FWIW and as usual, there are almost always methods to my madness(es). And as pertains this forum (and other teaching opportunities), those methods are often designed to
stimulate thinking
; often not getting to the point up front,
by design. In this particular case the reason I purposely posted only the (one) photo in that ad that exposes the broken rifle was to see the responses. They didn't disappoint.
The lessons?
1) ALWAYS expect the worst on FleaBay.
2) Or anywhere else you're considering buying anything used.
3) Lacking the opportunity to see, handle and/or SHOOT a used airgun in person, so having to rely totally on seller description and photos, BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS.
4) If the description and/or photos are vague, RUN AWAY!
5) In this case neither the description nor photos are vague, so the enticing price required CLOSE scrutiny (to avoid getting burned).
6) Key words 'CLOSE', and SCRUTINY"; as in ENLARGE (photos)
AND 3X magnification reading glasses.
7) ENLARGE is your freind.
8) If you don't know how to ENLARGE,
learn it dern it! 9) It ain't rocket science.
10) The adage
'experience is the best teacher' is wrong. BAD experience is a MUCH better teacher!
11) It might be a good idea to not always rely on
first-hand bad experience to learn hard and expensive lessons.
12) Such lessons are often free; often dispensed by those who've learned the hard way.
13) But sometimes require reading between the lines, and/or close scrutiny.
14) My lessons often require both.
15) How many would have jumped on that broken Sheridan soon as they saw the price, if not for this thread?
16) You're welcome.
Happy shooting, Y'all!
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