holy smokes. I wonder how many federal crimes that is all rolled into one? I hope this gets resolved for you quickly without any more hardship on you.
Iâm just hoping whoever has it doesnât try to hide it. Thinking that could get really messy.
if he took possession of a firearm under false pretenses and the USPS deliverer can ID the person, I would think that would give them probable cause to search for it.
FFL managed to retrieve it unopened. Somehow.
Glad it turned out to be a not worst case scenario.
AaaaaaannnndddddâŚafter all that, I walk into the FFL and the guy sent me the wrong gun. The auction I won was for a 6" stainless Python, he sent me a 4.25".
After talking to him on the phone he realized his mistake, was very apologetic and offered to pay for return shipping and give me my money back since he didnât have another 6" to replace it with (he had one, but had already sold it, he listed it twice by mistake instead of listing the 4.25",) but in the interest of not being a complete pain in the â for everyone involved, I finalized the paperwork and decided to keep the 4.25" since the I still got a smoking deal for it at $900 and itâs probably worth $1250 easy.
new itâs a $1500 gun. Personally, I like the 4.25 better but for hunting you would want the 6". Either way, sweet gun. 
I like my revolvers with long barrels for the feel, look, and longer sight radius, but yeah, this thing is really sweet. Honestly Iâll probably end up keeping it, I very rarely trade or get rid of guns. Itâs used, but you can tell it doesnât have many rounds through it.
What a day, though.
Well⌠give it a good cleaning and buff it up nice and pretty and you will feel muuuuuch better! 
In the past before Colt started making the Python again the 4" barrel was selling for more than the 6" barrel. There were less 4" barrel ones sold so therefore they commanded a higher price. The Anaconda was the same way.
Interesting. My old man had an 80s Python back in the day, one of the blued ones, amusingly he really didnât like it much, but I loved it. He sold it years ago, before the values really skyrocketed. Iâd been wanting one forever, but the values kept rising and rising to what I considered prohibitively expensive, especially for something that would likely be a safe queen/collection piece.
When Colt reintroduced them in 2020 I figured market saturation of the new guns would drive down the value of the older ones and I could scoop one up. I browsed a ton. Didnât happen.
I came around to liking the newer ones equally given how they simplified the design a bit and the fact theyâre stronger overall and feel equally smooth (some will argue this, but I honestly canât tell the difference in the action or the trigger.) Still wasnât quite enthused about $1500, and nice examples for older ones were $2500 and up.
When I ran across one for $900 on GunBroker I figured it had toâve been scam. Ended up exchanging E-mails with the seller basically asking whatâs up, he was willing to actually call and talk, he said he ran into some financial troubles and was liquidating his entire gun collection. His auctions lined up with the story, he said he was willing to exchange payment through GunTab which gave me some security on my end, so I went ahead and bought it.
A new Anaconda will be next, in the 8" variety.
1911, maybe you should start a wheelgun thread and we can move the discussion over there.
We have several ffl that operate out of homes here.
I thought we had one somewhere.
Iâll look more thoroughly later.
The sender, not your FFL, has to get involved. It is still theirs until you take posession.
I donât think thatâs true at all, especially it being a firearm.
It was no fault of the sender or the FFL, it was on USPS for delivering to the wrong address and taking an invalid signature without checking ID. Thereâs nothing the sender couldâve done to alleviate it, but the FFL as the receiving party with the proper tracking and serial # would have a much easier time trying to retrieve the piece with the help of local authorities than the shipper would. Iâm not sure if thereâs anything the shipper couldâve done at all outside of made an insurance claim, but that still doesnât resolve the issue of the potentially lost firearm.
Packages (and traces) can start with the end user, but to file a claim or do other official stuff the sender has to do it. PSA has to start traces often, and until the ffl paperwork goes through, the gun is technically still theirs. Thats why if you order and then refuse there is no paperwork on your end. The gun isnt officially transfered (even though you paid) until your ffl receives it and paperwork is done. The way the usps, fedex, and ups work the item is owned by the person who last possessed it. As the reciever, you dont fall into that category.
@GamecockOperator worked for UPS and might can explain better if what i wrote doesnt make sense.
Iâve also worked for UPS in the past. I know how it works.
Sure, technically, the firearm is still his until the paperwork on my end is completed, but again, that has nothing to do with alleviating the issue of it being lost. You lose a Blu Ray, whatever, sender files a claim and itâs done, nobody really cares where the package ends up. This was much different and thatâs not on him, he had the FFLâs address right and did everything correctly. He took the gun to his own FFL, filled out transfer paperwork, and they shipped it. What exactly, outside of making an insurance claim, could he have done that the receiving FFL couldnât have done easier? If anything the shipping FFL wouldâve been the one attempting to resolve it, not the seller.
Sure, it isnât legally on me or my FFL to find the gun, but it legally isnât on the shipper either once heâs handed it to his FFL, filled out transfer paperwork, and they shipped it. The legal obligation is on USPS at that point, mostly in taking an invalid signature from someone who had no business signing for said package. Legally itâs on them at that pointâŚbut it was sure easier for me and my FFL (who is very familiar with and constantly in contact with local law enforcement) to get it resolved quickly rather than someone who is hundreds of miles away with no idea whatâs going on.
If the receiving FFL and local law couldnât locate the gun, then yeah, sender starts the process of an insurance claim and informing his local department of what happened.
You explained it better than i did and we are on the same page with the process. Im a little suprised he shipped USPS and not ups or fedex.