I have a buddy who is offering me a Hesse R1A1 Sporter, with a bi-pod and several mags for $500.  Are Hesse firearms any good and is this a good price to pay for this rifle?  My buddy says it is in excellent shape too.  Any assistance would be greatly apprecaited.  

run away as fast as you can and call  ORF

Man, that is the second time today I have been told they are junk!  

Quoted: Man, that is the second time today I have been told they are junk!

Hesse = very low quality workmanship.

No wonder he only wants $500 for it.  Thanks for the info, I'll put the money to better use.

STAY AWAY FROM HESSE!

My broyher in-law has an L1A1 that is a tack driver, he's trying to sell it to fund another project adn can't give it away, everytime someone see's HESSE on the receiver they hand it back and run away.

Friends don't let friends buy hesse!

They were selling for $399 for a couple years, then they jumped to about $600 now.

My Century L1A1 was built on a Hesse receiver and has always worked fine. It was a good deal when I bought it and have no complaints. Hesse got a bad reputation from builders and his piss poor customer service. But if the gun works they usually work as well as any other.

Hesse originally built guns with Imbel receivers (FAL files used to have an article from American survival guide that gave them a good write up). They later manufacturered their own receivers and usually they needed more work than an Imbel or DSA to assemble. Century built guns with them. Usually the Century guns that had problems were related to their two piece gas piston bending, the gas plug being installed on the grenade setting or the cross pin missing from the gas tube and not receiver problems.

If the gun works and the price is right this may not be a bad deal.

How does it shoot?  If it runs reliably, and has no issues, then I wouldn't care if it's a Hesse.  Selling it may have some difficulty for above reasons.