First 81 and first purchase on Gunbroker.com

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Jetbeech
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Apr 04, 2013 5:43 pm
Location: Minnesota

First 81 and first purchase on Gunbroker.com

Post by Jetbeech »

Hello.

Great place here for the 8 and 81.

Well, I always wanted a Model 81 in .300 Savage to add to my collection. I wanted a "perfect" one. My uncle introduced me to to hunting and always took down deer in Northern Minnesota with his 300 "cannon," as he called it. As the youngest one of the group, I always drove the thickets while the more seasoned hunters posted, so I always carried an open-sight 30/30 or shotgun. Once a day they would let me rest and post. That's when I got to shoulder the "cannon." As a young teen it was quite impressive and kicked like mule. I always preferred it to the newer semi-auto Remingtons and other bolts I was offered to use.

After searching gun shops and shows for a couple of years I thought that I had finally found one. On Gunbroker.com I found an unmolested "like new" 81 in .300. The steep $1000 price seemed worth it for a "new" 1939 gun. The pictures were a bit fuzzy. I confirmed with the seller that the wood did have some dings. It was original with no extra tapped holes and ramp sites. The wood was original and not refinished. He said the metal was "like" new and the previous owner had only maybe shot one box through it. Well..........that was not quite correct. The gun has 5 scratches and dings through the blue with shiny bare metal coming through. In addition, on every 3rd or 4th round there is an ejection failure and the gun jams. After further inspection, it looks like from the scratches on the body and other mechanisms that this problem has happened many times before.

This group has been invaluable in helping me clean, disassemble, and troubleshoot the gun. Thank you.

I have thoroughly cleaned the gun. It was extremely gummed up and dirty inside. It is still having the ejection problem. I will seek a gunsmith next.

Buyers beware on Gunbroker.com. They say that fraud is covered. Here is the fine print:

"While fraud is virtually non-existent at GunBroker.com, our Buyer's Protection Program gives you as the bidder the peace of mind to bid and buy with confidence. Our Buyer's Protection covers two specific forms of fraud:

1) You pay for an item and never receive it, or
2) The item you receive is materially different that its description, such as winning a stainless steel pistol and receiving a blued one instead."

Hopefully, someone can learn from my lack of diligence and mistakes.

Thanks again for a great resource.
DWalt
Posts: 513
Joined: Sun Dec 05, 2010 1:18 pm
Location: San Antonio & Brackettville TX

Re: First 81 and first purchase on Gunbroker.com

Post by DWalt »

Regarding ejection problems, that happened to me on my first M81 in .300. I installed a new ejector plunger and spring. Not a terribly difficult job, but it will be a little challenging the first time. You do have to cut the spring a little bit at a time to get the length right, as the new spring will be long. Spring and plunger are available from Numrich-Gun Parts Corp. See: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2407

Sorrry about your purchase problems. For that price it should have been essentially a new and in-the-box gun.

By the way, you can form .300 Savage brass easily from .308/7.62 NATO brass. Do not use Federal cases if you do this, but Remington or GI brass will be fine.
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imfuncity
Posts: 1208
Joined: Tue Oct 13, 2009 2:44 am
Location: 2hrs N of Sac., Tehama Co. CA

Re: First 81 and first purchase on Gunbroker.com

Post by imfuncity »

Welcome, also sorry for the GB issues - been hearing more and more of that of late. Hopefully you'll us a bit more accurate in our descriptions and details regarding your questions. :D

Your ejection issue is something that has been discussed several times, it's not real common but it does happen. Seems from what you've said that you are handy around guns, likely you will find the issue with the help of the guys, as they come along like DWalt did.

I have no issues with good gunsmiths, got at least a couple here on the forum, but believe we would all caution you that many of us have found that most gunsmith do not have a clue with these - thus there is a lot of self help here.

Go ahead and enjoy it.
Though defensive violence will always be “a sad necessity” in the eyes of men of principle, it would be still more unfortunate if wrongdoers should dominate just men. - St. Augustine
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81police
Posts: 2613
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 12:12 pm
Location: TEXAS

Re: First 81 and first purchase on Gunbroker.com

Post by 81police »

Hey Jetbeech, welcome aboard. Sorry to hear about your gunbroker experience, these things can happen for sure. I've taken a risk before on buying a rifle (a BAR) whose pictures were not very good, I was fortunate and got a gun better than described but it could have easily gone the other way. Hope you get your ejection issues resolved.
Cam Woodall
Site Co-Administrator
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