Classic firearms are they a good dealer to buy from?

Ok so I am new to collecting firearms, and I was looking around online for a good site to buy from and I found gunbroker and the mosin crate but I also found Classic firearms. And while I was looking for reviews on their m57s and cracked m39s I found reports of them allegedly taking down negative reviews on their products. But I've also heard great things about their products, so I figured that I'd come here and ask if anyone had bought from them before and could tell me what their experience was like.

I never bought but I get their videos emailed to me. They seem pretty straightforward and tell you up front that the stocks are sold with cracks although your specific one may not have a crack, things like that. I've heard both good and bad things about them just like every other seller. Right now they are cleaning up the Samco mess and a lot of those guns are in bad shape but a lot aren't either. They have had quite a few interesting items come up, the most interesting to me were Swiss revolvers that unfortunately were way out of my price range.

Bad reviews get posted all the time because irate people are more likely to post a review than someone who was perfectly happy so it can be tough to just go off of online reviews.

Biggest complaint I have is they have been way over priced on a lot of their stuff but their marketing gets it to move. The majority of those oddball milsurps they had came from one source and the markup was absurd. They do a very good job with marketing videos that carefully sprinkle in hyperbole (sometimes true, sometimes not ie "last we'll ever see", "Best yet", etc) to get people excited for a product and thus to pay more for it than current going rate.

The one thing they did though recently that was shady was the recent batch of K98k Mausers they had that were of very dubious provenance. There were discussions about those guns elsewhere at multiple places that (correctly, imo) concluded they were humped, which was enough to make me seriously consider not doing business with them.

I'd look around on the M57 Toks, multiple places have them. J&G Sales may have a few, shipping cost is the question with them. Best price I found was Copes Distributing has some as well with no upcharge for a crest. That said I kind of doubt you'd run into many issues with Classic on that particular gun.

M57's have been giving a lot of people fits lately. The big issue is the aftermarket safety. The ones they are putting on now are said to be complete junk. My advice on the M57 is to steer clear of the distributers completely and look after market for one of the older ones. Might cost a bit more but I have no issues with the safety on mine. It was put on by the Yugoslavs prior to importation. Most today are being put on by the importers and they don't have a good rep for machining, etc.

Concur with Aragorn243 assessment of the safeties (I pulled mine off since it's a range only weapon). My M57 came from Classic and was definitely on the lower end of the description wise but shoots well, but at the lower price they are asking now if you just want a shooter.

All very good and accurate points. My experience with them it is a pig in a poke and usually an expensive one. I probably will not do biz again under the current conditions.

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Originally Posted by gtodan

All very good and accurate points. My experience with them it is a pig in a poke and usually an expensive one. I probably will not do biz again under the current conditions.

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So you have bought from them before?

Yes I have.....

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Originally Posted by lyon13

So you have bought from them before?

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Was the only problem their cost because I have heard stuff like guys getting the hand select and their gun looks like it was stored underwater?

I've bought 3.

M57 Tokarev. Lots of wear, but functional.

FEG Hi Power: Hand Select, some "holster rash" but otherwise a decent used weapon.

Bulgarian Makrov: Looks like new.