buying a used gun

[spey]

I'm new to hunting and plan on buying a used gun once my PAL comes back. I was wondering what i should be aware of before buying a used shot gun or rifle.

[Steeleco]

Answers for your question are many,
What do you plan to hunt?
How much are you planning on spending?
What caliber do you think you need?
And on!

As your hew to hunting one thing I will advise, it to get a caliber that you can not only handle comfortably, but one that has a large variety of off the shelf ammo available. Reloading may come later, by then you may have all the brass you need!!

BTW Welcome to the site.

[scallywag]

i kinda sucks buying a used rifle cause you can never tell if it shoots well or not untill you get it to the range. finding something slightly used is always a good idea. just what i think . oh yeah and buy as many guns as you can afford.

[Shermdog]

Hi and welcome to the site. I have bought 3 used rifles. Just find a calibre that suits your needs and like steeleco said, one that is readily available at most places. I would consider a 270 win or 30-06. Both are very common, lots of used rifles around chambered in them, and ammo is easy to find and relatively cheap. 270 is nice, mild recoil, you can hunt pretty much anything in canada. Make sure you dont cheap out on optics as well. I would look for a used remington or browning rifle and put a fairly decent scope on it, bushnell elite 3200 ~$200, elite 4200 3-9x40 ~$300(very good glass), vortex vipers ~$370 or vortex diamondback ~$200 or a leupold vx-I or vx-II. I would only buy a leupold if you can find a nice used one, they are great optics, but brand new they are over priced. hope this helps a bit

[spey]

Thanks, I appriciate the advice. I plan purchasing a shotgun for birds and then a rifle for deer. Is there any way to tell if a gun will jam easily or not?

and shermdog, that helps alot

[Bpower]

I bought a used pump action 12 guage Winchester a few years ago. Price was right and it looked to be in pretty good shape. One little problem it has is that if the safety is on and the trigger is pulled it doesn't fire (good thing), when I take the safety off the gun discharges like i pulled the trigger(very bad thing). Scared the pants off me the first time it happend but reinforces the importance of keeping your gun pointed in a safe direction at all times.

Anyways, it was a problem that might not be easily detected and just one risk of buying a used firearm. It will cost almost as much as I paid for the gun to fix so maybe I should have just bought new. Needless to say I don't use it much as a result.

[Shermdog]

How much do you wanna spend? Another great calibre is 308 too. I wouldnt recommend getting a magnum at first. You dont need one for deer, and the ammo is expensive and they kick tons. I have a 300 win mag, its nice, but I would recommend either 270, 308 or 30-06. There are some good deals on used guns if you look carefully. Let me know how much you are willing to spend total and Ill give you some suggestions!

[rishu_pepper]

Rem 870 for the flying stuff, and 7mm-08 is a good medium for everything.

[spey]

i was hoping to spend around $200 for a shotgun and probably $400-$500 for a rifle (scope included)

[Shermdog]

okie dokie . Well $500 wont get you too nice of stuff but if you shop right you can get a nice set up. I think if you save a little longer and allow yourself to spend more like $600-700 you would really be able to benefit. In your price range I would try and find a used bushnell 3200 scope or a used leupold vx-I. Whatever nice used rifle comes along I would consider, check all through the buy and sell on here and go see some of the gun stores where you live. With the state of the economy, Im sure most stores would be willing to give extra good deals to reduce inventory and get some cash in the bank!!!!

[Squirrelnuts]

i was hoping to spend around $200 for a shotgun and probably $400-$500 for a rifle (scope included)

For $500 you could have a shiny new Marlin XL7 and an Alpen scope. The scope's no Leupold but it'll do the business until you can afford an upgrade. Just a thought.

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/CenterfireBoltAction/XL7.asp (http://http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/CenterfireBoltAction/XL7.asp)

http://www.alpenoutdoor.com/html/kodiak_riflescopes_3.html

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1958/zoomxl7kt7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[betteroffishing]

it depends if your a gear pig , you will want to spend the 700.00 if you truly want to see if you will enjoy the sport my first 3 seasons went to a 303 sortster and i didnt even shoot an animal, just carried and cared for it. after 3 seasons of no luck , i decided i was truly " in for life " so i spent a little more on a fifle { still not the 700.00 someone on here suggested}and connected on both a bear and a deer. unless you know the seller to be impecable in his/her honesty take any used firearms purchased to a smith to check it out , and buy a cleaning kit.

[Steeleco]

Where do you live? Maybe one of us would lend a hand looking at used gear for you and giving an opinion. I would.

Plus if your getting anything from a local gun store, I'm 110% certain you'll be fine.

[Will]

Spend your Bucks on a GOOD pair of Binos........they are the single most important tool you'll need, both for animal locating and for Identification when hunting MU's with antler restriction. I underestimated the importance of Good Binos for alot of years...many folks still do IMO.

Don't sweat the rifle......Killed many bears and deer with a 100 dollar enfield when I started years back.

But please don't tell the critters they were'nt killed by a thousand dollar weatherby ;)
Welcome to the site !

[smoothbor]

I started hunting with a 280 when I was 13 with my dad and at 40 am still using it, but have upgraded to 338 for different hunts, my 280 is great all around gun and can be used for anything, ammo can be tough to get if you dont have an actual good sporting goods store, good all around gun, like everyone else said, do not go to cheap on your optics, could ruin a good hunt, leupold makes good quality scopes, a little pricey but in my opinon worth every cent

[Shermdog]

I totally forgot about the new marlin xl7. Apparently they will only be cheap this year, and then next year the price will jump. THey are nice, I checked out one in 30-06, they are cheap cheap and good., great starter rifle, they only come in 25-06, 270 and 30-06 I believe. So pick either a 270 or 30-06 and you should be good to go. Bartell how much do they sell for, the regular blued synthetic, not camo

[Shermdog]

I think you can buy a brand new marlin xl7 for a little less than $400. I would get that and look for a used 3200 scope. I have a vortex viper forsale, but I think its a little more than you wanna spend at this point by a hundred dollars or so. Where do you live? Steeleco had a good idea of one of us going to help you look for a good used gun

[Squirrelnuts]

I totally forgot about the new marlin xl7. Apparently they will only be cheap this year, and then next year the price will jump. THey are nice, I checked out one in 30-06, they are cheap cheap and good., great starter rifle, they only come in 25-06, 270 and 30-06 I believe. So pick either a 270 or 30-06 and you should be good to go. Bartell how much do they sell for, the regular blued synthetic, not camo

I paid $370 for mine in a 30-06, but you're right: I heard they're going to go up next year. (I see Omenica has them listed at $450). It's a damn good rifle, irrespective of price.

[Shermdog]

where did u get yours at?

[Squirrelnuts]

where did u get yours at?

From the good folks at Frank's, in Quesnel.

[eaglesnester]

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.

[steelheadSABO]

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.

[BiG Boar]

Good luck on your purchase, save some money!!!