Is this legal?  Yes it is.  If you can legally own a firearm, you can buy or sell on ShootersXchange.com.   See Laws You Must Buy By for more detail.

But how do I know the other person is who they say they are?  ShootersXchange.com has taken this to task with ShootersVerified™.  We have positively verified phone numbers and addresses of everyone confirmed as a ShootersVerified™ buyer or seller.  Many sellers won't even take inquiries from non-verified buyers.  Why is this so powerful?  Click here to learn more.

Start the very easy process of getting verified, then go shopping.  Finding what you are looking for is easy on :

1. Find what you are looking for with the Search Engine. (click here for a quick overview).
2. Contact the seller via the "Contact Seller" button.  Type in your contact information including your email address, and your questions and click the submit button.  Some sellers require you to be ShootersVerified™ before they will accept inquiries from you.
3. The seller will answer your questions about availability, sales terms, condition etc, and you can make your decision regarding the purchase of the firearm.
4. Be sure to find a FFL holding transfer agent prior to commiting to a purchase.  Find and contact a FFL holding transfer agent through the FFL transfer agent links below.
5. Make payment and delivery arrangements with the seller.  Be sure the shipment is insured.
6. The dealer will ship the firearm or other item to your FFL holder or to you, as appropriate by law. If a firearm was purchased, sellers typically allow at least a three-day inspection period to begin when you receive the firearm.  Be sure to discuss the details with the seller;
7. Upon receipt, inspect your new purchase.
8. Now go have fun and be safe.

Searching - Finding the Firearm You Want...
You can browse our most popular categories from the links on the home page, or use the Shooters Search Engine to get more specific.

The Shooters Search Engine is a powerful search tool allowing you to specify search criteria such as Type (Rifle, Shotgun, etc.), Manufacturer, Model, Action-Type, key description words & phrases such as model number, caliber, barrel length, etc..  Shooters Search enables you to narrow the search to a very specific list of guns.  You typically don't need to make a choice in all the possible fields, but we do give you all of them to use as you wish.  Start a general search, then narrow it down as your needs dictate.  The more categories you choose, the narrower your search results will become.  We ask sellers to list these details which means a little more work for them, but much easier searching for you.  If it is listed, you can find it.  Start your search here.

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Determining Firearm Condition
If the Seller is being vague or doing a poor job of describing the condition of the firearm to you, or you don't really understand what they are saying, you are likely setting yourself up for disappointment upon receipt of your new purchase.  Lack of understanding the condition of what one is buying is the biggest reason for dissatisfaction, by far, of any purchase made through a listing if any kind, when one hasn't seen the item first hand.  Our goal here, is to virtually eliminate that possibility from the outcome.  If you are already a seasoned expert at this, that's great but keep reading.  If not, do just a little homework and you will be much happier in the long run, (and it's easier than you think).

Even though some equate it to a dark, secretive process only accomplished by those with years of experience, grading the condition of firearms isn't all that difficult with a little education and the right information.  There are different methodologies for grading and assessing firearms, but we think the best is the Percentage Grading System, with a little modification.

The Percentage Grading System applies a percentage grade to the gun based on how far it has degraded from brand new, in the box, fresh from the manufacturer condition.  There is an excellent explanation of this system on the Blue Book, Inc. website, along with some really good real-life examples, (we'll give you the link below, but finish reading this first).  As long as that link is available, we won't duplicate it here.

The modification to the Percentage Grading System we would suggest is, instead of applying a single percentage grade to the entire gun, we would break it down into parts.  Let's take for example, a Parker shotgun. You could have barrels with 95% original bluing and mirror bores, a stock with 75% original finish, good wood with a few very small dings on the forearm but a chipped butt plate, a very tight action with crisp engraving and clean screw heads but only 20% of the original case coloring left.  That tells me much more than just calling it a 80% gun, if it even qualifies for that overall.  What we are trying to do is get the same mental image of the firearm we would have if we were holding it in our hands.  By both Seller and Buyer using this method of firearm grading, combined with the high-resolution photo display capability available on ShootersXchange.com, (especially the huge 800 by 600 pixel size), we can almost put that gun right in your hands.

For the link to Blue Book, Inc.'s explanation of the percentage grading system, click here.
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FFL Transfer Agent
Locating a FFL Transfer Agent can be approached a couple of ways.  There are a several databases out there that have FFL holders who have signed up with one list or another.  We'll provide the links to two or three.  I'm sure you will ask "Aren't those your competitor's websites?"  Well, yes and no.  Yes they do have firearms for sale, but in a very different way than we do.  We've tried to buy firearms on auction format sites before and, while it works well for some things, it felt more like playing a game than a serious means of purchasing a gun.  I'm sure there are some of you that think it is big fun and that's fine.   We just don't share that view when it comes to serious firearms purchases, (and they are all serious to us).

We are working on putting most of the disparate lists together to make it convenient for everyone shopping on the internet.  In the meantime, start with the links below.  If you still have difficulty, please contact us using the appropriate email address on our Contact Us page and we'll do our best to get you someone close.

Search List #1   |   Search List #2   |   Search List #3

You can also approach your local gun shop about shipping or receiving a firearm for you.  Some will be very open to the idea, and some will not.  Some will view it as "aiding the competition", which could not be farther from the truth.  In actuality, we are helping the smaller and medium-sized gun shops (where they still know what they are talking about) become more competitive.

Check FFL #
Before you decide on a FFL holder to use, you should always check the validity of their FFL or Federal Firearms License.  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) provides a great link into their computer for this.  It only takes a few seconds to check.  Remember, YOU are responsible obeying the law and this means using a valid FFL holder to ship or receive your firearms when required by law.  Go to FFL EZ Check

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