Quote Originally Posted by Patrick Chadwick View Post
To answer the original question:

1) You do not shoot it if it is not in proper, safe working order.

2) You do not shoot it if it is (as a collector friend has) something like a mint Adams double-action only (no hammer spur) revolver in the silk-lined original case with all the accessories and a finish that is perfect. Looks just about unfired - it's been sitting in that case for 150 years! A revolver that even I, with my practical it's-there-to-be-used attitude only handled with cotton gloves. That sort of revolver is indeed too good to be used. So if it were given to me in some fantasy world, I would sell it to get a couple or three competition guns and still have enough money left over to feed them for the rest of my life!
As for point #1, I finally sold with some regret an Adams .50 cal. five shot DA revolver with the cocking aid spur that projected through the triggerguard only because the frame was about half broken through the rear junction of topstrap and recoil face. The frame was bent enough that the cylinder had about 0.030" (may have been more) fore and aft play! Fully intended to shoot it, but the repair was just too daunting. Plus, all but one spring was broken...