I just ordered two pistols from. Classic firearms.
1) a p64 that they listed in "VG / Excellent Condition " I got it in and found rust under the slide and on the frame by the muzzle  and the finish is very worn  I was able to remove the rust but it took most. Of. The blueing away but OK for $180 shooter.
2) was a vz50 this was in very bad shape.  It had sticker on the slide the bluing is very worn,  the magazine is hard to put in the pistol.  The worst was it had  paper held on bynclear tape around the grip it took. Several hours to just clean the tape and paper off the grip

I have yet to shoot them or even cycle them I don't have any 32acp.

They came Inna cardboard  fed ex box wrapped in bubble wrap.  Nothing else if the box ripped they would have been lost.  I would have expected they be in a separate box inside the shipping  fed ex box.

I had great luck with them.

Friends don't let friends buy from Classic.

Classic...lol....

Lesson learned I hope...

You got Ben'd over

Don't have the meme pic handy but you get the point.

I bought a p64 from them awhile ago and had send it back I paid for hand select but what I got was  I. Such bad shape and wouldn't fire.
The one they sent back was great.
I decided to give one more chance. Not happy

This.

Still cracks me up that in another thread a guy was asking about buying a P64 from either Classic or SOG. Everyone that posted said they wouldn't buy from Classic. Buys from Classic anyway. Mind-boggling.

They really are the worst

Never bought from classic, so this is a genuine question.
Do they get the bottom of the barrel imports, or grading in a misleading/disappointing way?

Misleading grading, over hype. A lot of what they are selling is surplus from Century that was from the Samco global bankruptcy. It was pallets and boxes of parts that needed to be assembled into guns. There were some gems but a lot of it was rough.

I’ve bought from Classic before.

Once.

Thanks for the explanation.

I have bought a few from them,  really didn't have any issues

they are about an hour from me

I got a star BM from them

I bought 1 nagant from them 7-8yrs ago, it was a very nice rifle.

Heard things went down hill lately.

I let my C&R lapse, so I won’t be tempted to find out.

I think they said for hand select they just pick the best out if 10.

I used to get from SOG back in the Surplus Heyday.   Did hand select once.  I went there to pick it up.  They did best of 3. Pulled 3 total pieces of crap out of the boxes.  Never again.

I think thats the way they advertise them also.  Maybe do a random sample of them, maybe open 1 out of 10 for grading.  Then give them a grade.   I don't know.

I don't buy surplus anymore.  I was spoiled by the cheap Mosins, SKS's, K98's, Broomhandles, 1917's etc.  Today's prices give me sticker shock.

What is really funny  I went to classic firearms Facebook page and made a post about how poorly they where and the bad job packing  the pistols it stayed up for about 12 hours (overnight) and was taken down this morning. They banned me from. Being able to post on their Facebook page. This just shwes they know what they are doing is wrong and want to cover it up. A reparable company would have contacted me about my post

I’ve heard many stories of exactly the same thing.

That's exactly what I heard from people who posted about their "Radom" AK offerings...

Scummy business practice as far as I'm concerned.

I just went to their YouTube page on their newest post about mosin nagant rifle and posted almost the same as I posted on Facebook. Wonder how long that will stay up or who will reply to it.

All they had to do was contact me back and maybe offer to replace the bad magazine. But they. Chose to go in different ways and hide it.

I guess I got their attention now. I just received the following email from them.

##- Please type your reply above this line -##
Your request (xxxxx) has been created and is being reviewed by our support staff.

To add additional comments, reply to this email.

Matthew Ca
Matthew Capaldi (Classic Firearms)

Aug 8, 11:00 EDT

Hello Mr. Poole,
I was informed of your communication received regarding the condition of the handguns that you recently purchased. I understand that you have already done some work on the pistols, but if you would like to send pictures of the pistols showing the problem areas I am happy to review them to see what options we may be able to offer. I do want to address a few of the issues you raise here, and provide some information on condition grades as well.

Handguns are shipped FedEx Express and so must be in FedEx Express boxes. While you have expressed concern over potential problems that may arise from the packaging, all our pistols ship in these boxes. For surplus guns that come crated to us, we do not individually box the pistols. I understand your concern but this simply isn't problematic in our experience and we do not encounter any significant issues in the thousands of pistols we process this way. The carrier is more likely to lose the package entirely in our experience.

For condition, we base grades on the information available on the NRA Museum website, that I will link below. The CZ50 is offered in Good condition, so significant wear, finish loss, and some corrosion can be expected though the firearm should function safely. The P64 was advertised in Very Good to Excellent condition, so we would expect much less wear, though there can still be finish loss and some minor scratches in the Very Good end of that spectrum. We would not normally downgrade a firearms condition just for the presence of paper or tape, unless the tape was there to hold a broken piece together. For the CZ50, it is normal to encounter resistance when inserting the magazine with about an inch of magazine outside the grip. I have handled more than 100 of these pistols and it is something inherent to the design.

http://www.nramuseum.org/gun-info-research/evaluating-firearms-condition.aspx

EXCELLENT (EXC): All original parts and configuration. For modern guns, nearly new condition, with only slight finish wear at muzzle or sharp edges. For antique guns, sharp markings, unmarred grips, fine bore. Also, excellent guns should generally exhibit at least the following percentages of original finish, depending on production era & type of finish:
TIME ERA BLUED GUNS NICKEL GUNS
post 1945 98% 99+%

VERY GOOD (VG): All original major parts. For modern guns, must be in perfect working order, no corrosion or pitting, minor scratches only. For antique guns, smooth metal and sharp edges, clear markings. Mismatched parts from the same model, or minor replaced parts may be acceptable on older guns, but will effect value. Also, at least the following percentage of original finish depending on production era. (At this condition level, the difference between blue & nickel finish required is not significant.)
Post 1945: 85%

GOOD: Good working order. Markings are legible. There may be properly matched replaced parts, minor repairs and light pitting. May be professionally refinished. Grips may be worn or cracked, but should be serviceable. Configuration may have been modified. Bores should be shootable on modern guns, but are disregarded on antique guns. Older antique guns may lack any original finish, but modern guns in Good condition will probably show at least the following percentages base on production era:
ERA FINISH
Post 1945 75%

Thank you,
Matthew Capaldi
Customer Service Team Lead
Classic Firearms

704-774-1102
704-469-5775 (fax)

[email protected]

Order #xxxxxxxxxxx (I removed the numbers)

This email is a service from Classic Firearms. Delivered by Zendesk

That was me, I rolled the dice since SOG was sold out by the time I ordered.  My P64 is was actually in good condition with only some holster wear.  Suppose I got lucky.  For the record I wouldn't spend more than 150-200 on something from Classic.

I haven’t bought any WWII guns yet as I am heavily looking for an K98,SKS or Garand online. I’ve been watching classics site to see if anything pops up, but now I’m glad I saw this. Maybe I’ll go to the gun show and look around so I can see the rifles in person. This thread makes me nervous to spend a lot of coin there. Thanks for this!!!

I would never buy one of the K98's that Classic was selling.

They were humped/faked and there was a big thread about them. All Classic said was along the lines of 'We aren't experts, so it's up to you'. Pretty sure Classic knew they were faked, and they let people buy them anyways.

I used to buy a lot from them back between 2000 and 2010, but I always went in the store. I wouldn't buy through the mail. Going in I always got treated right, got great deals, and inspected the guns first hand and they let me walk through the warehouse looking for the gems.

My ex wife and I got our first AKs there. Her parents lived about 20 minutes away, as did my relatives. We bought two SAR1s, $275 each, two cases of 7.62x39 for $79/1000, .308 for $89/1000, 5.56 for $79/1000, two four pack Eastern European mags in the pouch for free.

We used to go every few weeks and buy a few cases of ammo.

That's when they were in Indian Trail, just outside of Monroe.