Like most of us, I am very leery of dealing with anyone on Armslist but in this case I had a good experience that I'll share.
I saw a nice Winchester 9422M XTR which was a fairly rare version of that rifle in that it didn't have checkering which was only offered for a couple years at the beginning of the production run (early '70's) - someone can correct me if I'm wrong - and I prefer them that way. The seller communicated in a professional manner and we discussed other firearms, collections, etc. so I could tell he was "one of us". He also claimed to work at a local gun store and shooting range in both sales and instruction. So that sounded great. But I still asked for referrals and even called the gun shop to talk to the people there who worked with him. He's a fine upstanding guy they all liked. I was curious as to why he could not find a buyer with the hundreds of people who come through the shop and range and the answer was that those people were more into AR's and "black guns" and so were not interested, or well-versed, in lever-action rifles and older collectibles. So I guess for people who are not members of our forums Armslist provides one of the only easy ways for them to sell the gun. Certainly easier than GunBroker. Trouble is that most of us don't trust that site. Well, with proper due diligence I was able to secure peace of mind in dealing with this seller and I took delivery of the Winny yesterday. I'm not sure if it has ever been shot - it looks brand new and is just superb. A great find at a price substantially lower than what I think it's worth. Can't wait to take it out and shoot it now since my belief is there's no point in owning these fine firearms without shooting them. So the moral is, with proper caution Armslist can lead to a worry-free transaction.

I've bought a few very nice guns on Armslist and met some nice people.
Congrats on your new aquisition.

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Mike, AmVets Member, Navy Vet

Have done several transactions on Armslist with no regrets - got some really great deals including an almost mint 4505 woohoo

As in any other environment, it's fairly easy to sort out the weasels from good people on Armslist. Initial contacts are a good indicator; if questions are answered coherently, competently and in a timely manner, then you are probably good to go. I will refuse to deal with anyone on Armslist who is rude, demanding and can't even articulate properly. I had one character wanting to buy a shotgun I had listed, and he wanted to know what extras were included when the listing clearly stated "shotgun only". I repeated this politely via email. His next email asked if I would throw in a box of "bullets" along with the 12 gauge. Whistles blew and red flags started waving!!! As he had included a phone number in his correspondence, I did a trace, found out his name and did a quick background check. Lo and behold, he had an arrest record as long as your arm. Needless to say, he got no shotgun, nor "bullets" to go along with it.

I've also made some good deals and have met some great people with whom I keep in touch. Favors are passed back and forth, such as informing each other about a particular gun we're looking for, or who might have a part one of us might need. The good transactions far surpass the bad ones.

It's good to hear that others have had likewise good experiences.

Sic Caveat Emptor

I just recently saw a gun I wanted to buy on Armslist. As soon as we agreed on price, shipping, etc. I asked the seller for a copy of his driver's license, and a phone number. The next morning I got an email back that the seller doe's not feel right to go on with the transaction for whatever reason!!
It actually turned out really well, I locally advertised for a wanted add, and got a call within a day, for a nicer gun, in its box for $100 less, and didn't have to pay for shipping or a transfer fee.
What the Armslist seller was afraid of, that I don't know!!

How about I.D. theft? Your drivers license contains lots of very personal information.

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Always Stay Strong!

But you don't put it on the website.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

That's exactly the point!! To have the seller's personal information. If the driver's license has the seller's social security number, that can easily be scratched off with todays technology before sent to the buyer. Social security numbers on driver's licenses are stupid anyway!! I don't see any other issues for the seller to hide his identity, unless if he is out to get you!

I have dealt on Armslist for years. Just like any other venue, there are good and bad sellers. No different than a gun show, or small dealer. I just hate it when snowmobiles are posted in the "handgun section" OR... when common guns are listed as "RARE" at crazy high prices. Bob

I have had good luck with Armslist. Besides the obvious scams, the two big rules I have are:

1. No customized guns (beyond a reversible change like a mag release, sights, or safety).
2. No assembled or home built guns. If you put all that work into building it, why are you selling it? 9 times out of 10 it's because something doesn't work quite right, or it can't hit the broad side of the barn.

I think it's a good place to keep your ear to the ground for rare guns. I got my like new 65 year old K38 from Armslist, for example. To the point above, I avoid getting plastic guns and ARs from there. I can either get them new or buy used from people I trust.

I have made some wonderful deals on "Armslist" I agree dealing there is like dealing anywhere else as far as being on the lookout. My last deal I bought a nice S&W from a cop a couple towns away from me. We had a nice email chat, he asked to see my CCW. He showed up at the meeting place with his wife, child and grandma in the car.
I just returned from Denver, visiting a friend and was distressed to find they have passed some crazy law to make every transfer go through an FFL.
The biggest thing "Armslist" has going for it, in my opinion is it helps me buy/sell my personal property without interference from the government.

Yeah, any infringement isn't a good thing but it does have some perks I guess.

Selling on Armslist before the law went into effect was quicker and easier but no matter how normal the buyer seemed you really just never knew for sure other than taking him at his word if he was really legal to own firearms or not.

Now I can sell to anyone without worry. I just have the guy meet at my FFL and if he can pass the background check then he's good to go. Before the law I wouldn't sell to anyone that looked like a gang banger or who didn't have a good grasp of the English language. Now, as long as the state says they're good to go then I guess that's good enough for me.

I guess what I'm saying is it takes any risk of me putting a firearm into the hands of someone who shouldn't own one and puts any liability with that squarely on the state.

In my experience, Armslist has more scams per listing than any other site.
I've bought and sold there, but only locally to avoid all the obvious scammers there.
The newest scam is where they want to pay with Paypal.
They duplicate a phony website where it appears that they have sent you the $$, but it's PHONY. You shouldn't click on their link to Paypal, but log on independently to go right to the site and then see if the $$ is in your account. I can assure you, it won't be.
Had this happen twice so far.

A good friend of mine saw one of his sniper rifles on sale on Armslist just a few days ago. Thing is he lives in Paris, Tennessee and the seller lived in Virginia. This *** got the pictures from the site my buddy bought the rifle off of a year ago. This scammer was wanting to do an FTF sale, that probably wouldn't have turned out real well.

Armlist took a day to remove the ad.

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LIVE FROM THE DAWGHOUSE