I think you just have to be smart when buying ANY used gun. Do your research and really look for the small stuff. The small stuff will tell you alot. I've only bought two used guns so far. One was a Marlin model 120 12 gauge shotgun, which was a sweet buy. It was only dirty and with alittle bit of hard cleaning it now looks new. The other was to .54 Renegade I just picked up and the jury is still out on that one. Havn't shot it yet.