Originally Posted by
LAGS
Nobody ever wants to listen to the Back Story about how things came to be.
I once picked up an old Mauser that had literally been run over by a truck.
The barrel was bent, the sights were damaged, the stock was Cracked in two, and the trigger guard was smashed.
It had been sitting in a barn for 30 years and was heavily rusted.
I tore it down and installed a Take off barrel from an old JC Higgens 30-06 , and made a new sporter stock, polished and blued the metal.
I was able to straighten the trigger guard, and get the rifle working again.
But all I got in response was, "You Ruined History."
You should have left it the way you found it, it might have been a collectors piece.
(The Rifle was run over on a Farm here in the U.S not in some Battle in WW2)
People would say,
If you had the skills to make the rifle shoot again, you should have restored it back to The Original Condition, No Matter what the cost.
But If it was restored to the Original Condition, then There is NO history, and No Value, no Matching part numbers.
It is then a part gun that is worth $100.
But as a Sporter, it ended up making a good inexpensive First Rifle for a mans oldest son, and probably got passed down to the other sons.
The History was Ruined when someone accidently ran it over with a truck.
But now the rifle at least has a chance to make a new Memories, and once again, be used as a Tool that is Functional.