How to check if an airgun is really new

[najiam]

I was wondering how to tell the condition of an airgun appart from the obvious scratches, is there an easy way to check the internals status?

The reason i'm asking is that i saw a brand new in the box wolverine C with a small scratch on the forend. It made me wonder wether this gun is really being sold new as stated by the shop ?

 

[ahobie17]

if the gun has a magazine, look for wear where it is inserted to the breech, if a bolt look for shinny wear marks on it. Same with the fill probe. Check pivot points also. Of course if it has tags still attached that would be a good sign, but they can be put back on. A beat up box might or missing paper work. Shinny or scratched scope rails, premounted scope.

 

[travels4fun]

The only way to be certain it brand new (i.e., never fired or demonstrated) is to be at the distributor when the shipment arrives. Otherwise, there really is no way to tell. It's common for dealers test each new rifle to make sure it holds air and has no obvious problems. AOA does this for many of their Daystate rifles. You could always ask the dealer for a rifle that has not been tested or been on display. That's about the best you can hope for.

Note: If the a rifle has air in the cylinder, odds are it has been fired before. Rifles ship from the manufacturer with empty air cylinders.