Buying 2nd hand - what to look for

[ElvisThePelvis]

I have been offered a beretta sp v that belongs to a friend of a friend, the price seems pretty fair, it is apparently what he has been offered as trade in. What should I be looking for when inspecting the gun? Is it worth the cost of getting a friendly gunsmith to check it over? Thanks.

[johnphilip]

Does it fit you, does it feel right. ! No point going any futher till you know this.

[ElvisThePelvis]

Does it fit you, does it feel right. ! No point going any futher till you know this.

Thanks, I realise this and will have it fit to me. What I was looking for guidance on was what to look for in terms of the condition of the gun.

[johnphilip]

Ok, how are the bores, any scoring, when you open up the gun, how tight does it feel, is it a little on the stiff side, or does it just drop open, does it lock up nice when closing it, the lever for opening up the gun, were is it sitting in the middle, would be better if it was a bit to the right if its a right handed gun, more to the right then less use it has had.

What is the bluing on the barrels like, whats the woodwork like, no major dings, when the gun is locked up is there any movement on the barrels. With the barrels of give them a light tab with something metal, do they ring out nice will tell you of any problems with the barrels. If ts multi choke, how many chokes. Will the chokes come out ok. ? The gun has to feel right. i have picked up guns costing many thousands, and did not feel right to me, its a so personal thing, i have had quite a few and have gone back to a miroku mk38. an oldish gun but i love it, so its not all about spending thousands, its about how you and the gun get on.

Hope this helps.

[ElvisThePelvis]

That's excellent thanks, especially your comments about tightness of gun and top lever. To my simple mind there isn't too much that can be wrong with it if it hadnt been neglected

[TONY R]

Look at the overall condition of the gun, looking at checkering rear or barrels and muzle areas for signs of wear brightness on the edges are obvious signs of use, checkering dependent on use will be a decent indicator and it needs to reflect in the perported history of the gun that you have been told.

First remove the forend see if there is any looseness at all by moving it check the top leaver is as your looking at the top tang from the rear, the leaver wants to be over the the right slightly if its straight its got some wear if its angled to your left its warn if its still tight or not its not right some where.

Move the leaver over and remove the barrels, Look at the rear of the barrels the locking hole area these need to be uniform no ovaling or brightness on the upper edges, the holes want no radiusing or buring, its rare to see much wear here but it happens.

Look at the lug holes where the action frame stub lugs run these want to be smooth well defined no marks or scoring chiping or rough edges in the contact lands the inner flat of the lug holes which will be opposite the heads of the hex screws holding the stub lugs in place need to be smoth and unscored in any wayedges of the lug holes need to be smoth and even no roughness, Beretta pay less and less atention to this fine finnishing in the more recent models.

Look at the Jeweling on the barrel side flats this needs to be vissible even and right accross the flats bright smooth areas indicate wear agai in recent guns they are less well finnished off here so you need to perhaps take this into account.

Look at the ejactor slots ejector sossition these need to be uniform no signs of wear or waveyness of the slots they need to be flush in the slots with no exessive play evident.

Feed a live shell in the chamber move it around ensure the extraction area of the ejector is in full contact with the rim edge of the shell at all possitions if its over riding or close to overiding this wear is not what you want to be sorting out.

Look at the overall finnish on the externals of the barrels hold the barrels agains a bright light window watch the reflection line rotate the barrels line wants no wavy bits or bends these indicate dents or bulges if you see anything awry look at it further if it looks the same throughout the rotation and its obvious its due to the barrel taper ok, but if its different, look carefully at why its different.

Still outside the barrels, look at the muzle ends do the reflection trick again here be vigilant here no wavy uneveness bulges are a real and present possibility in this regeon of the barrels.

Happy then have a good look at the muzzles themselves end of choke tubes need to be even all round remove the chokes carefully feeling for roughness look at the chokes thread areas check for wear on threads or low threads in the bottom of the tube, try another choke take it right in and out, enssure its a smooth opperation no signs of tightening at any stage in the opperation.

Satisfied then turn to the barrel threads hold it to the light or shine a torch in folow the threads right round again you want no uneven threads or low sectors.

If yor happy start looking at the internal bores look from the muzle first again at light from a window use a cill or edge of a pane to cast a shadow and rotate the barrel, look for marks move it slightly up or down you will see if its a surface mark or if it cha nges shape slightly is it a dent a bulge is it a scratch.... Investigate further.

If your not happy with any marks Get a cleaning rod and see if it dissapears if not its a fault period.

Chamber s they need to be clean smooth and unscratched the very start of the chanber is an area common for wear scuffs etching marks etc it can be through sheer wear and tear or rust neglect or cartridges being dirty rusty when used look carefully here chambers are as important as any other part of the gun and they see a fair bit of action to be fair.

Looking from the breach make sure those marks just at the end of the forcing cone ring is not scoring, could be the guns spotless but could well be its not esspecialy clean in this area of the barrel you need that cleaning thourghly before you can draw accurate conclusions on the true condition of the bores.

Satisfied its ok everywhere.

Action. apart from overall condition scuffs marks scratches, etc look at the action frame internals check for bright areas where the satin silver finish has rubbed against barrel or where debris habe got in an caused marks and scuffs.

If its in the bottom lowerer corner of the frame up against the lower breach face or brightness on the breach face contact as been significant dirt sand on the barrel ends ejectors etc can cause wear ensure the breach face is smooth flat with no wear areas or barrel contact wear evident.

Look at the lock pins are they perfect tight round no scoring on them, are the equal on protrusion?

Firing pin holes need to be clean perfectly round and no errosion or pitting primer mark etching etc.

The leaver release button needs to be prominent smooth and the coresponding area of the barrel want nothing more than a brightening in that area, no pit or dimple as such again a clear sign of wear.

Stub lugs hex screws need to be perfect no brighness or signs of being undone if they look like they have been out you need to ask why, was it to change to the next size up stub to put the gun tight again why. ?

trigger pulls need to be smoth sharp and equal check for firing pin protrusion agai want to be equal and no pits on the pins or qxidisation evident.

Wood to metal fit needs eo be good again latter Berettas are increasingly sloppy in this respect, so make some allowances bassed on age, but overall the wood to metal fit needs to be good any wood elivation needs to be uniform and edges of wood to mettal free of nicks grain end splits or tears and a sharp solid edge everywhere.

Same on the forend look at the rear of the foend iron look for any signs of splitting in this regeon or gap between the iron and the rear edge of the forend wood.

But pads is obvious just look for signs of cxrude extension spacers or heat robinson shortening jobs, all, pretty obvious but needs looking at.

Studdy every MM of the woodwork take forever looking at the wood, you want no cracks splits shakes starting any where.

Look on the pistol grip zone where the top leaver moves over, check for clearance here, any marks here indicat swealing in the grip wood in that area not that uncommon on well used berettas. Just needs checking here very carefully, if in doubt about any split or shake always expect the worst in my opinion.

Satisfied then buy it if in any doubt about any aspect walk away, world is full of used guns its not the only one on offer.

[ElvisThePelvis]

Brilliant, thank you, I have paid a refundable deposit to hold the gun and am taking it for a test run and check over, I will be taking your message with me