When does an old gun become an antique and when does an antique become un-serviceable ??

If you’re out shooting grandads old side by side on the weekend busting clays and giving the ducks a hiding and like any good shooter you clean her up at the end of the day and put it in the safe, what if tomorrow it was suddenly the day it became an antique or worse no longer usable “what time did this happen” you might ask yourself did I miss it.

All jokes aside this is quite an interesting thought experiment. At what point did these once functional tools become an item for display only or don the title of antique, and more to the point if it’s an antique does that automatically mean it’s not able to be used as a hunting rifle or trap gun anymore ?

There is a technical answer in the sense anything pre 1800 is classified as antique I’ll attempt to explain some to the issues surrounding antique and old firearms when deciding what to do with them.

Apart from changes in ammunition and lead shot being basically impossible to purchase in most countries anymore the systems that regulate pressures and test standard hasn’t changed massively since the introduction of smokeless powders and there are sources available for information regarding black powder rifle proof standards but black powder is a story for another day.

If steel shot isn’t an issue with the gun you’re dealing with and it’s proofed some time in the last 150 years it’s a pretty safe bet the barrel can handle an appropriate modern cartridge provided it’s inspected thoroughly and there is no other issues like the ones I’ll get into next.

So what else could go wrong ? It shot fine last time it was used and it’s just sat in the safe surely the safe fairies haven’t been wailing on on it with tiny hammers all these years wearing out the gun so what else could could it be ?

Firearms were essentially built for one purpose (firing projectiles) so they are simple in nature by design but they are not impervious to fault or failure and in regards only to the materials used, manufacturing technology has come a long way even in the last 60 years so the quality and consistency of some old materials can be called to question, but if it’s stood the test of time there is quite a good chance it’s of the highest quality available at the time.

As well as manufacturing quality and consistency in materials getting better the same has been so for ammunition. This poses one of the most likely causes for de-commissioning an old firearm bulged deformed and cracked barrels from over-pressuring caused by old ammo. The use of Mercury and other corrosive powders and primers in older ammunition could wreak havoc on a gun if it wasn’t taken care of and cleaned properly through its life. This type of corrosion will manifest in the form of pitting close to the breach end of the barrel.

A good check over with the correct tools and measuring equipment will be able to identify any problems with the barrels ability to handle continued use but there are some more considerations to be had.

Double barrel rifles are affixed by a rib regardless of their orientation the only difference being regulation pitch as side by sides cross over steeper than over under orientation due to the aiming and shooting style of the two. In modern rifle manufacturing and in some older style makers silver solder is the preferred method of fastening. lead and tin were very common place in older manufacturing. Long periods of storage can sometimes mean lead solvents may end up eating away at this important feature although very unlikely it is possible if someone was careless with cleaning products before storage.

But not all components are made equal and arguably the most important being the lock or the action, wear and tear fatigue and the elements can all slowly deteriorate components of the action lock and could eventually lead to a catastrophic failure. These are rare as the signs manifest over time in the form of misfires slop in the lock of the action stuck shells blowback and other issues in operation .

There will always be the occasional issue outside these common problems but these are the main points of focus when assessing a gun for serviceability.

Lastly and the most difficult to define is emotion there are a lot of reasons to retire a firearm be it preservation or out of respect for its history or previous owners the choice to do so is one that can be difficult to understand to outsiders but this one is 100% personal preference.

Sometimes we’re forced to hang them on the wall sometimes we do it out of respect to the history and to pay homage to the piece but whatever the reason, better on the wall than lost to the halls of history to fade away as a memory.

And for those lucky enough to be able to utilise a piece of history to make new memories with ,it truly is a blessing and its story deserves to be told and doing so by using it as it was originally designed is one of the best ways I can think to do just that .

When working with antique and historically significant firearms should you restore or leave the original finish intact despite the condition of the original finish being poor or compromised??

Scenario : you come into possession of a firearm or antique war memorabilia or an old sewing machine whatever the case may be you find yourself caught up in the hype of your new purchase or heirloom and before too long you find yourself on Pinterest or google and see similar items and start to compare the pair and may think “oooof she’s a bit beat up compared to some I see” and often people will ignore this and chalk it up as character or wear and tear and move on.

thus begs the question what to do about it ?

If this was handed down or you came across said item and it was gifted to you, your next move may be to look on eBay or the web to try purchase a like for like to get a rough estimate of the value of the item just for curiosity sake and if it’s as rare as I like my oddities and antiques to be then hopefully you won’t find another like it anywhere on the web.

This is where things get interesting !!!

So how much is it worth and if I wanted to restore it will it retain its value ??? or could a restoration diminish the value ???

There are two main schools of thought and the above can be true in certain circumstances and it’s a bit more difficult to really cover in one thread but I’ll do my best to summarise from my experiences and my opinion on how these items can be valued.

The first side is basically : an item of historical significance is only of any value if it is intact as its original finishes and has not been tampered with or altered in any way except to be preserved by a museum trained professional and to do so differently would render any piece a paper weight and not worth the packing foam it was posted in !!

These folks tend to be purists and collectors of very specific memorabilia and I see the sense in their argument I feel like this can be somewhat of a ploy to drive up the value of their own collections by forcing scarcity into their own realm of collectables and that’s fine because they are usually the ones who shell out the big bucks to take these ones off your hands given the criteria is met .

The second side: tends to lead more for a story and are often more functionality driven and they love a good tale about where the item came from and the stories it may tell. This is very common amongst enthusiasts as opposed to collectors and I align a lot more with these types of people . And basically they are summarised as people who like to bring awareness and display pride in preserving history by keeping them going and continuing to use an otherwise outdated technology to keep them from fading from existence.

I see this a lot with stationary engines, old motorbikes, steam engines, car clubs and things of that nature where there is a community of enthusiastic individuals that will get together to preserve history by keeping it running instead of putting it behind glass.

I am of the belief that any item is worth what your willing to pay for it and if your using antique firearms as a way to store your wealth than by all means go to the museums and auctions and buy the most ludicrously expensive piece of kit you can afford and park it in a vault until your ready to liquidate your assets to buy your next Bentley and you may do well.

But when grandad hands down his original store bought mod94 chambered in 218bee that his dad handed down to him, and you find yourself in possession of an absolutely amazing piece of history that is traced back to your great grandads first rabbit rifle you need to ask yourself does it belong in a safety deposit box locked away to never see the light of day? Or do you dust off the cobwebs and sling some lead like they did when grand pop used to shoot rabbits for supper?

At the end of the day there are different horses for different courses and as far as I’m concerned the essence of a firearm or any pice of equipment doesn’t live on the surface but is the item itself and that’s where the value lies. If I broke my leg I wouldn’t let that break define who I am forever I’d have the bone set and rehabilitate then keep on trucking so when you come across an old beat up heirloom consider how it will add value to you and if that value is selling it for some quick cash than so be it …

But think of the memories you could make with it being utilised as it was originally intended !!

I’m 31 years old and I grew up in rural Queensland on a cane farm that converted into a cattle farm when I was a teenager.

I did my apprenticeship as a fitter machinist with a strong focus on machining and manufacture and I have always been fascinated with how things work and spent many weekends as a kid building electric cars out of pulled apart VCR players and knew from a young age I wanted to build or fix gadgets or at the very least understand how things work.

When the farm took off one calving season we lost 17 out of 18 calf’s to wild dogs and that’s where my affinity for shooting, hunting and conservation came to fruition and sparked what would come to be almost a 20 year passion for shooting and firearms both historical and current and a hobby that has led me to meet some of my dearest friends and made some amazing memories and unbelievable stories.

And so after many years of utilising guns as a tool for hunting sporting and leisure so came a moment where my maintenance and mechanical mind began to ponder the implications of performing gunsmithing activities myself as I hadn’t given it a great deal of thought as the law is quite clear it’s illegal to modify repair or change the appearance of a firearm I dove down the rabbit hole that My ankles are still well and truly hanging out the entrance and my body is being stretched deeper and deeper into the wonder land that is obtaining licensing as an armourer.

The internet wasn’t a great deal of help with most people dismissing the idea of being a backyard armourer because of the cost involved in getting the equipment and security measures but all accounts were mostly hear say or “I had a mate that knew a guy who…..” so I turned up the determination and threw myself into a path of discovery, more so I talked about it and talked about it until my lovely wife setup the abn and designed the logo and came up with the name and since then It has been a steady push forward.

I was lucky enough to be accepted by the shooting community and have been helped along the way by other armourers and people in the industry.

While it’s my end goal to become a fully fledged gunsmith and be able to perform every function possible expected of a gunsmith you gotta start somewhere so here I am somewhere between the race starting and me stumbling out of the starting blocks and a finish line that will likely keep moving away from me so this will be a place for me to show my progress and share what I learn and document it for myself and for anyone else who may find this informative .

In my travels on social media I rarely happen across people doing what I want to do and while I’m certain there are people out the doing it they don’t document it and put it on show like I want to so It’s my objective to utilise every media platform practical to both boost my exposure and therefore put me in contact with others who can educate me and help me grow but also reach people who share an interest in what is a passion of mine and hopefully bring them some joy or some value.

Hayden…..