Yes, I guess this pretty much sums up the gamble going on every time one buys relatively expensive second-hand stuff...

I've read quite a bit about hammer push-off, and I asked the seller to verify that this gun was not affected by it. He claims that there is no push-off present. But, even if that's the case, I guess it could start happening after I've put a couple of hundred rounds more through the gun, who knows... And if I have to replace the trigger and/or hammer as well as what we've been talking about earlier in this thread, I guess I will have paid as much as for a brand new gun...

I might possibly want to go looking for a newer 586/686 and pay a bit more to reduce the risk, but I'm wondering where the "sweet spot" is - I get the understanding from my research that some of the newer models are considered not as well built as the older models? The primary complaints I've found are regarding gun locks and MIM parts (though opinions seem to be very divided on these matters).

So perhaps a version in the middle between the oldest and the newest is what I should be looking for?