Hi all,

A friend wanted to sell some used AR/AK style rifles and asked me to take them on consignment and post them for him, send them to auction if need be.  As I am an FFL (mostly do transfers), I can ship. With armslist going to a paid membership, it locked him out of selling very easily (we have mandatory BG for Private transfer too).  I posted them out on the usual spots, FB, etc. A guy I know purchased an item, on the 2/5.  The gun has been out of my possession for quite a while and appeared in working order when it left. While I never test-fired it, everything looked good, no unusual wear and tear, outside what appeared to be obvious use of brass exiting the ejection port.

The gun was advertised as used, and I even discussed no returns.  He came back today (2/20) saying the BCG locked after firing about 10 rounds through it. The item had a 10 round mag, and it locked up after changing the mag out and reloading the chamber. He claims he never fired it before today, and since i do know him, I trust his word.

Ironically the gun was indeed dirty when he took possession, and we discussed the fact that it needed to be cleaned and lubricated, as I did not get a chance to clean it myself. Sounds like that might have never happened.

I am wondering what others would do in this situation.  Both of them are friends, so the situation as a whole is sucky. One side does not want to force one-friend to give a refund to a gun sold as-is, while the other side of me does not want to screw the guy who bought the gun either.

The item was $700 so not chump change either for sure.

In the future, I will be sure to take any consignments out to the range first.  But never the less, here I am with this one.

Yeah - sucks to be in the middle of that deal....
The only good thing is that it usually doesn't need much to get them back into working order.
I had a couple of "trouble" guns on my bench and all of them are now working flawless with very little to no parts swapped.
I've seen an AK that looked super clean and well maintained until I took the gas tube and the piston out :-)
Looked like 10'000 rounds without cleaning

Do you always test fire any gun you take in used?

I find it extremely hard right now, especially trying to get ammo in the first place/

Sounds like something that your two friends need to work out between them
Why would you feel the need to test fire any consignment firearm. That's not your responsibility, and I imagine that more than a few customers would be pissed off to hear that their consignment guns were making range trips

Gun seems to have been clearly identified as being sold "as-is". I wouldn't do anything but offer him a referral to a good area gunsmith if he can't get it going himself.

No different than a used car with no warranty. He should take it to a gunsmith.

Let your two friends deal with it between them, you had the firearm on consignment, not ownership of it.

Every gun I've ever bought was "as is" even new shit has to go back to manufacturer, I've never even condidered bitching to the guy that sold me something.

I'd bet it was use error anyway.

Used guns are sold as-is where-is.  If the buyer purchased it in person he had time to inspect it.  When I post them on GB I am brutally honest about the firearm's condition and history, and I take lots of pictures.

That is honestly my feeling.

I learned there is a guy not far who takes guns on consignment too and gives a 30-day warranty on them. Certainly, each way is a different business approach.

gunsmith said the dude used reloaded ammo that wasn't to spec which caused the malfunction. apparently, the source of the ammo already brought in another guys gun too.

^^ Absolutely this.  You only facilitated the transfer, which the buyer entered into voluntarily.  If he's somehow blaming you, then he's out of line.  Any beef - if at all with a "used" gun - is with the previous owner, not the FFL.