New vs Used Guns: What to Check

The used market is invisible to price feeds — only 12 of the 62,309 firearms we track are flagged used or open-box. So the only honest test of a used price is the live new floor for the same class, and here it is.

AmmoSpotter Research Desk By AmmoSpotter Research Desk
Published 8 min read
New vs Used Guns: What to Check

Can you even look up what a used gun is worth?

Not from retail data, and this is the honest place to start.

Our catalog holds 62,309 live firearm listings from tracked retailers. Exactly 12 of them carry a used, pre-owned, refurbished or open-box flag — and every one of those 12 is open-box, not second-hand. Searching for factory blems or seconds among firearms returns zero. The twelve open-box listings run from $289.99 to $2,699.99 and are scattered across handguns, bolt rifles and shotguns with no pattern worth generalising from.

That is not a gap in our coverage. It is the structure of the market. Used guns move through local shop cases, private sales between individuals and auction sites — none of which publish the product feeds that price trackers consume. There is no national used-price tape, and a site that shows you one is estimating from sold listings or simply guessing. Our ranking methodology commits us to not doing that.

So the useful thing we can give you is the comparison the used price has to survive.

The only honest test: what does the same thing cost new?

Here is the live new-gun floor, lower quartile and median for every class a used buyer actually shops, straight out of the catalog today.

ClassListingsCheapest new25th percentileMedian
Single-shot shotgun171$104.99$165.99$209.99
Pump shotgun601$119.99$319.99$419.99
Semi-auto rifle464$99.99$359.99$729.99
Semi-auto handgun4,102$74.99$425.99$609.99
Revolver1,883$89.99$419.99$659.99
Bolt-action rifle6,156$122.99$629.99$999.99
Semi-auto shotgun1,314$164.99$729.99$1,046.99
19111,119$249.99$739.99$1,049.99
Lever-action rifle699$144.99$829.99$1,169.99
Modern sporting rifle1,500$189.99$769.99$1,191.99
Over/under shotgun729$349.00$729.99$2,025.99

Two warnings about reading that table, because both floors are traps.

The absolute cheapest "semi-auto handgun" in the catalog is not a pistol — it is a bare polymer frame, a serialised component you build on. The same is true of the cheapest rifle listings, which are stripped lowers. And several of the lowest rimfire entries in the rifle classes are youth single-shots, not grown-up guns. Floors tell you where a category starts; the 25th percentile is a much better description of what a usable new gun costs.

The second warning is that these are class floors, not model prices. If the used gun in front of you is a specific model, find that model new and compare directly. The class floor only tells you whether the whole category has moved under the price you are being asked to pay.

The classes where used almost never makes sense

For most of that table, used is a perfectly rational purchase. For two rows, the arithmetic has quietly stopped working.

New Single-Shot Shotguns, Cheapest First

Prices updated Oct 15, 2026
See all matching deals →

A new single-shot breaks the hundred-dollar mark and comes with a warranty. There is no realistic used discount on a gun like that which is worth inheriting an unknown history for — the entire purchase price is less than one decent optic, and a used example that needs a spring or an extractor has consumed its own saving.

The same logic applies at the bottom of the pump shelf, where a new defensive-length gun costs less than many people spend on the holster for their carry pistol. Above those two rows — bolt rifles, semi-auto shotguns, 1911s, over/unders — the new median is high enough that a used example at a genuine discount is often the smart buy.

Entry-tier new handguns sit in the middle of the argument, and this is the grid worth checking before you accept a used price on a defensive pistol:

Entry-Tier New 9mm Pistols

Prices updated Oct 15, 2026
See all Taurus →

What a used price has to beat besides the sticker

A used gun is a single unit, at a single price, with no history you can see. That costs you three things that have nothing to do with the gun's condition.

You lose the retailer comparison. On the new side, roughly one firearm listing in eight is stocked by more than one tracked retailer, and where it is, there is a measurable gap between the cheapest and dearest shop. A used gun has exactly one seller.

You lose the waiting lever, which on hardware is the bigger one. Around 40% of live firearm listings are priced above their own recorded low since we started tracking in February 2026, with a median gap of a few tens of dollars — money you can collect simply by watching the listing instead of buying today. The full breakdown of both levers is in what an FFL transfer actually costs, and the seasonal version of the question is in the best time of year to buy a gun. A used gun offers neither: it is priced once, by one person, and it is gone when someone buys it.

You lose the warranty and the return window. This is the part people discount to zero and shouldn't. A new gun that comes back wrong is the retailer's problem. A used gun that comes back wrong is yours.

None of that makes used wrong. It means the discount has to be real — large enough to pay for the warranty you gave up and the shopping you can no longer do — not just a round number below MSRP.

What to check on a used gun, in order

Confirm the gun is unloaded first, every time, including when the seller has just done it. Then work from the parts that cost the most to fix toward the parts that cost the least.

  1. The bore. Look through it at a light. You are checking for pitting, a frosted or washed-out appearance ahead of the chamber, and rifling that still has square edges. A worn throat on a rifle is the single most expensive thing you can inherit, and it is invisible from the outside.
  2. The muzzle and crown. Dings or uneven wear at the muzzle will hurt accuracy and are a machining job to correct.
  3. Lockup and play. On a revolver, check cylinder rotation, timing and end shake, and whether the chambers line up with the barrel when locked. On a semi-auto, check slide-to-frame fit and barrel lockup. On a bolt gun, check that the bolt closes cleanly with no grit and the lugs show even contact.
  4. Fit between barrel and receiver. Any looseness where the barrel meets the frame or receiver is a stop sign, not a negotiating point.
  5. Springs, pins and screw heads. Buggered screw slots and mismatched pins mean someone has been inside the gun. That is not automatically bad, but it tells you to ask who and why.
  6. Does the wear match the story? A gun described as lightly used with a worn muzzle crown, a shiny feed ramp and a polished holster line has been used more than lightly. Sellers are not always lying; they are often just repeating what they were told.
  7. Function, if you are allowed. Dry cycling, trigger reset and safety function at the counter catch a surprising amount.

A note on legality rather than condition: transfer requirements for used and private sales vary considerably by state and sometimes by locality, and they change. Check what applies where you live before you agree to anything, and if the gun is crossing a state line, read how to buy a gun online and have it transferred first.

The costs a used gun arrives without

Used guns rarely come complete. Budget for the things that were in the new box:

  • Magazines. A used pistol often arrives with one, where the new one shipped with two or three. Spares start under $10 on our shelf for common patterns, but proprietary or older-pattern magazines can cost a meaningful fraction of the gun. Check availability before you buy — see how many magazines you actually need.
  • Cleaning gear, and a thorough first clean. You do not know what the last owner stored it with or how long it sat.
  • Sights or optics, if the previous owner stripped them.

Budget the ammunition either way

Here is the cost that dwarfs the new-versus-used question entirely. The gun is a one-time payment. The cartridge is a subscription.

.22 LR Price Index

Live · Oct 15, 2026
Market floor / round
$0.058
Market average
$0.163
Lowest box price
$2.99
30-day trend
▼ 2.4%
Compare all .22 LR deals by cost per round →

Bulk .22 LR Value Packs

Prices updated Oct 15, 2026
See all matching deals →

A rimfire is the cheapest way to put real rounds through anything, by a wide margin over every centerfire cartridge we track — which is why a used centerfire bargain and a new rimfire trainer are not competing purchases, they are complementary ones. Our .22 LR load rankings and the full .22 LR catalog cover the options; why ammo prices move explains why this is the volatile line item and the gun is not.

Then be realistic about volume. How many rounds it takes to get genuinely competent is a bigger number than most new owners budget for, and it will cost more than the difference between any new and used example of the same gun.

So how should you decide?

  1. Price the new floor for the class, then the new price for the exact model. That is the number the used gun has to beat. The table above is the starting point; browse the full catalog for the cartridge side of the budget.
  2. Subtract what you are giving up — warranty, returns, the ability to shop retailers, the ability to wait for a drop. If the used discount does not cover that, it is not a discount.
  3. Inspect the bore before the finish. Cosmetics are the cheapest thing on a gun to fix and the most heavily discounted. Condition that is hidden is where the money is.
  4. Skip used entirely at the bottom of the market. Under about $200 new, the warranty is worth more than any plausible used saving.
  5. Put the effort into the cartridge. The purchase is decided once. The ammunition bill arrives for as long as you own the gun.

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AmmoSpotter earns a commission when you buy through links on this page. It never changes what you pay, and it never decides what we recommend — our picks are ranked on live cost-per-round data pulled from every retailer we track. Full disclosure.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you track used gun prices?+
No, and it is worth knowing why. Of 62,309 live firearm listings in our catalog, exactly 12 carry a used or open-box flag, and all 12 are open-box rather than second-hand. The used market runs through local shops, private sales and auction sites, none of which publish a product feed. Any site showing you a used price index is estimating.
Is buying a used gun actually cheaper?+
Sometimes, but the comparison most people make is the wrong one. A used price is only good if it beats the cheapest new example of the same class, and new floors are lower than people expect: single-shot shotguns start at $104.99 in our catalog, pump shotguns at $119.99, and an entry-tier new 9mm pistol runs from about $228. Check the new floor before you accept a used discount.
How much should a used gun be discounted from new?+
There is no published figure we can stand behind, and we will not invent one. The defensible way to set your number is to work out what you give up — the factory warranty, the retailer return window, an unknown round count and the option to wait for a price drop — and subtract that from the live new price for the same model or class.
What should I check first on a used gun?+
Make sure it is unloaded, then work from the bore outward: rifling and throat condition, the muzzle crown, bolt or slide lockup and play, barrel-to-frame fit, the condition of springs and screw heads, and whether the finish wear matches the seller's description of use. On anything you cannot disassemble at the counter, make the sale contingent on a gunsmith's inspection.
Is an open-box gun the same as a used gun?+
Usually not. Open-box generally means a returned or ex-display unit that was never meaningfully fired, and the factory warranty is often still intact. It is the one slightly-discounted category that does appear in retail feeds, though barely — 12 listings out of 62,309. Confirm the warranty status and return terms with the retailer in writing before you buy.
Does a used gun cost more to shoot?+
No. Ammunition does not care how old the gun is, and ammunition is where the money goes. The cartridge you choose matters far more to your annual cost than whether the gun was new, which is why picking a cheap-feeding chambering beats saving a hundred dollars on the purchase.
Topics .22 LR Budget Picks Handguns

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AmmoSpotter Research Desk

About the author

AmmoSpotter Research Desk

Price & Ballistics Research

The AmmoSpotter Research Desk analyzes live retail pricing across every ammunition, firearm and accessory listing we track. Recommendations here are ranked against real cost-per-round data pulled daily from the retailers we monitor - not against manufacturer marketing copy.

  • ✓Tracks 180,000+ live product listings across 6 retailer feeds
  • ✓Records price history on every listing, every day
  • ✓Cost-per-round methodology applied to all ammunition rankings
  • ✓No product is ranked without a verifiable in-stock retail price
  • ✓Affiliate relationships never influence rankings

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