turn out good groups.

[noelf2]

Don't automatically trash a pitted barrel. I have seen some nasty ones turn out good groups.

+1 Might look a lot worse than it is. Get it for a good price and apply the TLC it deserves.

[deerslayer303]

You guys are going to have me buying that thing. I wish they would let me scrub the barrel out and then have a look see before buying it. I may go back and talk to them.

[DD4lifeusmc]

Problem is if you scrub it clean then they won't have an incentive to reduce the price if it comes out looking good.
Take another look. Chances are it is just surface rust, which won't hurt anything.
BP residue fouling can be deceiving looking down a bore.
It might be severe pitting, but then it could be an illusion because of scale that will come off and because of the acute angle you are observing it from. Besides it would have to be REALLY bad to be unsafe. Most pitting from not cleaning takes place in the chamber area and the first 1 or 2 inches where the flame front is the hottest (My experience)
A lot of companies make replacement barrels at a reasonable price and they are on auction sites.
Leave it dirty filthy nasty and talk the gun down (bad mouth it).
See if they will let you remove the nipple, clean out screw and the drum to look directly inside.Bring the right tools and some knocker loose.Spray and let it soak in and loosen the scale on the threads.
Pawn shops want and need to turn merchandise to make a profit. If it has been on the wall more than a couple months you can probably dicker with CASH in hand.
pawn shops can HIDE cash money from uncle Sam.

[arcticap]

It's ironic how some folks are able to buy a really nice gun for a pittance while other folks end up over paying for a rusted out sewer pipe.
Sometimes it's just not worth buying a rusty gun unless you can collect 2 or 3 parts guns to help put a one decent gun together.
But generally it's buyer beware and the nicest guns come with a price.
I've seen someone go into a gun shop to sell them an old C&B revolver and the shop offered them $40. And they tell a lot of folks that they don't want to buy their used guns outright & that they would be better off selling it themselves.

[Pahoo]

A few months back, I bought a .50, through GunBroker. The seller was a pawn shop and he did state that the bore was good but needed cleaning. He more or less said that he had no interest in cleaning it. Well, the price was right and I took a chance. The seller would only mail to an FFL, on my end and that confused my FFL as it was a M/L. .....

Anyway, when it was recieved, my FFL called me and said that I would not be happy with what I got. I took it home and the bore at the muzzle looked nasty. Let it soak for two days and proceeded to clean it while reading my jagged rod. Made several passes before inspecting it and to my surprise and pleasure, it came out very clean with good rifling. This time, I got lucky.

Good luck and;
Be Safe !!!

[BirchOrr]

I have seen some nasty ones turn out good groups

.

Amen to that Hawg!

B

[wittzo]

I posted this a couple of years ago, but I really I lucked out once. This kid inherited a bunch of guns from his dad (about 700 of them, including some NFA items). His dad had a whole bunch of BP replicas and had fired all of them once and put them in a safe, uncleaned.

I cleaned the bores with hot water, then plugged the nipples/flash holes and soaked the bores with Evapo-rust overnight and they came out perfect.

I got a '52 Springfield musket rifle with bayonet for $150, a '51 Mississippi rifle in .54 caliber for $150, a Pedersoli Harper's Ferry pistol for $100, and a Dragoon Pistol Carbine for $125. I'll kick myself for the rest of my life for not getting the Pedersoli Brown Bess with a bayonet. It was originally $250, but he marked it down to $150. On a later trip to the store, the owner sold me an assortment of roundballs (.57, .53,.73,.68) and two dozen .69 minie balls for $20. The guy took one out of each package, shot it, and put the gun and it's balls away.

[BerdanSS]

As other have said...Don't write it off because of a corroded barrel. If your actively wanting to buy one, go back to the pawn shop and as suggested offer them 1/2 due to the poor maintenance of the rifle. I've don't that several times, and backed it up with book values out of their own book they use to buy guns... and happily walked out carrying the gun

My buddy got burnt bad on one. Guy had it advertised as a "in like new condition" black synthetic stock in-line traditions for $100. His wife went to get it while we were at work, and when the guy saw it wasn't him picking it up...he pulled a switch'a'rue.

While the gun was a traditions, It wasn't even the right model. The stock had been (VERY POORLY) painted with green and tan krylon in big blotches with runs EVERYWHERE. The action was so rusted and corroded it wouldn't even open, no sights and the bore was as bad (or worse) than the action. His wife said she was sorry but "didn't know". When they tried to call him back, his number had been disconnected .

The muzzle was so bad it looked like it had been counter bored as it was COMPLETELY void of rifling about an inch into the bore. Still...even as it was...after a severely long cleaning and repainting process, and with a new set of sights...the rifle will now consistently blow the red out of a slow fire .22 target at 75yards Don't give up on the muzzys