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Is "Hand Pick" Worth it? Or just a scam?

MercuryMercury Member Posts: 7,840 ✭✭✭
edited August 2002 in General Discussion
I keep seeing on all the mil-surp dealer's sites "Hand pick $10 more"

Is that worth it? Do you really get a better/nicer weapon? Or do they just send you whatever they grab as usual?

I'm skeptical by nature. Any advice is appreciated.

Merc



NO! You may not have my guns! Now go crawl back into your hole!

****************************************

"Tolerating things you may not necessarily like is part of being free" - Larry Flynt
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Comments

  • agloreaglore Member Posts: 6,012
    edited November -1
    Some are worth it, some aren't. Depends on how good of a customer you are. Hand-picking one Mil-surp from another of the same model and years of manufacture is essentially getting one firearm with onle 2 scratches as compared to 4 scratches on the one that wasn't handpicked. I mean, you're dealing with some quite old and fairly well used firearms. Some have some good wood, but not many.

    AlleninAlaska

    Free men are not equal and equal men are not free
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  • robsgunsrobsguns Member Posts: 4,581 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Do you think the people that advertise that would take a dump in their pants if you showed up at their business and said, 'OK, I'm here to hand pick mine.' Now that would be worth it, just to see the expression on their faces, and I would think you'd get the best one that way too. Put yourself in their shoes. If you're not busy and you get a hand pick order across your desk, you take some time and do it right, but if the boss is hollering at you to finish up a stack of orders, how well are you going to hand pick for someone you arent worried about being fired by?

    SSgt Ryan E. Roberts, USMC
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  • boeboeboeboe Member Posts: 3,331
    edited November -1
    I recall paying for the hand picked option for a couple of Makarovs I ordered, they looked one heck of a lot better than a couple I ordered a three months later with no handpicked option. But I'm not sure if this was just because they were running low on Makarovs. I know I'll pay the extra if I want firearms as keepers for my collection, but probably not for shooters.

    To err is human, to moo is bovine.
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  • martzkj@msn.commartzkj@msn.com Member Posts: 582 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I've seen some that were to be hand picked, it made me wonder if it was worth the extra. However I don't know what the others looked like. I think it's a cheap gamble.
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  • offerorofferor Member Posts: 8,625 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Good thread. I've often wondered the same thing. Sounds like there are no easy answers. Probably the best you can hope for in some cases is that they won't grab the worst-looking one on the pile.

    - Life NRA Member
    "If cowardly & dishonorable men shoot unarmed men with army guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary...and not by general deprivation of constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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  • nunnnunn Forums Admins, Member, Moderator Posts: 36,085 ******
    edited November -1
    At most of those places, if you order one rifle, you get the next one from the stack. If you pay extra for hand-picked, the picker picks the next 5 rifles, then picks the best of those 5.

    You have a 20% chance of getting the one you would have gotten had you paid extra for hand-picking.

    Here is what I do, and what I recommend. Order 5 or more of the rifle you want. Usually, you will get a price break too. Maybe get some guys at work in on it. Then when they come in, you get the pick of the lot, and let your buddies have the rest.

    SIG pistol armorer/FFL Dealer/Full time Peace Officer, Moderator of General Discussion Board on Gunbroker. Visit www.gunbroker.com, the best gun auction site on the Net! Email davidnunn@texoma.net
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  • 96harley96harley Member Posts: 3,992 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    Our police dept. was thinking about getting rifles at one time. I called and ,wanting one myself, told the wholesaler it would be used by law enforcement depending on what they had. I paid the extra for hand picked and believe me, it was beautiful. We never adopted them department wise but all the guys that bought their own got good ones.
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  • leeblackmanleeblackman Member Posts: 5,303 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    When I order hand picked, and have to pay more, I want to get my money's worth. I tell them exactly what I want, and if I like what I get, I'll send it back and requiest another.

    If I'm wrong please correct me, I won't be offended.

    The sound of a 12 gauge pump clears a house fatser than Rosie O eats a Big Mac !
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  • bartobarto Member Posts: 4,734 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    my rule of thumb is if the hand-pick fee is over 10% of the guns value its a NO.
    otherwise, i generally go with the hand-pick.
    $39 turk mausers are a definate NO!lol
    barto

    the hard stuff we do right away - the impossible takes a little longer
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