I don't get hung up on round count, but I often ask for a ballpark figure. If there's a significant disparity in claimed round count vs actual condition, then that raises a red flag. Either the seller is being deceptive, or he didn't maintain his gun properly. Most of us can look at the wear to a barrel's bluing and tell the difference between 200 vs 1000 rounds down the pipe. Sometimes I will use the disparity between claimed vs actual condition as a bargaining tool.

For me it’s not so much how many that affects how I value something as it is how few and the condition. An unfired safe queen will get me to open my wallet some more, but a gun with a high round count won’t make me tighten my wallet much over a modest round count so long as it’s in good condition and has been maintained. (And so long as parts are available).

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S

Condition of gun is more important than round count. Bought several used guns, would not worry abou1-2k count if gun was in good condition.

I never ask about round count

Mostly because I do not bother counting my own rounds. I own too many firearms and in the olden days put too many rounds down range annually to try and have any kind of reference

Plus as has already been mentioned, I figure most folks count very conservatively

I count on personal inspection and condition of the firearm

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Buy the gun, not the story.

This.

I keep track of a few pistols, mainly the high round count ones (for maintenance, spring replacement schedules, etc.)

Yup. The guy was doing more negotiating than assessing.

Asking the round count is about like asking if it's accurate. I've never been sold a used gun that wasn't a tack driver, or at least that's what I'm normally told.

I'm an opportunist. So some of mine are either a box of parts, show moderate use and need new springs, aren't very common, or chambered in a caliber that was made obsolete in 1938.

Round count has not been a part of the equation unless it is sold as 'new'.

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Originally posted by sigarms229:
None. I don't even ask a round count. Condition of the gun, current market value and its level of rarity are what dictates my offer.

Yep, this

No wonder seller gives me a look when I asked for the hours...should have been asking round count!

On a serious note, if round count was a thing, wouldn’t there be a counter? They have them for trap shotguns...

Gents, Good points on the observation of wear more than a round count. Looking back at some of my past purchases, that’s really all I looked at.

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Originally posted by BuddyChryst:
...Translated to guns, is the guy following Flork's guide or torture testing his guns?...
Three, the cost of ammo to wear out a gun is gonna exceed the cost of the gun itself by a large amount.

Well, the guy wondered what the hell I had on the rails (grease) and stated he had dozens of pistols. I don’t believe his cost of ammo exceeds much of anything.

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Originally posted by T.Webb:
I knew a guy at my range (since passed on) who was the worst handloader ever. Double charges! Triple charges! And many a squib.

I once saw him shoot 3 consecutive squibs into a S&W Model 28 revolver. I saw him shoot a squib followed by a full load into a .45 Nighthawk, cracking the barrel. A couple of weeks would go by and the gun would be on the table with the "FOR SALE" sign. Always claimed to have less than 200 rounds through the gun, and always at the high end pricing wise.

I really think a better thread would be if someone more knolegable and more articulate than me would start a thread about what to look at in regards to frame/slide wear and such forth to help a prospective buyer seperate the good from the bad and the ugly.

I picked up a Kimber K6S last year. I'd seen them, wanted to try one. They were more than what I wanted to pay for an unknown make; Kimber isn't high on my list when I think of quality firearms, certainly not revolvers. Still, I was curious.

Enter a used K6 which has clearly had very, very little use. I examined it closely; no way it every had a box of ammunition through it. It was being sold by a local shop; I trust them; they knew the buyer and had sold it to him. He returned it at a loss shortly after buying, and got something else.

That immediately made me suspicious. The pistol appeared in excellent shape. I could find nothing wrong, and bought it.

The first time I fired it, I understood why he returned it. It hurt to shoot, more than any other small .357 I've fired, and I don't know why. It just hurts to shoot. That said, it's a neat little pistol and I kept it.

Anytime someone gets rid of a firearm with too low a count, it always makes me curious why.

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Originally posted by clayflingythingy:

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Originally posted by sigarms229:
None. I don't even ask a round count. Condition of the gun, current market value and its level of rarity are what dictates my offer.

This

agree

he was trying to 'work you' to lower the price

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Actually I do count rounds. It is really easy because I rarely shoot very much. Also, I have a Rohrbaugh R9S that needs the recoil spring changed every 200 rounds! That's a CCW and one better damn well count rounds.

That gun is no longer made but I haven't shot it enough to need a new spring yet.

The origina Rohrbaugh’s needed to have springs replaced every 200 rounds. BUT once Carl and Eric switched suppliers to Wolff Springs, they started lasting 500 plus rounds before needing new springs.

I no longer carry my R9. Now it’s a safe queen/range toy, but I’ve currently got over 1200 hours on my spring.

I have at least 65,000 "hours" on mine.

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Originally posted by Beanhead:
No wonder seller gives me a look when I asked for the hours...should have been asking round count!

On a serious note, if round count was a thing, wouldn’t there be a counter? They have them for trap shotguns...

DOD has been trying to develop one for their weapons for a while. It pops up on a DTIC slide show every once in a while. To date it's been easier to just do annual and post deployment gauging. Which Trap guns have counters? I don't shoot trap so I had no idea they were available.

I have a good number of handguns, don't get to the range that often, and switch things up frequently. I have often sold guns with 100 or even 50 rounds through them because I knew right away I wasn't going to like them or they didn't fit my purposes. It never occurred to me to understate round count. If anything I overstate it when selling a pistol.

+1 for more important "tells" than round count...Barrel/Feed Ramp condition, slide/frame wear-fit..."Trigger Feel"...control functions and finally the finish.

New Springs and a factory check-up/overhaul can solve most issues, but add to the acquisition cost.

Good deals can be found, but "Buyer Beware" needs to be job #1.

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Originally posted by sigarms229:
None. I don't even ask a round count. Condition of the gun, current market value and its level of rarity are what dictates my offer.

Same here. I might wonder about round count if I’m seeing significant signs of wear, but if the weapon seems mechanically sound, I’m not going to worry about it too much if the price seems fair. I’ve bought exactly three new pistols; I tend to prefer buying used stuff in general.