I recently had an experience that turned out well, in spite of a bad beginning. I saw an online ad for a SBT ejector gun that I was interested in. The pictures looked really good, so I called and we discussed it, agreed on a price and I told him I would mail a check. Before I hung up, I asked for reassurance on his posted 3 day inspection period.

I received the gun quickly and began to look it over. Immediately I realized it was off face. In my shop I tried increasingly thicker shim stock until it closed snugly on a sheet of .012" stock. That's serious daylight. Then I saw a glaring crack in the top of the wrist immediately behind the top tang. Things were not looking good. Closer inspection showed that a pin was missing off the ejector sear. That was it.

I called the seller to discuss the issues. He said he never shot it, and never noticed it being off face, or the other issues. If he would have offered to lower the price enough I would have kept it and dealt with the problems myself, but it didn't happen. His comments concerning the flaws were: it's 80 years old, and "a collectible" (his word), it shouldn't be shot. I replied that a gun can be collectible and still be shot safely, and that I won't own a gun I cannot shoot. He said I was free to return it, which I did. Held my breath for a few days until the refund check arrived, which it did in a timely manner. Stuck to the check was a note which said that he had examined it and found all the issues I had mentioned to be there. He said "the crack is no big deal", and that he hadn't noticed the pin missing on the ejector. As to the gun being badly off face he said that he consulted his good friend, who is the "head gunsmith at Bass Pro Shops in Sprgfld, MO". Gunsmith supposedly said "Off face? What does he think it is, a Purdy? (his spelling).

Just a good reminder to us all at all dealers are not knowledgeable, even though they may be honest, and that we should ALWAYS make sure on the inspection period. Alls well that ends well I guess, but for the loss of shipping charges.

JFYI, SRH

May God bless America and those who defend her.