A close friend had one and it was a great lathe!Seems i may need to hold off for something better at this point thanks guys!
At my age a D1-6 chuck is more than I want to deal with weight wise.Since this will be your first machine, and unless you're in a hurry for some reason I'd keep looking and be patient.
If you don't currently own any machine tools, the cost of tooling-up will make your eyes bug-out if the lathe doesn't come with it. A 3-jaw chuck is about useless for rifle/barrel work (assuming this is what your intended use is?), so you need everything. Thousands of $$ even if buying used.
For barrel work you need to consider how you plan to do it- you need a short headstock if working through it, or a workaround plan such as the TBAS if the spindle is too long. Swing is irrelevant, but spindle length and bore, and distance between centers need to be considered depending on your work.
Ain’t that the truth had a 15” colchester with a 10” buck 6 jaw it was a hump Heck even the 81/4” that I have now is a little strain to get on and offAt my age a D1-6 chuck is more than I want to deal with weight wise.
Been here, done it and received itAnother point, if in it's former life, it spent time in a school, run, don't walk.
Unfortunately you can't watch all of them all of the time. Had a student, actually an ME, on a lathe, 3/4" round aluminum bar stock sticking out about 20", 450 rpm, he was going to turn down the end for threads. NO CENTER. The noise was deafening. Needed to go to the wall and pull the switch. Had another student on a Bridgeport come to me and say "Mr. D, the mill's getting ready to fall over. He needed a chair to tighten the drawbar and had the chair under the table while he lowered it. Another hundred thousandths on the handle and it would have been on the floor. This Was a kid. School machines take a beating.Been here, done it and received itGosh kids can be REALLY hard on stuff!