Badger
02-13-2010, 05:48 PM
If sellers of military surplus arms knew what they had and communicated the facts, collectors would spend less time in useless travel!
Yesterday I read in our weekly "Penny Saver" paper a fellow had "A near Excellent M1880 .45/70 Springfield Rifle with Ramrod Bayonet." I called the phone number and chatted with the gun owner. I asked many questions and got the "Right" answers and arranged to drive over this morning to close the deal. The M1880 Springfield is very collectable; only 1014 were made for troop trials on 5 March 1881 and then all were returned to Springfield Armory.
I drove 80 miles round trip to find out the seller had a M1884 Springfield .45/70 Rifle and the bayonet was ROUND and NOT TRIANGULAR as he confirmed the night before on the phone! Also, the stock had numerous holes for Tang Sights and prior owner's name/initials that were crudely sanded out of the butt stock! I provided the accepted NRA Condition standards for used arms and showed him where he had a GOOD Condition arm, at best.
I have learned that the terms "Average" and "Good Condition" do NOT accurately describe used arms. Most sellers over estimate the condition of their used arms. I am leery of the overuse of terms like; "96%" and "98%" and such like meaningless terms. The NRA Condition criteria is far more descriptive even if unknown by most gun sellers.
Badger
Yesterday I read in our weekly "Penny Saver" paper a fellow had "A near Excellent M1880 .45/70 Springfield Rifle with Ramrod Bayonet." I called the phone number and chatted with the gun owner. I asked many questions and got the "Right" answers and arranged to drive over this morning to close the deal. The M1880 Springfield is very collectable; only 1014 were made for troop trials on 5 March 1881 and then all were returned to Springfield Armory.
I drove 80 miles round trip to find out the seller had a M1884 Springfield .45/70 Rifle and the bayonet was ROUND and NOT TRIANGULAR as he confirmed the night before on the phone! Also, the stock had numerous holes for Tang Sights and prior owner's name/initials that were crudely sanded out of the butt stock! I provided the accepted NRA Condition standards for used arms and showed him where he had a GOOD Condition arm, at best.
I have learned that the terms "Average" and "Good Condition" do NOT accurately describe used arms. Most sellers over estimate the condition of their used arms. I am leery of the overuse of terms like; "96%" and "98%" and such like meaningless terms. The NRA Condition criteria is far more descriptive even if unknown by most gun sellers.
Badger