Posted: 7/11/2006 7:21:00 AM EDT
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Yesterday while I was poking around my local gun dealer, I found a used P226, 9mm that was made in Virginia. From what I can tell this makes the gun roughly 20 years old, right? It looks like it is great shape though, so I'm not sure if parts were just re-blued before sale, if it has been refurbished, or if it might have just been someone's safe-queen. The slide and frame have almost no exterior wear on them, and there is still clear rifling in the barrel. The guy I talked to took the slide off and it looked nice and clean on the internals and not much wear there either. Is there any good way to tell if the gun was beat on and just touched up for sale, or if it is actually new. What signs should I look for that say, "Don't buy me!" BTW- Comes with one 15rd mag, no box or manual (can get that online though) - less than $500 after sales tax |
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I posted the proof date codes in this thread: www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=5&f=14&t=32547 Looking for wear: First look at the lower, front of the sorta triangular lug at the bottom and near the rear of the barrel. It slams into the takedown lever every time the slide goes forward and gets rather beat up after a while. The bottom of the feed ramp hits the locking insert during cycling and also will show wear. The barrel will also develop long wear marks along the top and bottom from rubbing against the slide muzzle opening during cycling. However, refinishing might hide these. Note that if the barrel is original it should have the pistols SN on it in the chamber area. It may not be visible without removing it from the slide. The disconnector will wear a groove in the bottom edge of the right side of the slide where it rubs. The hammer will often develop a groove along the top edge where the center rail of the slide pushes it back during cycling to recock it. Granted, the hammer might be a replacement. The pistol was actually made in (West) Germany, and imported through Virginia – either Herndon or IIRC Tysons Corner. |
| Well I took another look at the gun and it still looks pretty good to me. It was made in 1987, the barrel is original to the frame, there wasn't any grooving on the key parts, just a bit of blueing worn off. So I will be adding it to my family of firearms. Going to pick it up this evening, can't wait to see how it shoots. |