I figured I would post this here just to give a heads up to forum members

[SmoothboreMurph]

You were right to have these checked out for your own protection before buying them. However, to criticize what a seller might do is not your right. You have stepped over the line. I believe this entire thread should be deleted.

I was standing there with @PowderSchooner when Mr. Longford said he would be selling his guns on either GunBroker or this forum. This isn't a maybe it is a when in my opinion. He has already approached two local gun stores trying to falsely claim his firearms have been appraised and he has already been served papers by a gunsmith in Denton, Maryland for Negligent Appraisal Claims. In essence lying about the use of a known Appraisal business. This man could've scammed or conned anyone on this forum into buying potentially dangerous firearms by just being a terrible person by nature. I myself almost bought one of these rifles back in November of 2021 for my Grandfather after receiving pictures of the rifle. I never saw it in person but to think I could've killed or hurt my grandfather by buying a scrap rifle under the pretense of it being a CLA engraved piece makes by blood boil. This shouldn't be removed as it is a warning to all. There are now official legal matters underway to deal with this situation but still this shouldn't be deleted as anyone could've been scammed and not just me or @PowderSchooner. This seller crossed the line by violating preexisting agreements, trying to sell potentially dangerous firearms, stealing a seller's information, false claims about multiple real life people either building, engraving or appraising these firearms and he crossed the line by putting potential buyers at risk. Larry Albright of Albright's guns even stated that the .50 caliber rifle had a crack inside the bore about 15" down from the mouth of the barrel. That crack ran another 7" down the barrel. Imagine if someone were to buy that rifle and load a stout charge or be repeatedly firing it at a range. Who knows what would happen after it got heated up after repeated firing. I don't want to sound like I'm attacking you like a dog of its chain but these are the facts that led to this post for the greater good of everyone here registered on this forum. I personally couldn't live with myself had I bought that exact .50 caliber rifle back in November and it were to kill my Grandfather. Sad thing is that Mr. Longford (the seller) even said to Mr. Larry Albright that he was aware of the damage to the bore and the lock but thought that the barrel was made of "Sterner stuff" and wouldn't hurt anyone. That isn't a call someone should make that is left for a trained and competent gunsmith to make. I know these facts weren't in the original post due to this issue playing out over multiple days now but still this post is here to protect not to slander or cross lines. I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with you sir.

 

[Murphinator]

I was standing there with @PowderSchooner when Mr. Longford said he would be selling his guns on either GunBroker or this forum. This isn't a maybe it is a when in my opinion. He has already approached two local gun stores trying to falsely claim his firearms have been appraised and he has already been served papers by a gunsmith in Denton, Maryland for Negligent Appraisal Claims. In essence lying about the use of a known Appraisal business. This man could've scammed or conned anyone on this forum into buying potentially dangerous firearms by just being a terrible person by nature. I myself almost bought one of these rifles back in November of 2021 for my Grandfather after receiving pictures of the rifle. I never saw it in person but to think I could've killed or hurt my grandfather by buying a scrap rifle under the pretense of it being a CLA engraved piece makes by blood boil. This shouldn't be removed as it is a warning to all. There are now official legal matters underway to deal with this situation but still this shouldn't be deleted as anyone could've been scammed and not just me or @PowderSchooner. This seller crossed the line by violating preexisting agreements, trying to sell potentially dangerous firearms, stealing a seller's information, false claims about multiple real life people either building, engraving or appraising these firearms and he crossed the line by putting potential buyers at risk. Larry Albright of Albright's guns even stated that the .50 caliber rifle had a crack inside the bore about 15" down from the mouth of the barrel. That crack ran another 7" down the barrel. Imagine if someone were to buy that rifle and load a stout charge or be repeatedly firing it at a range. Who knows what would happen after it got heated up after repeated firing. I don't want to sound like I'm attacking you like a dog of its chain but these are the facts that led to this post for the greater good of everyone here registered on this forum. I personally couldn't live with myself had I bought that exact .50 caliber rifle back in November and it were to kill my Grandfather. Sad thing is that Mr. Longford (the seller) even said to Mr. Larry Albright that he was aware of the damage to the bore and the lock but thought that the barrel was made of "Sterner stuff" and wouldn't hurt anyone. That isn't a call someone should make that is left for a trained and competent gunsmith to make. I know these facts weren't in the original post due to this issue playing out over multiple days now but still this post is here to protect not to slander or cross lines. I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with you sir.

I just joined the forum yesterday and have been just scrolling through and looking at the different posts. This one however is definitely a "FUBAR" situation in my book. I definitely wouldn't buy a muzzleloader off of someone I didn't know because I don't know what to look for in terms of defects. That being said this seller sounds like a horrible person to be trying to sell a defect rifle to people after claiming that they were better than the invention of sliced bread. I work as a mechanic on the side and live and work on my farm full time but imagine if I was doing work for someone. Say a semi truck and I painted some worn out brake drums and said that they are new. I then would put that truck, driver and other drivers at risk to make some cash. That is terrible, I have been looking at the rifles for sale here on the forum. I would hope that no one is trying to sell things like this, if so that is shameful.

 

[Dude]

This guy is actually a few levels lower than the Nigerian or Russian scammers selling guns they don't own. Isn't that scary!

 

[Coinneach]

Duplicate post.

 

[Coinneach]

Again.

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

“The heart is deceitfully wicked and beyond cure…who can know it?”

The love of MONEY is the root of all evil!

 

[Dude]

The love of MONEY is the root of all evil!

I disagree. Money is no more the source of the issue than guns causing deaths. It's a person's desire to have something without exchanging for it, and being willing to ride roughshod over others to get it.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

It’s not money that’s evil, it’s the love of money that’s the evil

 

[plant-today]

Recently I've made two posts about buying my first flintlock rifle from a local seller. Last week the seller fell ill and passed away yesterday. His son wanted me to look over the rifles and see if I still wanted to buy one. Yesterday I and @SmoothboreMurph looked over the rifles but the seller hiked the prices of the 3 rifles I was interested in up. Today I asked a local gun store owner who @SmoothboreMurph recommended due to his experience with Muzzleloaders (He has been in the Muzzleloading business since 1982) to come and take a look at these rifles with the seller's permission. While I was at work I received a message from another user who is a friend of Mike Roby and has his rifles for sale on Gunbroker. I noticed that all the information I was given about these 3 for sale rifles was the exact same as this user's Gunbroker posts. (That information can be found in my latest post in the Flintlock Rifles subforum). Upon arriving at the seller's residence the gun store owner looked over each rifle and determined they were not works of Mike Roby and rather that they were kit rifles from the late 1980s to early 1990s or were custom works made by a builder or by a commercial gunsmith. The .50 cal "Mike Roby engraved" Lancaster rifle was said to have a Getz barrel but actually was a Douglas and there were no markings left by Mike Roby anywhere on the rifle. The .40 and .45 were both kit rifles as well. The seller wanted $5,000 for his "Mike Roby" .50, $3,300 for his "Mike Roby" .40 and $3,700 for his "Mike Roby" .45 rifle. He is aware of this forum and Gunbroker and has plans to sell his rifles on both platforms. He is using @AZ Muzzleloaders gunbroker information for his rifles which these measurements to not match his rifles at all. I figured I would let all forum users know in case he does advertise them here. He is using someone else's information and property to sell his own for inflated prices. Another note is that he said the rifles all were capable of firing however the .50 cal rifle doesn't have a working lock. I don't want to slander anyone but I was almost fooled into spending money on nothing short of a pipe rifle and I don't want anyone else to be fooled either. I don't think it is ethical to steal someone's information to make a profit or make false claims about a rifle and take someone's money from them and in return give them scrap.

Those rifles are on gunbroker as of 8/18/2022. Thanks for the info. I was looking at these rifles, glad to be saved the grief.

 

[Rifleman1776]

to criticize what a seller might do is not your right.

I may have been intemperate but I'll stand by the comment above. To guess what a person may do and criticize beforehand is just plain wrong. It is fair to criticize and warn others about someone based on past behavior and let them draw their own conclusions. I try to be polite here, but some days I ain't perfect.

 

[AZ Muzzleloaders]

Those rifles are on gunbroker as of 8/18/2022. Thanks for the info. I was looking at these rifles, glad to be saved the grief.

Mr. Longford's reputation comes back to bite me again. The Roby rifles and Roby engraved rifles on gunbroker now (August 20) are under AZ Muzzleloaders. That's me, not Mr. Longford. I don't see any of Longford's rifles on there, but it is possible. If you have any questions about my rifles on here or elsewhere, I use the same user name, call me. Feel free to set up a time to stop by.
Dave Puvogel
AZ Muzzleloaders
Prescott, AZ

 

[Loyalist Dave]

" His name is Michael Longford btw .... Easton, Maryland."

This is what we know of the culprit for now, and I caution all that this may not be the fellow's actual legal name, or even the name he normally goes by, nor if he actually resides in Easton, or "came into town" due to his father's death.

We have been alerted and warned.

LD

 

[brushblind]

Those rifles are on gunbroker as of 8/18/2022. Thanks for the info. I was looking at these rifles, glad to be saved the grief.

Someone should alert Gun Broker to this scam!

 

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I disagree. Money is no more the source of the issue than guns causing deaths. It's a person's desire to have something without exchanging for it, and being willing to ride roughshod over others to get it.

Guess you havn't read your Bible lately??

 

[Walkingeagle]

Someone should alert Gun Broker to this scam!

Please read post #51 above. There is nothing to alert anyone about.
Walk

 

[PowderSchooner]

Didnt know this thread was still active so I will give an update. Mr.Longford tried contacting me about selling the rifles again in May of this year to which I turned him down again. My buddy in Talbot County PD informed me that Mr.Longford was trying to sell the muzzleloaders in question resulting in this post at a flea market last month and these rifles actually matched the photos of ones that were stolen from a man in Seaford, DE back in October 2021. They were stolen from the bed of a the man's truck(stored in a sliding window camper top). He was using the information from AZ Muzzleloaders' posts as a way to I guess hide what they were ? The previous owner actually had placed his driver's license number and SSN on the barrel which I thought was some sort of gunmaker thing to identify their piece of work in the future. The man he attempted to sell to at the flea market was a retired officer and wrote the numbers down to see what they meant to get a better value assessment of the guns as not to get ripped off. When he looked up the info he had found multiple facebook posts with those numbers, pictures of those rifles and posts from the man saying his rifles were stolen. He contacted his friend in the Talbot County PD who approached Mr. Longford and confiscated the rifles after contacting their original owner in Delware through this retired officer who identified these weapons as his. Mr. Longford did not have anything pointing him out as the person who stole them and he handed the rifles over no questions asked. As of this point I dont know if charges were filed or an arrest was made. I assume he was using the info AZ Muzzleloaders had as a way to sell them or make a price for them. I cant really attest to him being a the one who originally stole them but who knows. As of right now though they are no longer in his possession and are with their original owner. I dont know if he had any other rifles in his possession in which he is trying to sell as I wont ever want to be near that hack ever again. Him trying to sell those rifles using stolen info was shady enough not to mention the chance that he could've also stole those rifles. Either way they arent in current circulation to my knowledge.

 

[Murphinator]

Didnt know this thread was still active so I will give an update. Mr.Longford tried contacting me about selling the rifles again in May of this year to which I turned him down again. My buddy in Talbot County PD informed me that Mr.Longford was trying to sell the muzzleloaders in question resulting in this post at a flea market last month and these rifles actually matched the photos of ones that were stolen from a man in Seaford, DE back in October 2021. They were stolen from the bed of a the man's truck(stored in a sliding window camper top). He was using the information from AZ Muzzleloaders' posts as a way to I guess hide what they were ? The previous owner actually had placed his driver's license number and SSN on the barrel which I thought was some sort of gunmaker thing to identify their piece of work in the future. The man he attempted to sell to at the flea market was a retired officer and wrote the numbers down to see what they meant to get a better value assessment of the guns as not to get ripped off. When he looked up the info he had found multiple facebook posts with those numbers, pictures of those rifles and posts from the man saying his rifles were stolen. He contacted his friend in the Talbot County PD who approached Mr. Longford and confiscated the rifles after contacting their original owner in Delware through this retired officer who identified these weapons as his. Mr. Longford did not have anything pointing him out as the person who stole them and he handed the rifles over no questions asked. As of this point I dont know if charges were filed or an arrest was made. I assume he was using the info AZ Muzzleloaders had as a way to sell them or make a price for them. I cant really attest to him being a the one who originally stole them but who knows. As of right now though they are no longer in his possession and are with their original owner. I dont know if he had any other rifles in his possession in which he is trying to sell as I wont ever want to be near that hack ever again. Him trying to sell those rifles using stolen info was shady enough not to mention the chance that he could've also stole those rifles. Either way they arent in current circulation to my knowledge.

Nice to know that problem is resolved. Ive been wanting to put a wanted ad in the firearms section for a .50 caliber rifle but was hesitant due to this man. Hopefully he got these from someone else in a card game and didnt steal them. Still shady to use false info. AZ Muzzleloaders firearms are class top of the shelf pieces and that is a low life move to take his hard work and spin it to make a profit. Shame on Mr. Longford for that. Im sure the Delaware man is a happy camper as they were probably his hunting rifles. I almost had my things (hunting clothes) stolen out of my bed and they were in a tote in the back. People are outrageous these days. Even worse his social was on there if that got into the wrong hands that wouldve been terrible. I know starting out as a diesel technician I was told to etch your DL # into your tools so if they were stolen they could be identified if found by police of anyone else for that matter. Thanks for the update.

 

[Murphy_Roberts]

Had no clue this was an ongoing thing here on the forum, just saw this in latest posts and figured I'd give the previous posts a read. This longford guy is a certified a$$ hat in my book. Even if he didnt know they were stolen he shouldnt have used false information from someone's listings as his selling point. That is fraud and very shady behavior. That is basically like me re selling a Dorf 510 as a Ford F150 because it looks almost identical even though a Ford F150 is legit and my Dorf 510 s just some random thing. Good to see he never advertised them here on the forum. I also realise this thread rustled some feathers. I saw some posts asking for this thread to be deleted but in my honest opinion a warning is better than nothing. Bad enough the seller had stolen someone's information, no matter what a seller's rights are fraud is fraud and now that cloud has been lifted. If he does turn out to be the one who originally stole them I hope they throw the book at him and break his nose to teach him an every other thief a lesson that they shouldve listened to Scruff McGruff. Either way he is a shady character and I wouldnt trust him if I ever encounter him in person or online.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Thanks for the heads up. My bet is anyone who's bought guns online has been burned or will be at some point. It can be a risky business, I speak from experience. It's not always the sellers fault, I've made some bad choices given the information I had to work with. People who have these experiences should share them, it might help others from getting burned. Thanks again.

 

[deerstalkert]

in my experience, if one is found with 1 stolen item, they may be a victim. if found with multiple stolen items, they are a thief.