Countless years ago I had a friend who bought dozens of Lee Enfield 303's and would travel to native reserves in SK and trade for old Winchesters that usually the owner had difficutly finding ammo for.
He would give a decent 303 sporter and a couple of boxes of ammo and IMO saved many old guns from a uncertain future.
I think that intervening in the program by purchasing from people wanting to get rid of their guns is a great idea. It does boggle my mind that so many people are willing to give up a historical collectable for a "couple of pieces of silver".