Does this gun look expensive?

Prices on military surplus firearms on our web site are usually higher than the ones advertised by major online sellers. For example, we sell P64s for $220, whereas sites like JGSales.com have it for $200.

Why is that?

When buying firearms on the Internet, please remember that in addition to the price of the firearm itself, there are significant additional costs that you have to pay before you actually get it.

First, the condition of military surplus firearms vary dramatically. Importers assign a grade based on external condition of the firearm - poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent. The sellers then pick out the top 20% of the firearms within the grade and charge a "hand select fee" for them, which varies from $10 to $20. Paying this fee is highly advisable, because if you don't, you are sure to get a firearm from the bottom 80% of the grade range.

When we acquire firearms for sale through Precise Shooter, we ALWAYS pay hand select fee if this option is available.

Second, and the most obvious, is the shipping charge. Handguns in particular have to ship via express mail, which usually means $30-$40 in shipping charges (J&G has the lowest price for handgun shipping at $22). When a handgun is transferred between FFLs (never between an FFL and a private person), Priority Mail may be a cheaper option, but quite often online seller contracts with major shipping companies such as UPS or FedEx prohibit them from shipping via any other carrier.

Rifles are bulky and therefore are also expensive to ship - the cheapest rates start at $15, and majority of shipping prices are between $20 and $30.

Finally, unless you have C&R license and are ordering a C&R firearm, there also is the FFL transfer cost. We charge $30 per firearm for transfer, but majority of local dealers are far more expensive - usually, $40-$50 per firearm, and usually more for handguns.

Also note that all FFL dealers in WA state are required to collect taxes on interstate firearms transfers. Whether you are buying from us or on the Internet, you will have to pay the tax. There is no way to save on that.

Let's go through a few examples.

We sell CZ-82 for $265. This is exactly the same configuration that AIM Surplus sells, and, in fact, this is where we sourced these pistols.

AIM surplus costs:

• The pistol, $220
• Hand-select fee, $10
• Shipping to FFL01 via priority mail, $20
• ...or shipping to FFL03 (C&R licensee) via 2-day UPS, $45
• FFL transfeer fee (Precise Shooter), $25

Total with C&R: $275 (*)

Total with FFL transfer through Precise Shooter: $275+tax

J&G Sales costs:

• The pistol, $220 (note: very good condition, one mag)
• Hand-select fee, $20
• Shipping via 2-day UPS, $22
• FFL transfeer fee (Precise Shooter), $25

Total with C&R: $262 (*)

Total with FFL transfer through Precise Shooter: $287+tax

(*) WA state law requires the payment of use tax on Internet purchases even when the seller does not collect the tax. See here: http://dor.wa.gov/content/FindTaxesAndRates/UseTax/

So what looks like a $200 handgun on the web site really costs almost $300 to buy :-(.

The calculus is the same with more or less anything surplus - P64s, Mosin Nagants, T53s, etc.

So at this point you might be asking yourself - how exactly does Precise Shooter make money?

The answer is - mostly on shipping :-). We combine shipping on rather large number of firearms, so our gross profit is basically the difference of shipping costs plus the price of FFL transfer.

Occasionally some of our sources run sales, and then we are able to buy product for somewhat less than the normal going rates (although the margins on the firearms are thin and so the sales are never really huge; but some times we can get 10% off).

With the prices being close, why would you buy from us? The best reason that we can think of - you see what you get before you hand over the money. With us, the firearm is local, and you get to inspect it before the commitment is made. In many cases you get to pick from multiple hand selected items, getting a second level of hand selection for free :-).

It might not be a huge deal with new firearms, but looking through the bore of a military surplus weapon with perfect external appearance can often make a huge difference. We have seen many a rifle that came with hand select option, was fantastic on the outside, and had a sewer pipe for its bore. Remember, the condition grading applies to the exterior only - even with the hand select option neither the importers nor the Internet sellers inspect the bores - they often come full of cosmoline. We, on the other hand, do.