Your most 'interesting' muzzleloader transaction ?

[Treestalker]

I just got one of those I'll be back people too! After emails and texts asking questions then my bottom line price finally he says oh and Thursday is my day off I definitely want it if you still have it.

Guess what today is Friday and I still have it. Why negotiate if you don't have the cash or means to complete the sale.

You better believe I would of sold it if anyone else called for it.

Yep, his sister's cat's grandmother needed braces! If a person puts no money down, they will talk themselves out of the deal, and since they have nothing invested, think nothing of leaving you hanging forever. In fact, they thought it over and decided YOU were screwing THEM.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

The purpose of this thread is to share stories. Naming someone, even if you're sure you're right, may lead to litigation for libel or slander. If the person in question is indeed a *******, their actions will eventually catch up with them. Many times we don't know the whole story, so we have to be careful. Just saying.

Ordered product. Check received.Check cashed. After a month no product. No replies to inquiries. Email or PM,s Catch my drift? Yet forum rules dictate that I must be nice....

 

[mushka]

I once tried to buy a rifle from a member here. I think he advertised the wrong rifle for the price. After nearly a month I got my money back, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth over it. Presently I am buying a rifle from a member here that is not going well either. I paid, he sent, gave me a tracking number and the post office tells me my package will be later than thought, but it is in route to the next destination. Priority mail doesn't seem to mean much to the post office. Nothing to do but wait I guess.

 

[jonathan butcher]

I can't speak to the member involved in your transaction but I'm becoming an expert in USPS delayed deliveries, having one at play this very moment. Without opeing up the what's-wrong-with-the-post-office debate suffice it to say on-time deliveries are iffy, at best. In the last 2 mos+ I've had two packages arrive a day earlier than expected and 3 alert exceptions, one of which was a Priority Mail envelope which was 5 weeks delayed and untrackable. This is what we have now.

I once tried to buy a rifle from a member here. I think he advertised the wrong rifle for the price. After nearly a month I got my money back, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth over it. Presently I am buying a rifle from a member here that is not going well either. I paid, he sent, gave me a tracking number and the post office tells me my package will be later than thought, but it is in route to the next destination. Priority mail doesn't seem to mean much to the post office. Nothing to do but wait I guess.

 

[sawyer04]

I told him that as we were just sitting down to dinner that i'd call him after dinner to arrange payment, shipping etc.

You broke the train of thought on the transaction. Suck it up.

 

[jonathan butcher]

Uh, oh, I see. Broken train of thought. Suck it up.
Thanks ?

You broke the train of thought on the transaction. Suck it up.

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

I once tried to buy a rifle from a member here. I think he advertised the wrong rifle for the price. After nearly a month I got my money back, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth over it. Presently I am buying a rifle from a member here that is not going well either. I paid, he sent, gave me a tracking number and the post office tells me my package will be later than thought, but it is in route to the next destination. Priority mail doesn't seem to mean much to the post office. Nothing to do but wait I guess.

You priority is not their priority apparently

 

[Rifleman1776]

My most interesting transaction was when I had a flint fowler built by Jackie Brown. Experience can only be labeled bizzaro from start to finish. e.g. I ordered a 36" barrel but got a 31" barrel. He forgot what price he quoted me, how much down payment I sent him or how much I owed at the end. Plus a lot more. There is a thread on this.

 

[jonathan butcher]

An update to my original post. Heard from the SELLER today, he is shipping the gun today but the holster which was included with it was apparantly 'sold to someone else'.

 

[BigSkyRambler]

Uh, oh, I see. Broken train of thought. Suck it up.
Thanks ?

I had two rifles "In Transit" for a month recently. Both popped out and were delivered just as I was about to file insurance claims.

 

[ROCKFANNING]

Long story. On an early forum the moderator asked if any one wanted parts he bought from st Louis shop. I bought them for the same price as he paid, with the promise to build the gun. I waited but my skills did not improve, so I asked around and someone said he would build the gun. So I boxed the parts and sent them by registered US mail with insurance. A year later I filed my insurance claim, because the package was lost.
Surprise surprise the week after I filed my builder emailed me saying he received several boxes of parts. Almost everything was there.
So bottom line I had to return the check to the post office.
The gun turned out very nice, but i have failed to shoot it in the last 12 or so years.

 

[mushka]

I really do think the postal service in this country has a bunch of substandard people on the payroll. You'll note I didn't say working.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I think when Congress saddled the postal service with all the retirement costs and said they also have to be a money making proposition at the same time the postal service started to have problems. Also, they have to serve everywhere whether profitable or not. Postal employees are like any other organization. They have good people but also slackers. To paint the service with a broad negative brush seems harsh especially when it has become a political football in an election year.

 

[jonathan butcher]

I'm sad to say I think you were right all along. Will decline on this transaction.

My opinion, he sold the gun to somebody else then treated you like crap to purposely piss you off so youd say to hell with him and not go through with the attempted purchase. Some vendors are absolute scum and will tell one person they will sell them something, then 5 minutes later someone will come in their shop and will sell the gun right then. Money talks, and BS walks.

Not ML related but a similar story. My father negotiated a verbal sale at a car dealer for a used truck cap. He goes back the next day wirh money in hand only to find out they had sold the cap to someone else. The dealer dad dealt with never put a sold sign on the cap or told anyone, and another dealer sold it. Things like this happen unfortunately.

 

[Bad Karma]

Not necessarily "strange," but definitely out of the ordinary. I was walking around a gunshow in Conway, AR looking for beater muzzleloaders to rehabilitate and resell. Wasn't seeing much, but did see what looked to be a Dixie Tennessee Rifle in one dealer's rack. Thought I would look, just because I was bored. Nice custom gun with what I found out later was a well known Texas builder's name stamped on top of barrel. Was admiring it and took a squint at price tag. Be still my heart. It said "MUZZLELOADER $100." Looked closer, thinking it must be either $700 or partially rubbed off. Nope! Clearly printed $100. Seller said he thought it was a kit gun and that the owner must have been proud enough to stamp his name on top. I tried not to tremble as I pulled out my cash. He reached under the table and brought out a ratty looking milsurp bag and said it had stuff to go with gun. I didn't look inside, as I was about to start crying as it was. Casually sauntered down the aisle and then skittered around the corner to an empty table for a better assessment. Rifle was used, but in great shape. Bag had two powder measures, ball starter, quick loaders, four tins of caps, #10 and 11, and some really questionable and powdery .50 roundballs. And a half pound of FFG GOEX from the early 80s. I don't think anything like this will happen to me again.

I had a similar experience with an unmentionable. The seller was late setting up and as I appro his table he laid what appeared to be a scoped civilian version of an M40 on the table. The tag said 150.00!?! I skidded to a stop and whipped out my wallet. It was a brand new in the box M700 heavy barrel with a Leupold Vx3 6.5-20... he said a tenant had skipped, leaving the rifle, a bunch of ammo and hunting equipment. Seller didn’t know what it was worth, all he knew was what the tenant owed and he wanted to get that amount of money back. I actually told him I was willing to double the price in order to be more square but he was firm.

 

[Bad Karma]

I recently bought a rifle from a guy who described it as "really nice" and "appears to have been shot every little." The pictures he sent didn't show anything that gave me serious concern (pictures lie). We exchanged several emails and I told him I wanted the rifle and would send payment.

The first indication the purchase was not going to go well was when the day after I sent him payment, he told me he was away from home for the next week and a half and would send the rifle when he got back. He did eventually send the rifle, but it wasn't insured as he stated it would be.

Well it definitely isn't "really nice", and has been shot so much the lock is worn out and needs to be repaired or replaced. For example, the frizzen is so loose it smacks against, and leaves marks in the barrel when stuck by the flint, the sear spring is cracked. The hammer is so beat up that even with a small flint shoved as far back into the jaws as possible, with the hammer all the way forward the flint strikes the pan. And the best I could get it to shoot is a 3" to 5" group at 50 yds. I typically shoot 1" to 2" groups at 50 yds. with my other flintlocks.

I asked for my money back in exchange for the gun, but that went nowhere. He took no responsibility for misrepresenting the rifle's condition and later admitted to have never shot the gun. He even had the audacity to suggest I call the rifle's maker and ask for advice on what to do with it.

Too bad you couldn’t introduce him to your Dobe... of course like many dogs he might just lick the bad guys...

 

[sussexmuzllodr]

Liars and cheaters never fade...

 

[DUNKS]

Not mine but my sons experience. On a recent summer break my son happened on an old gunshop in Norfolk UK. Obviously he just had to have a look inside. Having a pleasant conversation with the shop owner my son happened to mention that his father "me" was interested in loading and shooting unmentionable 12g black powder. Did he have anything that he might have a look at.
Going into his store room the owner came back with am old muzzle loader which he had had trouble selling as it was Belgian. They agreed a price which was stupid low and son walked out of the shop with it.
Turns out to be an English Birmingham made percussion 16 gauge double shotgun gun sold by a Portsmouth gunsmith in 1840 .Perfect Damascus barrels and a sound stock. Even has the original ramrod. So here I am the proud owner of my first muzzle loader.

 

[Newtire]

I'm still shaking my head over this one. Last night I found a nice and early M1861 revolver online at a purveyors site which I decided I couldn't live without. I called the place and spoke to the owner, we had a very pleasant and lengthy chat and I told him that as we were just sitting down to dinner that i'd call him after dinner to arrange payment, shipping etc. We negotiated a price a little less than what he had it listed for and all was well. He said no problem and I called him after dinner as promised. No answer. Oh well I thought, no problem, people are busy. I left a nice phone message, thanked him again and asked him to cal me back at his convenience.

This morning I was mildly surprised to have gotten no reply either to my VM or email. No problem I said to myself, folks are busy, I'll call him early this afternoon. And so I did so and that's where this story turns south.

I called; 'Hello Mr _____, it's me Jon from last night!' I reminded him of our agreement and asked if he'd received my info that I emailed. He replied, ' I don't know, I'm too busy!' I reminded him of our nice chat. He told me he never spoke to me before and frankly sounded very annoyed. Completely nonplussed I stammered, ' but Mr _____, don't you remember our chat and talk about the gun??' He told me he never spoke to me before, if I wanted the gun it would be at the listed price. And then hung up on me!

I was driving during this exchange and was so unnerved I had to pull over and collect my thoughts. Had I called the wrong place ? Had I spoken to an entirely different person ? After cross checking the contact numbers and online listing I confirmed that this was the number I called and the outfit which was in fact selling the gun. A couple of deep breaths later I called him back, very politely told him I still wanted it and would he be able to ship today or tomorrow.

Still sounding annoyed he mumbled something about maybe next TUES and I left it at that. I considered calling the whole thing off as I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. But as the gun was a sort of one of a kind I decided to move forward. But I'll never call this guy for a purchase again.This was absolutely the strangest exchange i've ever had in making a purchase of anything.
How about you- what's your strangest muzzleloader purchase, online or otherwise ?

Not mentioning any names or sites so lets just say that this is a story with a mediocre ending.

I recieved the target rifle in an undamaged box but when I opened it, the pieces of the stock were the first thing to fall out. Then the action with barrel, sights & the rest came next.
I finally got ahold of the seller who began by telling me about a trip to Idaho (where I live) and how nice the people were and they let him stay at their place when his car broke down and on & on.
Finally, I got to tell him about my broken gun. He assured me that the gun was perfect when he packed it and how now I had to go file a claim with the post office.
The postal people were very cooperative and got me a pronto refund even though it wasn't my responsibility to initiate the claim. Point I made was that I found it odd how such a well packed gun in an undamaged box could arrive in pieces. The postmaster said that it was common for people to send off a damaged item & put the blame on the post office. Nevertheless, I got a full refund along with an otherwise nice target rifle with functional underhammer action, fancy target sights and a nice clean barrel . Waiting for a rainy day to put the thing together.
On following thru, I saw that the seller was selling a big home and that he had left me a scathing review which I got the site to retract and never saw him selling anything on that site anymore. All in all, I guess you could say, I turned over a cow pie and found a clean ham sandwich.

 

[Treestalker]

Ordered product. Check received.Check cashed. After a month no product. No replies to inquiries. Email or PM,s Catch my drift? Yet forum rules dictate that I must be nice....

Sussex, I have lost money on a deal here on the Forum; ordered product, sent M.O. and no go. No product, no M.O. Some months later I was advised on this Forum that the seller was bad sick and his son was handling his affairs, and refunds would be coming shortly. Well, its been 6- 8 mos? A year? nothing. So I've just blown it off, the dragon won. In a previous transaction I challenged the seller by name on the Forum, and was chastised and told to do such things via P.M. He did contact me later and explained his situation and made good on his deal. Anyway, when I send a m.o. to anyone now, I just figure it's just ante money on the gambling table. Oh yeah, forget the P.O. doing anything, It's your baby. Not like the old days when even a whiff of fraud was the Postmaster General's delight to have you locked up.