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After Nworbekim‘s post yesterday about UF 55 value’s I figured I would get a photo of my recent UF 55 purchase. I purchased this as just a rifle and picked up the rest from various internet sources. I am still debating on taking the whole rifle apart to clean out all the cosmoline and shoot it, or leave it as is and unfired by me. This would be the only rifle I’ve never fired in my collection except for my trapdoor and Potsdam lamps.
It's been unwrapped and cleaned externally so it's hard to prove it's never been fired...then greased again. Greasing with Cosmoline isn't hard after all, I think the real value was when they were still wrapped.
I am under no illusion that it’s never been fired. It has, just not by me, and it can be seen that the cosmoline was never fully cleaned out by a previous owner when they fired it. It’s just the fact that there are no scratches in the paint and very few minor dings. I will end up doing more damage cleaning it and taking it to the range once than this rifle has had in 64 years.
I've sold my share of guns that were too pretty for that very reason. A little hard to stomach sometimes haha.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cetme24
I had a S&W Mod 10 5 inch barrel that was flat new after a score of years and sold it because I wouldn't shoot it...too...
It’s your gun. Shoot it if you want to, or not. It’s entirely up to you.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cetme24
To me a really nice gun is a bit like a good-looking woman. Given the chance, I would……
To me a really nice gun is a bit like a good-looking woman. Given the chance, I would……
Indeed Vincent, wise words!
Unwrapped, partially cleaned, shoot it...
In the wrap, leave it alone.
Given the condition it is in now, shooting it won't alter the value unless you shoot a couple thousand rounds through it. So, I would enjoy the rifle and shoot it if it was me.
I know I might irritate the collectors, but here goes...
This weekend I intend to try out a flintlock target rifle that is 350 years old. There are a couple of others of the same type still in existence, but they are in museums.
Around the world, in museums such as the Royal Armouries etc. you can see thousands of guns in superb condition. Pieces that you would not touch unless you were wearing surgical gloves. Not that the museum staff would let you!
My rifle is not a superb piece of workmanship for display. It is a functional tool that just happens to be extremely old. The world - and myself - will gain nothing if it just sits in a cabinet until, one day, my heirs dispose of it.
But I will gain something by shooting it, by learning to get the best out of this ancient artefact - which was made to be used, not displayed. And some other shooters may even profit by my experiences, as described on these forums.
So you will understand that I - speaking purely for myself - do not see the point of keeping unshot an example of a rifle that was made by the hundreds of thousands or even millions. It is not unique. I have one myself, a couple of thousand further on in the numbering.
Use it.
Top one in the picture is my UF 55, also a couple of thousand up in the numbering. It was also virtually unshot before I acquired it.
Do I shoot it? Hell yes, I may take it to the range tomorrow!
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