Pet peeves regarding surplus arms

[Gil Martin]

There are a few things that really drive me up the wall when looking for surplus arms. In no specific order, here at my top five:

1. Misidentified military arms. Most gun shops (unless they have a knowledgeable staff) seem to guess at what military arms they have for sale. Common surplus arms are sometimes listed as "rare" with a prohibitive price listed on the hang tag. On the other hand, I have bought a few really rare pieces that were lumped into the "old army rifle" category and sold cheap.

2. Over stated condition. There is a national surplus dealer that probably lists every arm they dell as "excellent" when in fact they fall into the NRA good, NRA fair or NRA poor classifications.

3. Missing parts. I have seen used rifles without parts of the stock, sight hoods gone and what must have been lost internal parts. That will impact the price because finding parts can be a challenge and expensive.

4. Signs of neglect. A great deal of old military ammo is corrosive and if shot requires a proper and thorough cleaning of the bore. I saw a pristine surplus arm before it was sold and the condition several weeks later after it was traded back at the same shop. A mint bore was reduced to what looked like a coal mine. The new owner shot old military ammo and never cleaned the bore because he did not have a cleaning rod or supplies.

5. Attempts at sporterization. Fortunately this form of gun torture to decent surplus arms seems to be waning. However, there are still many examples on the used gun racks. Properly done, surplus arms can become wonderful sporting arms. In too many cases it seems amateur gunsmiths were busy.

Anyone have any peeves they care to list? All the best...
Gil