Unfired?

[Drm50]

How can one be sure that a S&W revolver has not been fired? I have a few that I bought as NIB and close inspection leeds me to believe they were NIB. Having said that I don't know the history of some of them, so how do you tell for sure. I know all the obvious checks and am not sure still. It does make a difference if
you are selling and advertising as NIB.

 

[KalamazooKid]

This whole "NIB" (other than test firing at the factory) thing is a pet peeve of mine. Especially on GB, it seems that half the guns are described as "I think it could possibly be unfired" and I call BS. The "possibly" being the disclaimer.

Especially the stainless guns can be cleaned and maintained if shot sparingly to appear as unfired - not so easy with blued or nickel guns. And yes, I understand that a slight turn line can still be present on an unfired gun.

The only GUARANTEE, other than the opinion of a very competent gunsmith, is if the owner/seller bought the gun new and left it in a safe the entire life of the gun.

Just my two cents ..........

 

[505Gibbs]

How can one be sure that a S&W revolver has not been fired? I have a few that I bought as NIB and close inspection leeds me to believe they were NIB. Having said that I don't know the history of some of them, so how do you tell for sure. I know all the obvious checks and am not sure still. It does make a difference if
you are selling and advertising as NIB.

You do realize they are all proof fired at the factory. Not all cylinders are fired most likely to save money.
Having said that most if not all modern firearms have been fired before you see it at a dealer so , IMO, it may be NIB but its been shot.
I know NIB affects pricing but its still a gun that has been shot sometime in its lifetime - FWIW.

 

[NYlakesider]

How can one be sure that a S&W revolver has not been fired? I have a few that I bought as NIB and close inspection leeds me to believe they were NIB. Having said that I don't know the history of some of them, so how do you tell for sure. I know all the obvious checks and am not sure still. It does make a difference if
you are selling and advertising as NIB.

Well all guns are proofed fired at the factory so its kind of a grey area. A long good look by a experienced eye is sometimes the best you can do!

 

[jimgoldth]

They all are test fired or used to be test fired. With revolvers I used to look at the front of the cylinder and when I saw a black ring on every other cylinder hole, I knew it had it had only been test fired.

 

[Rock185]

My new S&Ws had evidence of firing every other chamber. But my last new S&W was several years ago, so I don't know what the factory does now days. "Possibly unfired" is similar to "possibly reblued". It is reblued In any case, a firearm ever sold at retail/ transferred to an individual,etc. is not NIB. It might be described as LNIB, pristine, "mint", really swell, or whatever, but even if unfired since the factory, it is not NIB.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A while back When I bought the Beretta 21a Mousegun, the seller had two.
One was his, one had belonged to his ex.
One was fired, one unfired.
I really wanted to avoid ex wife Bad Mojo!
But he couldn’t remember which gun was which.
I could not determine which gun had been shot.
So after a bit of looking closely, and the seller got phone calls which extended things, I just bought one.
I Shot it shortly after that anyway.
No Bad Mojo yet!

 

[7tenz]

I've inspected guns for a possible purchase when no mention of ever been fired, like a consignment gun in a store, and wondered if some of them have actually been fired. So it's up to the honesty of the seller. In all cases of an unfired claim when I did purchase, I was satisfied with their claim.

A few years ago I was showing off my 3" 610 to someone and he said he knew someone who would pay blah blah blah for something like it. He gave me advice on how to clean the face of the cylinder and..... and I stopped him there, saying I wasn't going that route. Never sold it anyway, had no desire to do so.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My F-I-L has a Ruger Red Label 20 Gauge, from the first batch shipped to dealers. The box seal tape is un-cut (they assume the gun and serial number are what the box says!) There is hardly a dealer that doesn't inspect the gun's SN for his books! But once and awhile you find one.

Ivan

 

[22hipower]

I am highly suspicious of any gun advertised as "unfired" and do not add any premium for that claim. "As new in box" seems to be a reasonable description; means to me no obvious signs of being fired but doesn't guarantee that it hasn't been. Looked at a nickel 27-2 once at an LGS which was priced high and advertised as "unfired outside the factory, only only every other cylinder hole shows firing." When I looked at it closely the tiny brush marks from scrubbing the face of the cylinder were obvious and I'm sure the factory didn't put them there. I have a S&W 500 with carbon on only two cylinder holes and I am 99% sure that the previous owner never fired it. . . .but I wouldn't advertise it as "unfired." Good luck.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

 

[Rudi]

I am skeptical in most things. Something like this is just impossible to know for sure.

 

[sophie]

I don't suppose there is a good fool proof way to tell if a gun has been fired or not. I make my judgement on a gun if buying online by the pictures shown. If I have any doubt I call the seller to discuss the gun if possible. There are some sellers I see that claim the gun is unfired, but close observation indicates otherwise. I know that NIB Old Stock is mostly hogwash but sellers will go to great lengths to sell their gun. Don't get me wrong, I know there are many, many, guns that were bought and wound up being safe queens for 40-45 years and are for sale for one reason or another and certainly may be unfired. I also know that I am guilty of the same purchases many years ago and have guns that I can't remember whether I shot them or not and can't tell by looking. When and if I sell the mentioned guns they would be listed as shot very little.
I think a person just has to make their own judgement as to whether the gun is NIB or not and go from there.

 

[bigmoneylewis]

As previously mentioned, the best way is to open the cylinder and look at the front . Firing the gun leaves a visible ring . The factory test fire procedure was to fire 3 rounds , every other chamber . Their may be some exceptions to that rule , but that is the way it was generally done .

Lewis

 

[bigmoneylewis]

Here is an example, notice the ring only appears on every other chamber..

 

[ben_g1]

Easy enough to fake the three rings on the cylinder face. I will look at the blast line on the top strap, factory firing will slightly discolor it, shooting anything more will leave a line. Hard to fake that back to new.

I've had guns that were sold to me as new unfired. Unless I know for sure and selling I will list as LNIB.

 

[TTSH]

Not a revolver, but I had bought a "spare" Shield M1.0 9mm that I had never even taken out of its box and plastic bag. Last year I decided to sell it as part of my "Get rid of plastic" initiative. Told the consignment shop 100% truthfully that it had never been fired... meaning by me, its one and only owner.

Well, he took out one magazine and looked at me like I was the biggest liar in the world. The magazine's plastic follower had soot on it.

What do you say to that? I guess I was supposed to clean the magazine that they had used to test fire the gun at the factory.

Ya can't win! I guess guns should have an odometer on them!

 

[ken158]

My take on new in box should be with the understanding that the factory can do anything they want while they still have the gun in their possession and it is new when it goes to the distributor. You never buy a new car with zero miles... what I do know about S&W comes from my personal experience attending the factory armorers school, being in the factory and talking to the employees as well as seeing the entire process from bulk steel to boxing the guns. This was in the 80’s when assembly guys were paid by piece work. Guns were made on a rack of 10 at a time. The rack went to a shooter who fired every other cylinder. If the shooter noticed 1 or more of 53 possible issues, the issue was marked on a list and the list attached to the gun and it went back to the same guy that made it for repair. The repair was made and sent back to the shooter who usually fired all cylinders of a repaired gun. Now, if a known good reputation fitter made a rack and a few passed without issue, the whole rack could be accepted and sent to packaging. This is how you could get a new gun - unfired, 3 cylinders fired or all cylinders fired. The employees knew who we were and answered any questions we had. Being a S&W guy, I asked questions daily. It was quite a learning experience.

 

[Dieseltech56]

Think about cars. It isn't new unless you're the first one to buy it. A lot of guns advertised NIB aren't in fact new, you're buying a used gun.