Seriously, unless he lives in Lubbock and you live in Pt Arthur, why not meet somewhere in the middle and do it FTF? If he's got cash for a Money Order, he's got cash to buy YOUR gun....I hope the buyer is an honest fella but this 2-3wk verification smells like Jersey City Hooker to me...
Just for the record, cashier's checks and money orders issued by stop-n-robs are the biggest scams around today. They are just too easy to fake with a decent color laser printer. You deposit the cashier's check (they're good as cash, right?), ship the gun, and 2 weeks later your bank calls you and says the cashier's check is a forgery or drawn on a non-existent bank or financial service company. My own business had a check we sent as payment go missing, and a few months later we started getting checks for anywhere from $500 to $30,000 coming in from all over the world. Our bank thought they looked suspicious because they were cashed by businesses overseas and we usually don't do any business with any overseas companies. Turns out someone stole that missing check, scanned it into a computer, and started turning out duplicate checks with all kinds of payees on them. We had to close our checking account and open another.
Point is, it's very easy today to fake financial instruments. Accept ONLY USPS money orders which any PO can verify for you, or your bank can call and verify them before they cash it. At one time you could call the USPS money order verification line at 866-459-7822 to be sure it was good. I'm not sure if this number is still good as I haven't used it in a while.
USPS Money orders can be fraudulent as well. If you are presenting a MO or CC at the bank where it is issued they can tell you right away if it is legit. IE I send you a money order from Bank of America, you then take the money order to them... they will cash it for you, provided you have the proper identification. I'm sorry boys, for banking purposes a CHL is NOT an ID. (I don't want to start an argument about it, it is what it is!) If you are depositing a MO or CC from a bank other than the one where you're depositing it they will treat it as a personal check. Another option is a wire but keep in mind that a wire may be recalled by sender. You could ask that they send it Western Union. And yes... USPS MOs can be verified at the Post Office as well.
One more thing... ALL Money Orders, no matter who their from MUST be 1K or less. Therefore if you receive a MO and it's for more than 1K you know it's fraud.