Narrowing my search

[4 Scale]

Lately the Amoskeag auction house has had a good choice of shooters at good prices. Their next auction is in March.

Legacy and Simpsons have Mauser shooters at times, however they tend to go very fast, within hours after posting; you'll need to watch their 'new items' area carefully.

I also think GunBroker can be a good resource. Your concern about getting abused is sound, to mitigate I suggest only deal with sellers with significant positive feedback, who offer a return and allow you to pay by credit card. If the item is not as described you have tremendous leverage via the credit card company. You should be able to get a fine shooter at the price range Ed mentions, and if you will pay up to $1,200 or $1,400 or so and exercise patience and discipline on price you should be able to get a lower to mid-range collectible.

Good luck, let us know what you get.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by 4 Scale

...I suggest only deal with sellers with significant positive feedback, who offer a return and allow you to pay by credit card.

I would also suggest that you email or speak by phone with questions. The idea is to get a 'feel' for the seller. Are they friendly, courteous, helpful, patient? Or are they arrogant, annoyed, impatient, unwilling to help?

There is a well known Luger seller on GB (located in Texas) who won't even answer emails (although he advertises he will). He is rude, annoyed, and impatient on the phone. At the opposite end of the scale is Simpsons - If you call, the sales people there will get the handgun out of the safe and spend time talking to you about it, answering questions, and describing the pistol honestly.

I've had similar favorable instances with individuals (and sometimes dealers) on GB. They're mostly friendly and interested in helping. Pictures on the Internet multiply defects that are unnoticeable with the gun in hand. My GB sellers have answered my questions honestly and even pointed out aspects I was not aware of. I've had handgun cases, factory boxes, even extra magazines included with the guns, although they were not shown or mentioned in the ads or emails/calls.

Sometimes you eat the bear...