What to do...

[Mills]

I have had to return one gun on Gunbroker that was advertised as "no return/as-is". I politely explained the issue and it was one that the seller could have overlooked. The seller took the gun back and all was well. You might get lucky in this situation too and hopefully you will

[wayne goerres]

I knew a man in Oregon who use to build custom guns off mouser actions and he use to checker everyone that way. Russ said it all. If they mark it no return you might want to back away. If it says in the description that We don't know anything about guns Buyer be ware.

[charlie cleveland]

with some work and expence you can turn this old gun into a shooter..for some reason i have a soft spot for these old abused and over worked guns.i m sure this old gun of yours has seen her fair share of the hunting fields.. yes them dents need taking out and them barrels need looking at by someone that knows barrels good to see if they are safe to shoot...but i bet your old gun after a look over and a little work will make you a proud shooter.. charlie

[Mills]

I am with Charlie. It would make a good rainy day hunting gun

[Harry Reed]

Like others, if it is a good shooter, keep it

[Jay Oliver]

I have not heard from the seller yet and just sent another polite email asking to return the gun. I like the last few posts suggesting I "rescue" the gun and have something I can use that I don't feel I have to always baby.

I'll post other update either when I hear some good news from the seller or when I can tell you more about the hammer gun I wound up with.

Thank for the replies and suggestions,

Jay

[Milton Starr]

Ive bought 2 guns off gb from 2 different sellers both offered a 3 day inspection and return period and they both had A+ ratings .

[Jay Oliver]

This GB seller has over 1000 transactions A+ rating with 10 negative feedbacks that were too old for me to read the details. So he is above 99% and my hope is that will help my case. He did mention he was traveling last week, and if his email inbox is like mine it will take him a few days to catch up.

Based on the description it was hard not to bid(especially for someone who knew just enough about Parkers to be dangerous), here is part of the description:

Receiver, barrels and forearm all matching serial numbers. Hammers both correct and working. Lockup and action is very tight. Barrels look good with some minor pits.

I hope he gets back to me soon...a piece of scotch tape on the hook tightened it up and I am thinking what it would look like with an English(straight) stock. Maybe that is what I need to do, get excited about fixing it up so he emails me back and says to send it back to him...

[Jay Oliver]

Finally heard back from the seller who told me that the gun was accurately described and that if I left negative feedback he would do the same for me.

So I will get this gun back to shootable condition and enjoy it. I didn't mind the "unique" checkering and a piece of scotch tape tighten it up(though I will have that fixed properly). I hope the barrels can be fixed and I will add an period correct recoil pad to get the LOP to 14 1/4 inches and enjoy it(which I know I will).

So lessons learned:

1. I think step one in an auction setting is to see what else the seller has listed. I didn't have a good reference price on this Parker, but I noticed that several of his other items had a high opening bid for guns that I did have a good reference price on. Had I took the time to do that I would have know that I probably should not bid on this Parker.

2. Send a quick confirmation note saying something like: " I would like to bid on your listing, but before I do I want to make sure that #'s match, bores are good, action is tight...Can you tell me anything about the gun that didn't show up in the pictures or description?"

3. I would say don't bid or buy on anything that doesn't have an inspection period. However the GH I bought about a month ago was damaged during shipping which negated the 3 day inspection period(at least with the seller I bought it from, this was a dealer not an auction). I guess every purchase is situational, but while an inspection period might not always cover you I don't see myself buying anything again that says "No Refunds or Exchanges"

Having said all this I have been shouldering my 1887 12 gauge hammer gun for the past week and look forward to getting it fixed and out in the field.

Thanks for all the suggestions and support on this!

Jay

[Mills]

Did the seller put that threat in an email? If so, I would send it to Gunbroker.