1849 colt ruined! Almost made me cry.

[nextgenar]

I went into a little second hand store yesterday. Sitting in one of the display cases is an original 1849 colt .31 caliber revolver, with an asking price of $550. I would have immediately snatched it up at that price except for one thing. The owner of this beautiful piece of history, had taken it upon himself to "clean and polish" it, as in he took it to a buffing wheel and polished the living daylights out of it, so the brass grip frame was nice and shiny yelllow and the rest of the Gun was buffed down to bare steel. I handled it, shook my head and left. Sadly many people don't realize that the 2 things you never polish are antique firearms and coins.

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[Dungannon]

Good Lord, he scrubbed away all the history. Anyone that wants something shiny should buy a modern reproduction.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Guy in the 2nd hand store probably gave him $30 for it! Sad.

 

[jsparks747]

WAH...WAh...Wah...wah... He did WHAT?!?! Old guns should be left to people who like them how they are.

 

[Joe13]

Good Lord, he scrubbed away all the history. Anyone that wants something shiny should buy a modern reproduction.

Except for cars

I love to look at restored or original relics of past decades

 

[mrblond]

Words to live by when dealing with antiques.. Never.,. EVER clean them......EVER!!!!!!

 

[CHLChris]

I love me a vintage Airstream with the aluminum skin polished to a mirror finish.


But not an antique gun of any kind.

 

[Kent763]

To be honest, I can't even blame most of the people who do this. It's just folks who don't know any better most of the time. If you're not a collector or a gun person, then it's kind of counter intuitive. Pretty much everything is worth more if you spruce it up, except guns and coins that is.

 

[CHLChris]

Except that every antique show, picking show, junking show, and pawn shop show on TV sends the same message to some extent. In my view we are but temporary caretakers of history. The piece, whatever it is--from Civil War wheel gun to Federal-style mahogany chair--existed before our ownership and will still be around after our death, in someone else's hands. It is our job to treat each of these collectables with fidelity to our posterity.

 

[Kent763]

Except that every antique show, picking show, junking show, and pawn shop show on TV sends the same message to some extent. In my view we are but temporary caretakers of history. The piece, whatever it is--from Civil War wheel gun to Federal-style mahogany chair--existed before our ownership and will still be around after our death, in someone else's hands. It is our job to treat each of these collectables with fidelity to our posterity.

So if you find a '67 Camaro in some old lady's garage, and get a steal on it, you're not going to wash it, or polish the paint, or put a little Lexol on the leather? Maybe rebuild the engine (back to factory spec) so that it's drivable? What if it's an old Model T? Those are both collectible pieces of history too, right?

Let's not forget that this idea of leaving guns alone isn't even consistently applied by gun owners either. You wouldn't hesitate to touch up that scratch on your Heritage Rough Rider with a little cold blue, but you wouldn't do that to your old Colt SAA. 80 years from now, that Rough Rider is probably going to be collectible too...

All I'm saying is, not everyone knows better. Lots of people think cleaning up something makes it more valuable. It's not an unreasonable assumption. Not everyone watches a picker or pawn stars show, and with good reason. Lots of people look at a Colt SAA and a Rough Rider and see the same gun. People screw up. Simple as that.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

I have restored many a antique gun.
A few have been rebuilt from the ground up , so to speak.
Which is better ? :
A rusting hunk of steel and broken or rotted wood that can not be used.
OR
A well researched restoration , that is now able to handled , studied and maybe fired.

It pays to do your homework when cleaning or thinking of working on a antique gun.
Some of the guns in my collection are still in firing use , some are just maintained so as not to deteriorate.
Use some common sense and think before you act.

Note to all:
I am not for making a 100 year old or older gun look like new.... Just 'cause it has age and a few marks on it.
Or trying to turn it into something its not or never was.
But ... I am not above doing a period repair or fix on a antique gun to make it useable.
Again use some common sense and research ... Some guns you can mess around with ... others you don't.
Andy

 

[Stomper]

Antiques shouldn't be cleaned... I bet a good amount of you never shower, huh?

 

[HuckleberryFun]

My brother was going to sand and refinish his grandpa's beautiful 1915 vintage Savage 1899 until I said "Nooooo! Don't do that!"
He didn't. Now he's selling it to me. Nice save by yours truly.

 

[HuckleberryFun]

Antiques shouldn't be cleaned... I bet a good amount of you never shower, huh?

I don't shower much, but I correct grammar often.
It's a "number" of you never shower, not "amount" of you.
This is why I don't need to shower much: people avoid me for some reason.

 

[Stomper]

I "could care less"....


"Ain't" didn't used be a word... guess what?!




Stinky....

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Another thought:
Many folks buy a new 10/22 , AR15 or 1911 type pistol and:
Immediately replace many of the factory issued parts such a stocks , sights , safety, barrels and even the finish ,etc...
Some of these alterations are of a permanent nature.
At some point in the future those guns will be historic ...why is that acceptable and the restoring or light cleaning of a antique not by some folks?

I get the revolver in the OP might not be considered "restored" and if the over zealous cleaning and buffing was done , just to make it look shiny and new ... Then that I won't and can't argue for.

But if it was a busted rusted junked gun ... then why not?*
The 1849 Colt was a long lived revolver (1849-1872) many were made and used hard.
If it did not have any known historic usage or users or was a pile of parts then the gun , seen in that light is not soooo bad....
Andy

* Although I would have done or have preferred that only a light cleaning with no buffing or polishing were done...

 

[11Charlie]

Eye of the beholder, the beholder must of been shot in the eye!

I agree with Andy, unfortunately a lot of people don't have common sense and do stupid things because they don't know or are to damned lazy to do the research. Hopefully Andy is right and this old pistol was a broken pile of parts and some guy made it work.

 

[RVTECH]

I may have posted at one time about the early US Army 1911 that was brought to me to look at - someone had taken wetordry to the entire thing and nearly sanded off all the lettering - I could barely make out the 'model of 1913' on the side. While it functioned and could probably been shot with a little cleaning I offered the guy a fairly low price to which he declined.

 

[etrain16]

I have an old 1973 Remington 870 Wingmaster. I got it in part trade for next to nothing because it was badly rusted after having been improperly stored for many years. I suspected it could be restored to working order and wanted a good project gun. The wood was scuffed, but still very nice and the action, once cleaned up (I stripped the bolt and polished away all the rust), is very smooth. The receiver finish was badly damaged/pitted. The barrel, shot (badly damaged/pitted bore). I ended up buying a replacement barrel (was able to move up to a chamber that handles 2 3/4" and 3") and had @Velzey cerakote everything to match. He did a great job on the finish and everything looks much better now. I still have more work to do cleaning up the wood, but it's turning out to be a nice gun, one that my wife will have to use to shoot trap if I can get her out again. The 870 may not be a classic yet (some may argue that), but I know folks have love for the Wingmasters and at least this one has a new lease on life. In my case, it was taking a gun that couldn't be shot and getting it up and running again. She may not be truly original any longer, but it's nice to see a badly treated, rusty mess turned into a functional gun again.

 

[RVTECH]

On another forum a guy inherited an 1886 Winchester and it is pretty rough - part of it is the stock has been taped up with black electrical tape. He is 'on the fence' as to what to do with it and is getting advice from many as to his options. Sounds like he has no 'real' attachment to the gun and may just try to sell it as is and put the money toward something he wants and can use.