Just back from the Mosin graveyard

[AJ333]

I just don't know if I can go back there. Spent some time sifting through the listings on Harmslist - between the drilled and tapped hexes, the sportered Finns, the one of a kind super rare $1000 '43 "ishmalesks", archangel conversions and true oiled M44's - I just can't take it.

I spent a little time here on the RMN forum looking at your beautiful old girls and I am feeling much better now.

I think I need to find a better place to browse.

Do any of you ever find gems over there?

[djbuck1]

When I was looking for an M24, I did find one there only to be told by the owner (I hesitate to say "seller") that shipping would be just too much trouble. FTF seems to be the rule rather than the exception there. Others didn't even have the courtesy to respond to e-mails. I rarely bother looking there now.

[Judi and her Mosins]

Armslist can be a bad thing, I was looking at a Mosin once. Seller wanted me to meet at a wal-mart parking lot. That did not pan out, asked the next seller to meet me by their local PD parking lot. Seller never showed. Judi and her Mosin's

[oldmanshootin]

I did get a fair condition 1941 VKT m91 PL marked one from there for 300, seller would not ship, had a friend close by that shipped it for me to my FFL, got lucky. I have 3 for sale on AL now. The questions and responses are pretty dumb, not to mention all the "I want it" but after 7 e-mails they will not call you and disappear or change their mind . I do not like the list and will not put anything else on there!!!!!! The best one is the guy that wanted to send me a cashiers check, He was calling from Arizona, sending a check with a NY address that left a FedEX facility in DeMoines with someone elses name on it for $2750 over the amount and I was shipping to a FFL in Texas. Too much BS for me from the list. All this has happened in 2 months of listing.

[Lee-online]

I scored a few good deals, I found a few Finn captured 91/30s and a 28/30. None of the sellers really understood what they had.

I have had more deals that didn't work out, normally due to the seller not following through with a time or place to meet.

Last one was a Finn capture 91/30, swapped emails and cell numbers, called to arrange a time to meet, sellers said he need to keep it another week so he can get a buck. Why would you advertise a rifle and still be using it. Whatever, the following day the ad was relisted. I deleted the email. I'm not wasting my time with morons.

[Junk Yard Dog]

No, if I want aggravation I will just attempt to buy anything on Craigslist.

[Titanium Hammer]

Yeah Armslist can be an exercise in frustration as there are some real flakes on there. I have scored a very nice striped stock 43 Sky M39 at a reasonable price on there but it took a heck of a lot of time, patience & frustration with the seller before the deal could be completed. Here in WA State our citizenry passed Initiative 594 this past November which requires background checks on all firearms purchases & that has had a huge impact on the number or rifles offered up for sale locally. There used to be pages and pages of new firearms listed daily and now it seems like hardly anything gets listed. Not sure how people are getting rid of the stuff they don't want anymore as pawn shops don't seem to have a larger inventory than they had before the Initiative passed.

[john_the_plinker]

Oh, I've had my fun with Armslist also. Had a grand total of 2 deals go o.k., then between unreturned emails, deals falling through, and morons who have no idea what they're doing, I don't even look anymore.

[Rongo]

I have never wasted my time.

[awalker1829]

I've had pretty good fortune buying through ARMSLIST here, but I'm in Arizona. Just got back from a quick trip up to Prescott today-picked up a squeaky clean 1945 Izhvesk M44 and 1941 Tula M1895 pistol from a collector there for $375 plus gas. He had a 91/30 as well as US and UK milsurps in similar condition. He had bought them back about eight years ago but bad health has kept him off the range for a while, so he's selling the milsurp stuff. For the price, clean guns with all the kit was a very good deal.

[jones0430]

Only used Armslist twice.

The first time I got my Tokarev SVT-40, fellow shipped it to me from Houston.

Got burned the second time. Never went back.

[Lee-online]

I will only do local ftf deals. I don't get my hopes up and don't put too much time into it but there are good deals out there if you are lucky.

Here is one of my armslist scores, probably my best.

[awalker1829]

I only do in state, face to face and it's worked so far. Got most of my Mosins that way and one time found a seller who was contemplating selling a couple more in addition to the one I was buying. Gave him my number and got the call a few days later.

[AJ333]

Truth be told, I did have 1 good interaction, got a finned m91 for a fair price. Lots more failed attempts, though. Lots of unreturned emails, had a guy insist on not using USPS money orders (red flag), had people deride me for my California citizenry (not that I'm terribly proud of it). Tried to sell something once - requests to send it directly to them with no FFL, too many tire kickers, even had a guy send me a very impressive counterfeit bank money order, just delisted and sold it locally in the end.

I think I'll look for greener pastures.

[Dan4good]

i got a nice romanian m44 off armslist and a black powder musket. ive also sold a couple guns. craigslist ive sold lots of stuff and bought lots of things

[Vendetta]

Ive always had good luck on armslist. If something seems off I just delete the email and move on but Ive made extremely lucrative trades on armslist especially in milsurps. Traded a Norinco sks for 4 91/30s awhile back even.

[A J]

I tried to use Armslist a few times as a buyer. Everyone I happened to speak with was just flakey. Every once in a while I check it out, but don't have the time to weed through hundreds of posts to find one deal.

Ebay is the safest and most secure way to buy and sell non-gun items. I've done hundreds of transactions and there was no problem I couldn't fix.

Craigslist has guns hidden on it once in a while. I've scored a few excellent deals, but you really have to look hard. I'm in a local rock band and both my singer and guitar player were guys we picked up from Craigslist. You couldn't find nicer and more competent guys. A buddy of mine (the guitar player) buys and sells stuff on Craigslist all the time. He NEVER meets anyone at his house. He always does it at some neutral location like Walmart parking lot. So far, he hasn't had any problems.

[Vendetta]

I tried to use Armslist a few times as a buyer. Everyone I happened to speak with was just flakey. Every once in a while I check it out, but don't have the time to weed through hundreds of posts to find one deal.

Ebay is the safest and most secure way to buy and sell non-gun items. I've done hundreds of transactions and there was no problem I couldn't fix.

Craigslist has guns hidden on it once in a while. I've scored a few excellent deals, but you really have to look hard. I'm in a local rock band and both my singer and guitar player were guys we picked up from Craigslist. You couldn't find nicer and more competent guys. A buddy of mine (the guitar player) buys and sells stuff on Craigslist all the time. He NEVER meets anyone at his house. He always does it at some neutral location like Walmart parking lot. So far, he hasn't had any problems.

Ive never met anyone at my house. I live about a mile from a Meijer and almost always meet there. I come armed and have never even been slightly nervous though I am always aware of my surroundings.