Looking at buying my first MG, and wanted to get your guys' take on the condition of this RR. It's a Sendra so it's very likely to be in spec, but it's also the most scuffed up and abused RR I've seen so far. Is all this damage superficial, or should I be concerned with the long-term durability of this thing? Can the receiver's integrity be restored by a trip to US Anodizing?

Seems like surface damage, like it was in a gun rack or safe and fell over and got scratch by other firearms.


US anodizing can likely buff out the scratches and give it a new coat of anodizing making it black again.

Edit: keep in mind you probably have $500-750 worth of work for removing scratches, blasting off the old anodizing, anodizing and then shipping each way with insurance. Then of course your time and effort dealing with all of that, and the chance that there might also be some small scratches left. I would expect the price to be at a minimum $1000 below the going rate for similar non-colt M16 on good to excellent condition.

I have PD trade in ARs way worse than that. It’s just cosmetic. Just krylon it. HA.

Thanks for the input guys!

How much are they asking?

I'm not seeing any major issues in those pics.

You could always cerakote it. Much cheaper.

My guess is that the previous owner Krylon-ed it already, hence the scratches. Cheap paint scratches much easier than anodizing. The fact that the receiver’s original ground-down “semi-auto” selector stop matches in color suggests it has been refinished previously by some means.

Its not the original finish anyways.

As a non original RR, do what ever you want including updating the color to a modern finish. It will only help the value vs if it was an original Colt M16A1/A2.

I guess I’m confused by your question. “Is a RR a safe investment?”

To directly answer, absolutely not. It’s a speculative commodity. If you’re shopping for an investment, I’d look at public equities - particularly a broad index fund. This is a hobby - one that historically has done well at appreciating - but a stroke of a pen in Washington could dramatically change the value of this. I’d recommend you have your financial ducks in a row prior to dropping the money it takes to buy a RR.

You posted pics of a cosmetically imperfect Sendra RR. The big question is does it run and does it fit standard uppers. Assuming it does, at a good price it’s not a unreasonable buy. I probably wouldn’t refinish it unless I was interested in selling it soon. You’ll want to use it and that will inevitably lead to more blemishes.

The question you need to ask yourself is if this is want you want. If you’re happy with a good functional lower then go for it. If you eventually want a Colt or a DIAS or something totally different then I’d wait for what you eventually want.

There is no way that is a safe investment. It is not even a good purchase unless you are paying significantly less than current MV of something similar.

If you want a profit investment, this likely not be the best.. but who knows with this market. Like anything it is a risk. Colts would have better value holding in my opinion.
If you are looking for something you can shoot, have fun, and likely won't lose it's value (unless it gets destroyed)  then this could be an option.
If you can get it for a really low price then awesome. Trick is figuring out the market value since some places inflate it by a couple of thousand.

How much do they want for it?

They want 20k

https://otbfirearms.com/bushmaster-xm15e2-m-16-5-56mm-16/

I would keep looking for a private party sale.  You should be able to find something similar in the $18k range, would probably have a nicer finish as well.

Colt SP1 a few month ago was $16k to $17k.

But it's an SP1.

For me, I wanted push pins.

EA's are cast.  I don't think Sendras are.

This. Those are just surface scuffs  cerakote it if you want it pretty.

With respect, a RR is not a commodity as a commodity is a basic good that is interchangeable with similar goods -- wheat, oranges, bulk meat, etc.

An RR is about as nonessential a product as you might find, and generally would be considered a collectable from an investment standpoint.  It could also be viewed as an "alternative" investment, i.e. one that is not an equity, bond, etc. and typically purchased to diversity risk in various asset classes as its value would change differently than other, more common investments.  So, I am going to say that in my view a RR is for sure an investment.

Regarding whether it is safe or speculative, that is going to depend on the viewpoint of the investor.  I think generally speaking something that has enjoyed steady appreciation for 40 years would not be considered speculative.

It does have added and arguably unique risk in that as an automatic weapon it might draw changed legal status.  While that change in status could be a problem, it should be considered in perspective of all investments that can have their status "changed with the stroke of a pen."  As an example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act limited the deductibility of state property taxes.  That kind of change has and will continue to have a financial impact that would dwarf the impact of new MG laws...although maybe not for you if you don't have high local property taxes or don't have a significant portion of your wealth invested in MGs.

My personal view is MG law isn't going to change for a number of reasons that are pretty significant, and thus you should feel free to invest in them either for financial reason and/or personal enjoyment -- if you have already done all the standard prudent things like fully funded your retirement plan, contributed to an IRA, etc.  Also, RR investment at around 20k would argue for you having AT LEAST $180,000 of other investments.  That would give you the common recommendation of 10 percent of your funds invested in "alternative" investments, although even that number is typically diversified across a couple of different investments not just a single firearm.  Ten percent in alternatives is also for an "aggressive" portfolio.  If you don't have a high level of tolerance for risk then an RR would NOT be an investment for you.  

As someone that has an 85% tendency to put $100k in a stock and watch it nose dive 15% within minutes, I wholeheartedly support your effort to get machine guns off the registry.

I've got a Sendra. It runs good, and fits all the uppers I've tried (Which is at least 10). It looks a little rough too, but nothing a new finish can't fix. Mine is not cast.

Based on the prices of the other MG's on that link, all those guns are seriously over priced.