You probably do not know enough or have the necessary knowledge to purchase a used rifle or a shotgun. Until you learn the necessary knowledge to purchase used stay away from a used purchase. There are many pitfalls. Safety is a huge problem when buying used. Read the post about the defective safety on a used purchase of a shotgun. I had the same thing happen to me on a used purchase of a rifle. I could have killed someone accidently if I did not have proper muzzle control. Can you just picture the suprise I got while at the range and with a locked and loaded chamber, (muzzle down range) snicked off the safety and the rifle discharged. Another concern is wear and tear on the bore, how many rounds down range, is the barrel wore out? Can you tell? Did the previous owner abuse the weapon? Can you tell? Is the barrel pitted and rusted to the point where you are going to replace the barrel? How good is the action, is it prone to jamming or a malfunction? How good is the stock, does it need repair? What is the bedding like? Why is the previous owner selling? (Important Question) Hopefuly you get an honest answer. Take my advise and buy new and wait until you have the necessary funds to purchase what you need and want. I guarantee that you will be a much happier camper. A 30/06 or a 308 would be a good chambering to start off with. You can take anything in North America with either of these calibers with the exception of the great bears. The ammo is readly available just about everywhere in the world. They both are very accurate and precise when you shoot them. I think someone once said that the 308 is the most accurate round in the world (potential) because the brass, bullet, primer, and powder ratios are near perfect for top performance.
Last edited by eaglesnester; 12-15-2008 at 10:37 AM.
I always check for rust then look down the bore found a 20gauge shell once in a 12 gauge
and make sure the action works good look over the stock and all my purchases seem to work fine.
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