Reality check on G.B. listing
 

Gentlemen:

Please examine the following listing from Gunbroker and tell me what you think of the whole thing. What questions would you ask the lister? What aspects of the listing are good or bad?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=236418263

I've had some correspondence with this person concerning a couple of issues I had with the way it is described and photographed. but I'm curious as to what other collectors might notice about the ad and ask the guy.

Thanks, all,

David Parker

I have never purchased from this gentleman, but I have tried. He has nice guns, but his prices are at the top of the scale. He is cordial to correspond with, but again I can't afford his prices.

Harry

For starters, I have issues with people who call a gun 100% in the title and then 90% in the text. 100% guns are the rarest of the rare. Any clear thinking seller would never claim 100% for a gun unless it was absolutely, proveably, new in box. If you only shot one round out of a gun from the box it is now a 98-99% gun in my book.
Going downhill with the wind behind it, the condition of this gun can only be described as 70-75%. There is ample finish loss on the barrel, both grip straps and there is chemical staining on the frame, which removed bluing. There is freckling on all surfaces, including the strawed parts. The sideplate has a rust pit, which somebody tried to minimize with steel wool, scratching this area permanently. There are tool nicks near the takedown lever/lock where somebody tried to force this down, (or up) at some point. A matching mag is claimed but no photo evidence that it is indeed a correct, matching number mag is offered. The wood magazine bottom shown has several slivers of wood shaved off of it.
All in all, a very rose colored description of a nice but certainly not minty Luger rig.
PS
He did not include full on photos of both grip straps, which I suspect he knows would reveal that the finish is nowhere near what he claims. I would request these for starters if your interest is high.

The seller is a very bad judge of blue percentages. I agree with Doug on most points..The seller states it is 100% matching I think was his point. The pistol is nowhere near 90% blue. It has enough blue missing and pitting etc to classify it as a shooter IMO. I agree that the grip straps look bad..as does the rear portion of the pistol up by the toggle.
The high price achieved at auction was somewhere North of $900 and IMO a fair offer.
Not a pistol I would be lusting after.

I could be wrong but the triggerguard looks bent.

All sales are final. Always a huge red flag for me...

For whatever it's worth, I noticed that the left grip panel also has the so called "million dollar chip" below the safety.

I don't do business with flippers:
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=228270683
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/Vie...Item=238838891

What kind of idiot would pay $5,500 for that modern hunk O burnin Junk? For that matter what kind of idiot would pay $3,800 ? Life is mysterious.

Thanks for the input, all. I was curious and checked today to find the 3-day listings went on and on and on (I lost count around 20), end one saying it had not been sold.

What irked me about the guy was that he became abusive in his very first response to me, and progressively more challenging and insulting after that. I wrote about it here: http://forum.lugerforum.com/showthread.php?t=26380 (scroll down a bit) His last comment was that he didn't want to 'waste his time" with the uninitiated.

I passed the link to this thread on to him in my last correspondence, for good measure. Let's hope this "fame" lasts longer that 15 minutes, if only to save the unwitting and uninitiated from his ploys of flipping and overpricing and misleading listings. It's a wonder how he sold as many units as the 300+ and obtained A+ rating! But I guess that's simply how Gunbroker can work.

As for the Luger in question, I wouldn't waste my time. The bid of $900.00 is more than it's worth. Has more wrong than good.

His photos are most deceaving in that they attempt to avoid showing flaws. Like both straps, under grips, under rear receiver, bore condition and more.

T'is junk to me.

IMO the pictures speak for themselves and it's not even close to having 90% original - or any other kind - finish. There is pitting on the side plate that's not mentioned. This is a classic attempt to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. The seller is not honest IMO and should be avoided.