Depredations or things people do to firearms

[Frank46]

Lemme see where do we start. Glueing in the screws on tunnel mounts on a marlin 30-30. Even the set screw on the extended hammer gizmo. There was this winchester at the show saturday that caught my eye. Beautiful shilen bbl chambered for a 7mm whatchamacallit. only thing is the previous owner really didn't take care of it. Rust in abundance all over the action, under the scope bases, along both sides of the action. And get this, 6 digit serial number in the low 200,000's. Looked to be a pre 64 winchester action to me. I would have hated to pull the action from its plastic stock and see how bad the demonrust has had its way with the rest of the action. When I mean rust I mean rust. The kind that looks like the hull of a ship stuck on the beach waiting for the torch. Bolt was all rusty and so was the extractor. Guess some fool hadmore time than money or cleaning supplies on his hands. What a sorry sight. Restoration of the action will take some serious work. Frank

[madcaster]

JBWeld I think it's called,to put a scope on a rifle,just glad it wasn't an expensive rifle in the first place!All of this person's guns are like that.

[redneckdan]

heck I woulda offered him 50 bucks for and see what happens.

[Molly]

Lemme see where do we start. Glueing in the screws on tunnel mounts on a marlin 30-30. Even the set screw on the extended hammer gizmo.

You think that's bad? I once held a prewar M70 in factory new condition, SN 0000069 if I remember correctly. (Not sure about the number of 0's) It was UNFIRED!!! A guy brought it into the shop to be drilled and tapped for a scope.

I asked him were he got it, and it turned out that his Grandpa had purchased it something like 25 or 30 years before, got it home and promptly died of a heart attack just after he walked in the door! Well, grandma kept the rifle for him, and he'd just developed an interest in hunting, and wanted the latest scope on Grandpa's rifle.

I explained the value of the gun to him, and offered to trade him any gun in the store - with a scope - for it, but he was adamant. Well, I guess he had the right to do what he wanted with it, but he sure got mad at me when I told him that I wouldn't do the job: I couldn't see charging him to cut the value of his gun by about 70%. Never saw him again.

Had another similar experience once too: Was visiting another gunshop, and was BSing with the owner when an old fellow walked in with a really nice Stevens Walnut Hill (in about 85-90% condition), and asked what it was worth. Well, the owner did an honest job of explaining how guns are valued according to age, condition, etc, and told him what he thought the gun was worth.

The old fellow reflected on the condition aspect, and asked if it wouldn't be worth more if it were re-blued. Instant Panic! We explained how reblueing would destroy the collector value and he seemed to listen. As luck would have it, I was in the same place a few weeks later when the old fellow came back in with it, pleased as punch. 'NOW what do you think it's worth?" he asked, as he pulled the beautifully reblued rifle out of the case.

The store owner just deadpanned and told him it was worth about $75. (This was quite a while ago.) The old gent almost went into shock! "Why, I paid more than that to have it reblued!" he shouted. We said yes, and he got his money's worth too; it was as nice a piece of work as we'd seen in quite a while. But it was no longer a collectors piece. It was now just another single shot 22, though a very nice one.

I was in another store once at closing time, when a fellow walked in with a rifle case and asked if they bought guns. The guy said yes, but they were closing, and he'd have to come back tomorrow. We left together, and out of curiousity, I asked him what he was trying to sell. WE walked over to the parking lot, and he pulled the nicest little M92 Win in 32-20 out of the case. My eyes lit up and I asked him what he wanted for it.

He admitted he didn't know what it was worth, but his wife didn't want it around the house any more and he had to get rid of it. He asked me what I thought would be a fair price.

I told him (honestly) that I really didn't know how much it was worth, but that I'd sure like to buy it off of him. He asked what I'd pay. I told him that I couldn't afford it, because that was all I had on me was $50 or $75. He thought for a moment and offered it to me for that! I didn't know what it WAS worth, but it took me about two tenths of a second to rationalize that I'd already told him it was worth more than I had with me and my wallet smoked coming out of my overalls!

Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Occasionally, if you can head them off at the pass, you can save a fine gun from the Bubbas of the world. A friend of mine, excellent shot, and ham handed gun nut, got hold of a genuine NRA Sporter Springfield, not a sporterized Springfield. He told me he planned ot mount a scope on it. I PROMISED him that if he did I would kill him slowly, but that I would buy it after the three to six months it took him to get tired of any rifle. I gave him a Ruger #1 that several gunsmiths had cooperated in ruining, with Weaver K4 TV scope, and forgave him a substantial debt that I was never going to collect anyway. In the ten years I have had the Springfield it has fired 4235 cast boolits and probably its last 40 jacketed bullets. It has won a few postal matches and several first places at the Nevada Cast Bullet Shoots. Accuracy is still all you would expect from a star gauged Springfield, but it was a near-run thing. My favorite rifle could have been turned into just another rifle if I hadn't rescued it from the tender mercies of Bubba.

[Bigjohn]

BUDDA'S; 'Heavens knows where they may lurk!'

I recently went to my local Dealers Shop and while checking out the rack I noticed three new familar shapes in the rack. Lithgow's No.1 MkIII*, all complete and in very good condition externally.

Upon checking them over closely; two had original mil. spec barrels and the third an target weight barrel; all three have sometime in the past been fired with Military ammo corrosive primed and not cleaned. All the barrel were useless for shooting totally.

Over the many years I have been involved with the shooting sports, I have seen so many excellent examples of BUDDAH at work.

John.

[floodgate]

We dropped in on "FatBoy's" shop in Landscatter, CA one afternoon back in the '60's, and he was still mumbling to himself and shaking his head. Seems someone had come in that morning with a SAA Colt and asked if he could re-crown the muzzle. Said it had had a great, long barrel on it (held his hands about 16" apart) and wouldn't fit the holster he'd got for it, so he sawed it off. Fat's had the dubious pleasure of telling him he'd sawed off about $5,000 worth of iron, and threw him out the door.

floodgate

[onceabull]

NvCurmudgeon: Bill, in addition to all the fun you've already had with that NRA Sporter, should you ever choose to, You can buy 3 NIB #1's to start over with (and have change left )from what it will bring you.!! :mrgreen: Onceabull

[NVcurmudgeon]

NvCurmudgeon: Bill, in addition to all the fun you've already had with that NRA Sporter, should you ever choose to, You can buy 3 NIB #1's to start over with (and have change left )from what it will bring you.!! :mrgreen: Onceabull


I know, Bill, but if the choice is a legend aganst three merely nice guns, I have chosen. Had a nice couple of days with your BIL, Sis, and Mother this week. Also picked up my Krag stock, which Mac had done his usual masterful job on. Bill

[versifier]

The best (worst) one that I have seen happened many years ago when I was a working electrician. One of the journeymen on the crew asked to take home the 1/2" EMT conduit bender for the weekend. I told him no problem and asked what he was wiring up. He said he had an old military rifle that he couldn't adjust the sights on and he wanted to BEND THE BARREL to move the POI. It was a WWI vintage Oberndorf Mauser in as good a condition as you can find a rifle that had been through two wars. I talked him into trading it for an Argentine 7x57 with a scope on it. Then, like an idiot, I sold it to an acquaintance who it seemed to me would appreciate it and take good care of it. It came back to me a year later with a broken stock and 6" chopped off the barrel. Seems he didn't have time to finish his "project" and gave me what was left "for parts". ARRRRRRGH!!!!!!! [smilie=b: [smilie=b: [smilie=b:

No longer worth anything as a collectable, I was determined that the old girl would live again. I trued and recrowned the barrel, sweated off the rear sight, then polished it up and had it reblued. I d&t'ed & mounted a Weaver base where the rear sight had been, put it in a new B&C stock, mounted an Aimpoint on it, and had myself a scout rifle. We have become good friends in the years since. (The rifle & I, not the Bubba.) This one will stay in the family.