Hanging is too good for some folk.

[JeffinNZ]

Team.

Went to the clubs annual auction on Saturday. I am getting really fed up with seeing how some people bugger completely some nice guns.

M95 on the table in lovely condition. Woodwork very good. Metal work equal. Lovely piece. Bore looked like a dry river bed on a dark night.

Have these morons never heard of corrosive ammo. :(

M44 in the same condition.

SORRY. Just had to vent. :Fire::Fire::Fire:

[jack19512]

I am getting really fed up with seeing how some people bugger completely some nice guns.






So, what exactly do you plan on doing about it?

[10-x]

How about putting their fingers on a vice and beating them with a hammer?;);)

[rvpilot76]

How about putting their fingers on a vice and beating them with a hammer?;);)

Oooooh, that's dark! Almost as bad as "hobble" from Stephen King's "Misery"

Kevin

[JeffinNZ]

What I probably also should have said is that these rifles are available in NOWHERE near the numbers you guys in the US have. Such is my frustration.

[EMC45]

Saw an Enfield at a pawnshop a couple years back and Asked to see it. It looked absolutely new all over! Wood, metal, stampings and markings! Everything! I opened the bolt and looked down the bore and it was an absolute sewer pipe!!!:( I asked where did the gun come from and was told it came from a very knowledgeable gun collector's collection. Not too knowledgeable! Looks to be shot with a bunch of corrosive and not cleaned!:roll:

[PAT303]

Jeff we had a bloke from my old club who's father had one of the Lee Enfields that was used when the Queen visited Australia and his son cut it up into a sporter.I rifle worth $$$$ made into junk.The same son then carried on like a bigger fool when his dad passed his rifles to collectors.It is also common to see angle iron WELDED to recievers of odd,very collectable rifles because they don't make mounts for them.Silly thing is they could sell them and buy a good factory rifle and have money left over. Pat

[Bigjohn]

There currently seems to be a rash of these events, I have a No. 1 Mk III* Lithgow, all matching numbers, sewer pipe bore.

AND, it was one of several which came in at the same time.

Their out there somewhere...............BUBBAH's! :roll:

John.

[Boz330]

I understand some of your frustration but a lot of these guns were probably sporterized back when they were really cheap and factory guns were real expensive. I remember 3 surplus guns for $39 back when I was a kid, mail order at that. When a good paycheck was $65 a week and a Remington 700 was a $100. The NRA even had a gunsmith manual out that told you how to sporterize these guns. There are no less surplus guns out there now but the collectors have hoarded them. I bought an arsenal overhauled #4 MK2 in 94 for $59.95, what are they worth now that you can't hardly find them? The K31s are headed the same way, 2 years ago they were less than a $100, now they are bringing $300. I wish I had bought a hunert.
The #4 in the picture was given to me as a cut down barreled action in the mid 70s and I stocked it as a deer rifle. I gave it to my Godson in the early 90s and he has taken a pile of deer with it. Personally I think it is a fitting retirement for an old warhorse. Now that I have a little more knowledge and repect for these I might have tried to put it back in original condition, but they used to be everywhere and cheap as dirt, like many other things that are collectable NOW. Hindsight is always 20-20. Just another way to look at it. Flame away!

Bob

[Doug Bowser]

I used to run a military rifle gun shop in SW Mississippi (Great Southern Arms). We marketed all types of military ammo. Whenever the ammo was corrosive, I made up labels with cleaning instructions. The average hunter knows nothing about corrosive ammo. most shops do not take the time to inform their customers.

The neighbor across the street has a mint 98/09 Argentine Mauser. He fired some ammo made in 1942. Three months later, he wanted me to clean it. It looked like a dirt road, in the bore.

Doug

[chuebner]

Still amazes me that people shoot their guns and then put them away without cleaning, no matter what ammo is shot in them. Kinda like forgetting to wipe.

charlie

[wiljen]

How about putting their fingers on a vice and beating them with a hammer?;);)


While I'm sure this is said in jest, it is exactly the kind of thing that when read by a non-understanding spouse, or an under-aged child who repeats it out of context paints us all in a bad light. Lets try to refrain from painting such images for the anti-gun crowd.

[felix]

Yeah, Charlie, I treat my cars thataway. Drive and then park. When something is not right, then and only then do they get "cleaned" by the local mechanic. When some object emerges into an "art" classification, then it is time to sell (if not a family heirloom) before the collectors loose interest in that particular object. It's interesting to watch the PBS show every once in a while and see what some objects are worth for a pending auction. Amazing, to see what some objects are worth, no matter the condition. Art? In no way to me, but pure junk. In other words, who cares but the buyer where and whenever. ... felix

[wiljen]

For some reason, we think these people who ruin fine firearms are otherwise intelligent and we look for the reason why they would let this happen. I think we have to assume that no matter how outwardly normal they appear, they are probably seriously deficient in some upstairs category.

You know the types:

Bubba with the Corvette who hasn't changed his oil in 35,000 miles, none alone any of the filters.

Bubba the Homeowner who is having his 25 year old roof patched cheap rather than replace it.

Bubba that puts in a brand new deck and privacy fence to the tune of $18,000 and then doesn't water seal it.

Bubba the Kid who leaves his BMX bike in the road in the rain then wonders why its bent up and rusted.

and my favorite,

Tool Bubba (True story) This guy literally bought a series of new skil saws at the big lots when the blade in the one he had now got too dull to cut. His idea was probably sound because by the time he gave up on a blade it was more burning holes than cutting them so the motor was probably pretty overtaxed too.


While we lament the loss of many great guns due to lack of proper care, just think about how many other things the same buffoons have ruined over the years. Countless strings of boats, cars, homes, projects, and other items have been disposed of due to the complete lack of understanding or use of maintenance practices in general. Furthermore, this generation is teaching the next generation of bubbas with myths like: (Again all things I've heard said)

You ain't gotta clean stainless
Pyrodex doesn't cause rust they fixed that
270s shoot o.k. in a 280 - they just don't group as good
Just got this SKS and we'ze gonna shoot that grease out of it.
them old military guns aint good for hunting - none of em shoot far enough.

and again my favorite:

I bought this 300 WSM cuz the dealer told me they aint been making it but 3 or 4 years. He said the 30-30 and the 30-06 had been around over a hunderd years. I figured if I got the new gun I'd never have problems with old ammo. I bet hunderd year old ammo is bad stuff now, probably blow up in your face.
(I calmly nodded while shooting my Krag).

Next time you see a ruined barrel, ask the gent his name, and tell him you'll be adding he and his children to your prayer list. It has to be painful to be that ignorant.

[jack19512]

Still amazes me that people shoot their guns and then put them away without cleaning, no matter what ammo is shot in them. Kinda like forgetting to wipe.

charlie






It may be me but I'm betting someone would take notice much quicker of a "forgetting to wipe" than a "put them away without cleaning" scenario! :mrgreen:

[Ricochet]

I can tell you that there are people who forget to wipe. :roll:

[JeffinNZ]

I can tell you that there are people who forget to wipe. :roll:

Now THAT's corrosive residue!!!!!

[10-x]

Well at least I did'nt say cut their fingers off with a hatchet.:kidding:

Having worked with countless "hammer mechanics "over the years one gets to the point of enough is enough. Not to mention a "maintance man" that used a forklift to "bumb" the table back on a Gilbert horizontal milling machine after it ran past the stops...........they all are in the same boat with the folks that dont clean their firearms and that butcher perfectly good mil. surplus weapons.

[smokemjoe]

What about at a auction when someone pays 3 times what they are worth in the condition yu fellows are talking about, How would you feel when you get it home.

[Doug Bowser]

Another Bubba problem rifles,pistols and shotguns in a shopping bag, unassembled of course. they always say;"All the parts are there". Yeah right.

Had a Bubba bring his Ruger MarkII to the shop. It was completely disassembled. He asked how much to assemble it. I told him all jobs are $15 minimum. I assembled it while he waited in about 6 minutes. He said it was not worth $15. I disassembled the pistol and gave it back to him.

Doug

[Bigjohn]

Back in 1986, I had a conversation with the owner of my then favourite Gunshop about things we had seen done to good firearms that would make you cry.

He told about one gentleman (if you could call him that) of European Extraction who came in complaining that his almost new RUGER 10/22 would no longer shoot straight.
After examining the rifle he noticed something strange about the rifling approximately half way down the bore. It sort of came to an abrupt stop shifted over to one side about the width of a land and re-commenced its journey towards the muzzle. That was the cause of the loss of accuracy but the story of how it came to be was interesting.

When asked by the shop owner, the gentleman explained; That a projectile had become stuck at that point in the barrel. So being a Fitter & Turner by trade this fellow CUT the barrel at that point and removed the rest of the projectile.
Then in the best work the shop owner had seen; the fellow had realigned the borre and welded the joint between the two halves; re-profiled and blued the barrel. It was according to the Shopowner; perfect, you could not tell from the outside.

Of course he did not re-align the rifling inside which was out by the thickness of his saw cut.

Some people just think outside the square.

John.

[Newfoundlander2]

Team.

Went to the clubs annual auction on Saturday. I am getting really fed up with seeing how some people bugger completely some nice guns.

M95 on the table in lovely condition. Woodwork very good. Metal work equal. Lovely piece. Bore looked like a dry river bed on a dark night.

Have these morons never heard of corrosive ammo. :(

M44 in the same condition.

SORRY. Just had to vent. :Fire::Fire::Fire:

Jeff, after collecting military Mannlichers for years I have found that your rifle's conditon is not uncommon at all. Indeed I'd do so far to say it's almost to be expected. These guns were used hard with highly, highly corrosoive pimers and and tombak jacketed bullets that left behind some very nasty fouling. When I'm presented with a nice M90/M95 I alway look down the bore with trepidation and am either crestfallen or elated at what I see. Chances are the conditon of your rifle's bore was not due to Bubba but Hans.

[Four Fingers of Death]

I don't mind sporterised rifles, they are a real part of our history. When I was a lad, yankee rifles were worth an arm and a leg and only toffs' shot them. The rest of us guys shot sporters and lever guns. My first rifle was a 310 Martini in military trim. My second was a SMLE in 303/25, it was a badddddddddddddddd bubba, althought the barrel was ok. I bough a new sporter stock and standard forend wood for it and my Bro in law took it to the Air Force base where he worked and had it finished in the same black parkerised finish as the MGs and cannons, etc used. It was a nice looking serviceable hunting rifle and went afield many times.