OT Stupid question, but...

[Otto]

... is there any way to tell, by looking at a photograph, whether a pistol has a parkerized steel frame, or an anodized aluminum frame? Sellers never specify, and if you send them a question they rarely answer. Even if they do, I don't trust them when they list features in the description that are clearly not present in the photos.

I honestly don't know how some of these guns ever get sold, but then again I know of a couple which have been listed for four years or longer.

[bj94]

I would think twice about buying from someone that wouldn't answer my email.

[Otto]

I would think twice about buying from someone that wouldn't answer my email.

I agree, but like I said, even if they do answer, I'm not confident in the accuracy of the information they provide.

[Kansas Ed]

Not an answer to your direct question, but a comment on your most common situation. As internet buyers, or gun buyers in general, we trade off a guarantee for price. The assumption being (often a false assumption too), that a new gun if not on the up and up will be made so by the manufacturer. We give up that security when we buy second hand. I always try and remember that a second hand gun most of the time has been rejected by it's previous owner for one reason or another. I take the chance that the reason a gun was rejected prior is due to reasons other than malfunction/or unknown to me negative conditions. In doing so, I make the assumption that the previous owner will most of the time be honest and up front. Unless a person is willing to accept the general honesty of most sellers, then the only other option is limit yourself to "new".

Ed