So awhile back I purchased a used slide for a beretta 96 on line. It was in like new condition.
No barrel with it just the slide.
After not building a 96 I recently decided to sell it for the same price I paid for it.
I sold it on line a few days ago. The buyer inspected it and said it looked better then he expected. He shot 5 rounds of factory ammo and heard a weird clink and looked and the slide cracked.

So my moral issue is - what do I do? I didn’t know there was a weakness or would not have sold it. But I feel responsible. Should I refund the entire price, a portion of the price or do nothing and say hey not my fault.

Keep in mind I sold it because I need the money.

Ok guys have at it.

You have no actual obligation to the buyer if what you say is 100% true and slide was represented as used but never used. Whether the buyer believes that isn’t your problem.

Having said that, I personally would offer a refund assuming you believe he didn’t break the slide doing something stupid.

I’d offer it minus any shipping and ask him to return the slide.

Bottom line is, if you’re questioning it, then it’s affecting you, and that ain’t worth a couple hundred bucks.

Buyer inspected it, accepted it, broke it.

Not your issue.

You'd be generous to offer a percentage back, in the right to offer nothing back, and crazy to give a full refund.

Although I don't believe you have any liability if it would make you feel better to split it, then do so. I wouldn't eat it all.

I guess I don’t see where you’re morally obligated. You had no idea it was going to do that just as whoever sold it to you was clueless (unless I’m missing something). I understand feeling bad for the guy but someone was going to get stuck holding the bag. Is there anything he might have done or a condition on his frame that could have caused it? Too hot reloads?

If you believe the claim of what happened, refund the money.
Would you have sold it if you knew it already had a crack? It sucks, but if we sell something that turns out to be defective with reasonable use, we have a moral obligation to correct the problem to degree possible.

Is this something you and/or buyer could talk to Beretta about?

Otherwise I agree with splitting the difference, but no more. This shouldn't be on you if all else is true. Buyer should understand this.

I would suggest he contact Beretta first

How do you break a slide without having a catastrophic failure that resulted in much more damage. He could have done something dumb like drop it or something worse.

I have no way of verifying g his claim but I will say the slide cracked in an odd place - right under the rear sight behind the extractor rod.
If it was a hot round I think it would be forward if that where the slide is thin. As to dropping it I don’t see a slide cracking just from dropping it unless we are talking off a building or something.

I would see what Beretta will do for the person before I offered anything if at all. How do you know the guy didn’t shoot reloads or have a double charged factory load? Could be no fault of yours or his. One of my issues with the 40 S&W is the very high pressure of the round. It’s one of the reasons the P229 was built with a solid stainless steel slide instead of just converting the P228.

My guess is that Beretta will make it right with the purchaser and if you refund the money the purchaser is in a better position than the contractual agreed upon sale.

Could this person also be doing a "switch" on you? As in he previously had a cracked slide, purchased yours, and now wants to switch the cracked slide for your perfectly fine slide.

I would not offer a refund of any kind. If it was damaged in shipping or not as described, then yes. But in this case it was better than described in the buyers eyes.

Do as you wish but "Item sold as is with no warranty"

Beretta designed in fail-safes to these guns; a hot round would blow out the extractor and pop the hammer transfer bar out to relieve pressure.

Most 96 slides crack vertically at the breech face or by the locking block. The one you sold the guy is a 96G Elite slide...a Brigadier/reinforced slide. It cracked longitudinally from breech face all the way down to the rear of the slide.

Either two things occurred here: a) it was used and not properly maintained by swapping new recoil springs in every 3k rounds or b) it wasn't properly made/heat-treated by the factory.

These are not made anymore so nothing Beretta will do especially without the matching frame/serial number.

As to what to do...that's a tough one. When we buy used parts/used guns, it's our duty to inspect and we own the liabilty therein once we accept it. As a seller in your shoes, I'm not sure what I'd feel was right to do but the buyer is a good guy I've done more than a few deals with in the past so we'd sort it out to our mutual satisfaction, both knowing the sitatuation sucks.

To me, I'd offer him some other stuff I don't need as recompense (esp. if I sold because I needed the case).

Does the side have a serial number? I’m thinking the buyer had a broken side, bought one from a stranger to claim the purchased side cracked and intended to send his original one back to the seller. All sales are considered “as is”. No warranty.

If you were in his position, what would you like to see happen? As the buyer here, what would you find to be a reasonable resolution?

If the item was sold as is, then no, you are under no real obligation to do anything as long as you were up front about what was being sold. Me? If I found the other person's story credible, I would want to give him a 50% refund. Just seems like the right thing to do.

Just because you aren't obligated to do something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it anyway.

All sales of gun parts should have a disclaimer reading something like, "no known problems, but sale is 'as is and with all faults.'" That slide probably had a small crack, in an out-of-the-way place, not visible to the naked eye, to start with. But you didn't know that, and the buyer saw nothing wrong with it either. You have no obligation to refund anything, but could offer a partial refund, say, 25 but not more than 50%, in the interest of good will. You say you sold it because you need the money. You need the money more than he needs that slide.

Everybody worries about their pistol frames getting beaten up, and I suppose they do, but the slide of a pistol takes a serious beating. The barrel lugs exert a forward drag on it as the bullet travels down the barrel, while at the same time the recoil is pushing it to the rear, all within a tiny fraction of a second. Especially with a Beretta slide that is open-topped for most of its length, this is a recipe for metal fatigue.

I am convinced the buy is not pulling a switch
I can tell by the pictures it’s the same slide.
I have contacted him to make it right and will
Do so.
Thanks guys it’s nice having a sounding board .

Although it has nothing to do with the question posed, to address a strangely common belief, the 40 S&W cartridge is not a “very high pressure” round. The max SAAMI piezo pressure is 35,000 PSI—exactly the same as standard pressure 9mm Luger. The max +P 9mm pressure is 38,500 PSI.

Most 40 S&W loads generate more momentum than most 9mm loads and that causes more stress on the frames and slides of the guns chambered for the cartridge, but that’s a separate issue from its chamber pressure. It’s also why SIG pistols chambered for the 40 have heavier slides and stronger recoil springs than their 9mm cousins.

It doesn’t sound like you know this person, so you really have no idea what happened other than his word. On the other hand, you know your side of the story and if you had no knowledge the slide was somehow flawed, then you have no obligation.

Based on what's written in the OP, I fail to see any moral or ethical issue. If you want to refund because you're a nice person, fine, but don't think you have any moral obligation.