How annoying!

[brucieboy]

Had a phone convwesation with someone about buying an old BSA cadet major.Asked all the usual questions,condition,mechanically sound,firing as it should ect.
Got the son in law to pick it up as he was going that way in his work.He knows nothing about guns at all.
Tried it out when he got back,won't even move the pellet on firing.It's the seals,easily fixed,but why do people sell this stuff and say it's shooting great when it's not or perhaps he meant to say it was when he last used it 30 years ago but forget to say.
Hve to order some seals now before I can play with it.

[shabee]

I can see why that would annoy you, problem is only you know who you dealt with for the "Major" and we dont know if that person has much experience of airguns, just maybe they meant that it cocked and fired as it should, but without having any pellets to try? The Cadet major is one of my all time favourites and im certain once you get it sorted youll enjoy it, things went a bit downhill after the Cadets, meteors were never as well built.
On a similar note i have a collector friend i jokingly refer to as "Howard Hughes", been collecting things all his life and amongst other things he collects guns. He once said to me "Brookey, never in my life have i come accross a dealer or collector who would not omit to tell you about a fault with a gun if it would interfere with a sale" so i guess you have to make sure you ask the right questions before hand when buying blind.
Good luck with the Cadet
rgds
eric

[slow_runner]

Had a phone convwesation with someone about buying an old BSA cadet major.Asked all the usual questions,condition,mechanically sound,firing as it should ect.
Got the son in law to pick it up as he was going that way in his work.He knows nothing about guns at all.
Tried it out when he got back,won't even move the pellet on firing.It's the seals,easily fixed,but why do people sell this stuff and say it's shooting great when it's not or perhaps he meant to say it was when he last used it 30 years ago but forget to say.
Hve to order some seals now before I can play with it.

Besides all the cosmetic appearance questions and answers, I always figure that the seals will need replacement and the spring is tired or munted.
Second, expect some disappointment if you don't personally collect, especially when purchasing from strangers.
It is just time and effort. Think of it like this; the anticipation and delay for the pleasure of using your BSA is akin to practicing the squeeze technique. When you do get it operational the experience will be all that more pleasurable. or should that be orgasmic?

[Hsing-ee]

All secondhand rifles should get a stripped and a given new seal and spring if there is any doubt over them. It is important to do this to check for damage as well, sometimes a spring can be broken but this wont be obvious until you open her up. THINGS can be embedded in the piston seal (nails, old pellets etc) and sometimes the innards can be so slathered in grease or inappropriate lube that the piston is slowed down or the rifle diesels like an firework.

People tell all kinds of stories to themselves and buyers. I don't think they always do it intentionally, they are just a bit stupid or not interested in details or being thorough. Bought a nice s/h car from a couple last year, on the way home the ride was a bit choppy and I found one of the front tyres was at only 10 psi. Pumped it up, problem solved. Thing is I would never sell a car without checking the tyre pressures, but some people don't think and aren't very thorough.

[gingernut]

I once bought my daughter a Nissan Micra that was maintained to a standard that would have pleased NASA.

Tyre pressures inc spare spot on.
I am keen on tyre pressures being right - others not so much!

[junglie]

I once bought my daughter a Nissan Micra that was maintained to a standard that would have pleased NASA.

Tyre pressures inc spare spot on.
I am keen on tyre pressures being right - others not so much!

I think one of our micra's was maintained by nasa,( the challenger crew) the bloody thing tried to start itself in the drive without the keys in! smoke pouring from under the bonnet as it self destructed the black box , wouldnt stop with the key in either, had to cut the battery leads & put out the fire with an extinguisher. The bloody insurance wouldn't pay out either so wish we'd let it burn. I'm fussy about tryre pressures too but after getting a new replacement front for our polo recently checked & set the pressure corectly(as most fitters just bang 30psi in as that'll do).drove down to a birthday party nr mancs on a frosty night & thought we'd hit black ice a couple of times on the way back. I checked the front drivers that had broke away to find 47psi in it! The wife had checked the tyres with a new cheap compressor gauge & re-set it by that!