Gunsmithing Browning Auto-5 restoration; A work in progress
- Thread starter Casey Simpson
- Start date
Re: Browning Auto-5 restoration; A work in progress
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Casey Simpson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Its not the post that is eating at you. It's something unrelated. Who knows?
Your post says nothing of the guns, restoration or me. It only says you have a need to speak out about something you feel was not done the way you thought it should have been. But because I have time and am in the mood, I'll play:
Lost to what? A collective value?
The owners are so very little interested in a collector's items that you wouldn't believe it. Instead, they are deliberate and practical; interested in utility - whether the gun functions without fail. Pretty is in their vocabulary but it refers to women and babies. Neither guns or roses to them are pretty, collectable, or worship worthy.
They will never tire of them but they will pass away at which time their sons will, who are also disinterested in collectables, hunt with the guns and maintain them as poorly as their fathers. Tiring of something that works is a luxury for the wealthy. These folks do not comprehend it. I have known them for 48 years.
Moreover, these guys would not sell these guns for any reasonable amount of money either to a collector or anyone else. The guns were their father's whom they did adore, respecting his purchases and his love for bird hunting all his life. Therefore, to them whether a collector would offer to buy these guns for $1.00 or $2,000 is moot.
Because the owners are interested only in functionality these guns are now preserved for another lifetime of hunting enjoyment. They do not adore guns. They adore the experience of fellowship while hunting.
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Like Fosgate, I don't normally post, I read. But your reply to him prompted me to actually register so I could reply. You hit the nail on the head. My dad died of cancer one year ago this past Christmas. If you ask what my fondest memories are, they would be of he and I hunting with his Marlin 3030 or his Belgian A5 12 ga magnum. I will cherish the memories for as long as I am here. I have a brother that would probably relate to Fosgate and his comments. Unfortunately he got the majority of dad's guns and they are in a safe and will remain there. I was supposed to get them but he beat me to the punch. Thankfully I have the A5. I am the only one that hunted with pop or went shooting with him. Why peckerwood wants the guns is beyond me. But I will cherish that old beat up A5 for the rest of my days. It was my dads. Now its mine. We killed many a deer with it together. I will continue to do the same. Its a connection to him and a past that is full of father/son hunting and quality time outdoors. When my time has come and I no longer hunt, my son will get my weapons (I hope) and have that same connection. For those of us that hunt, its about the use of that weapon and the connection it gives us to our fathers and sons. To me, its what they were made for. My old beat up A5 is beyond "worth" to me. There is no price tag. No amount of money would separate me from it.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Casey Simpson</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Its not the post that is eating at you. It's something unrelated. Who knows?
Your post says nothing of the guns, restoration or me. It only says you have a need to speak out about something you feel was not done the way you thought it should have been. But because I have time and am in the mood, I'll play:
Lost to what? A collective value?
The owners are so very little interested in a collector's items that you wouldn't believe it. Instead, they are deliberate and practical; interested in utility - whether the gun functions without fail. Pretty is in their vocabulary but it refers to women and babies. Neither guns or roses to them are pretty, collectable, or worship worthy.
They will never tire of them but they will pass away at which time their sons will, who are also disinterested in collectables, hunt with the guns and maintain them as poorly as their fathers. Tiring of something that works is a luxury for the wealthy. These folks do not comprehend it. I have known them for 48 years.
Moreover, these guys would not sell these guns for any reasonable amount of money either to a collector or anyone else. The guns were their father's whom they did adore, respecting his purchases and his love for bird hunting all his life. Therefore, to them whether a collector would offer to buy these guns for $1.00 or $2,000 is moot.
Because the owners are interested only in functionality these guns are now preserved for another lifetime of hunting enjoyment. They do not adore guns. They adore the experience of fellowship while hunting.
</div></div>
Like Fosgate, I don't normally post, I read. But your reply to him prompted me to actually register so I could reply. You hit the nail on the head. My dad died of cancer one year ago this past Christmas. If you ask what my fondest memories are, they would be of he and I hunting with his Marlin 3030 or his Belgian A5 12 ga magnum. I will cherish the memories for as long as I am here. I have a brother that would probably relate to Fosgate and his comments. Unfortunately he got the majority of dad's guns and they are in a safe and will remain there. I was supposed to get them but he beat me to the punch. Thankfully I have the A5. I am the only one that hunted with pop or went shooting with him. Why peckerwood wants the guns is beyond me. But I will cherish that old beat up A5 for the rest of my days. It was my dads. Now its mine. We killed many a deer with it together. I will continue to do the same. Its a connection to him and a past that is full of father/son hunting and quality time outdoors. When my time has come and I no longer hunt, my son will get my weapons (I hope) and have that same connection. For those of us that hunt, its about the use of that weapon and the connection it gives us to our fathers and sons. To me, its what they were made for. My old beat up A5 is beyond "worth" to me. There is no price tag. No amount of money would separate me from it.
Re: Browning Auto-5 restoration; A work in progress
When you "restore" or otherwise alter a gun I think there are several things to consider.
1. Will it alter your memory of the gun/the owner/the use or "restore" those memories?
2. Will it affect the value (+ or -) and does it matter for your future uses?
3. Does the gun need to be "restored" in order function safely?
My dad died last summer. His old M37 Ithaca is worn as smooth and shiny as if it where nickle plated from the back of the receiver to about the end of the pump/magazine tube. That is the way I remember it. It isn't rusted. Its been carried for thousands of miles through the woods and fields of WV, VA, TN, MI (UP and LP), AR, TX, ND, and IL. It killed deer, ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, quail, ring necks, snowshoes, jack rabbits, cotton tails, fox, gray, black and red squirrels, wood cock, turkeys, hungarian partridge, and a few crows.
I have lots of memories of that gun with him carrying it. I know it looked pretty in the early 60's when I used to go squirrel hunting with him but I don't remember it that way. I would never have that gun restored. My memories of it, and dad, are worn and shiny.
Same with his little Savage M29 he liked to head shoot squirrels with. It doesn't look new and shiny either and it never will. It looks used. Dad used his tools and my memories are being with him when he used them.
That's my take on restoring. For my own guns. Unfortunately they will never be used, by me, till they look like his guns. My old M37 (bought in the late 60's) looks damn near new and I carried it a lot but quit hunting over 20 years ago (and also bought other shotguns to use, too).
If its yours you can do what ever you want with it. Just think about it first and don't do something you can't undo.
Have a good one.
When you "restore" or otherwise alter a gun I think there are several things to consider.
1. Will it alter your memory of the gun/the owner/the use or "restore" those memories?
2. Will it affect the value (+ or -) and does it matter for your future uses?
3. Does the gun need to be "restored" in order function safely?
My dad died last summer. His old M37 Ithaca is worn as smooth and shiny as if it where nickle plated from the back of the receiver to about the end of the pump/magazine tube. That is the way I remember it. It isn't rusted. Its been carried for thousands of miles through the woods and fields of WV, VA, TN, MI (UP and LP), AR, TX, ND, and IL. It killed deer, ruffed grouse, ducks, geese, quail, ring necks, snowshoes, jack rabbits, cotton tails, fox, gray, black and red squirrels, wood cock, turkeys, hungarian partridge, and a few crows.
I have lots of memories of that gun with him carrying it. I know it looked pretty in the early 60's when I used to go squirrel hunting with him but I don't remember it that way. I would never have that gun restored. My memories of it, and dad, are worn and shiny.
Same with his little Savage M29 he liked to head shoot squirrels with. It doesn't look new and shiny either and it never will. It looks used. Dad used his tools and my memories are being with him when he used them.
That's my take on restoring. For my own guns. Unfortunately they will never be used, by me, till they look like his guns. My old M37 (bought in the late 60's) looks damn near new and I carried it a lot but quit hunting over 20 years ago (and also bought other shotguns to use, too).
If its yours you can do what ever you want with it. Just think about it first and don't do something you can't undo.
Have a good one.
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