When I was a youngster, one of my favorite pastimes was to go with my parents to the Western Auto or the Army-Navy Store in our hometown.

In those days, we didn't have specialty outdoor stores or gun shops that could outfit you in a swipe of the credit card. We had these two unique stores that filled the void for the hunter and angler.

The guys in the Army-Navy Store were the old horse traders. They would take sporting arms in trade and always had a nice rack of deer rifles and small game shotguns available.

I can still remember my parents taking me and my brother into the store to pick out deer rifles and how particular my father was when he inspected them. Terms like "gently used," "not shot out" and "broken in" were thrown around liberally.

We ended up with a .30-06 and .308 bolt-action rifles as our first choices. My choice would have been the slide-action rifles, but my dad thought they would waste too much ammunition. He wanted us to become marksmen and to make the first shot count, which was tood advice.

Now it's hard to find a gently used sporting arm at a reasonable price, but I still visit gun shops and shows.

My general rule is that I look for the best available sporting arm with these criteria: It must be mechanically sound, it must be pleasing to the eye and it must be reasonably priced.

The caliber of the rifle can make or break a deal. If I have several .30-06 rifles, I might be looking for a .270 or a .223 caliber to widen my hunting opportunities. In some cases, guys just choose what they like to shoot or collect.

Knowing some obvious things to look for in a rifle will help you make a wise choice.

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Know the price range you are willing to spend and stay in that zone. If the rifle is a bit more, ask for a better price — the worst thing that can happen is the seller says no.•

Check the rifle bore for wear and tear. There should be crisp grooving and no pits, rust or fouling. Watch the area in and around the muzzle for wear and touch up.•

The action should be crisp with no play or clunky difficulty in operating it. If it's a struggle in the shop, what will it do in adverse hunting conditions?•

Make sure the safety works. I pull the trigger (with the muzzle in a safe direction) and see if it fires on safe. I also push the safety off to see if it fires by itself when the fire position is engaged. A friend had a rifle that would fire automatically when the safety was released.• The trigger creep is something I like to check because it's often modified by unqualified do-it-yourselfers. Sometimes it can be a bonus and other times it can be downright dangerous. A qualified gunsmith can check the pull weight on your trigger and make any necessary adjustments.•

The more original the condition of the sporting arm is, the better I like it. Beware of modifications, drill holes for mounting scopes and nonoriginal sights. Mounting scopes can improve or detract from the rifle.Junk is junk and will not add to the value of a rifle. Some dealers add a low quality scope and add premium prices for a scoped rifle. If you tell them to take it off, the price will not drop significantly. Private owners might have a great scope deal and you need to recognize that some scopes can command big bucks.•

Last, but not least, check the rifle's stock. Is it cracked, gouged, worn or drilled? Refinished wood or an added recoil pad can lower the value. A rifle that shows some honest wear on the finish and metal bluing is character and expected.