Old is now what everyone wants

There's a fairly strong interest in Martini's, Sniders, SMLE's, lever actions in 32/20 etc here in Australia. Blackpowder stuff has a reasonably strong following as well.

 

I'm a C&R and milsurp kinda guy to begin with. I too also picked up a Winchester T75 a while back and this Tommy Gun 10/22 kit recently. I'm in the midst of horse trading an FN49 for a .45 Thompson like pictured below. They're modern repos of old iron. PAX

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Parker-Hale Whitworth rifle from 1980.

 

1862-dated Snider-Enfield from Ontario, last used in anger to shoot at Americans...

 

...and another, from the Québec Garrison Artillery - B Battery -

and lastly, a .58cal Musketoon, as used by horse-drawn artillery in your recent Civil War...

 

Why do you think older guns are valuable and coveted right now? Aside from over pricing, how much better are older guns than their newer counterparts?

 

If I had wood that looked that good I would be a millionaire!

 

There hasn't been improvement in the practical functionally of a bolt action rifle since the invention of the Mauser in 1898. The extra value of older rifles is that, many times, they have a history. For some folks that is no value at all. I just wonder if 125 years from now, someone will be lovingly cleaning and carefully storing, a plastic rifle. Who know, they may be.

 

Bad pic, but a couple of 63's and a '67

 

All are selling for more than I paid.

760's in .35 rem are pretty popular in areas where folks hunt whitetail deer in timber.
Close to being the PA state flower

The #1 actually has some collector value, first yr made, only 80 of them in that config/chambering. That and the better than avg wood.....

Sakos are well made, slick. Trim, the pre Garcia ones are sought after. Not just by collectors.
They are simply NICE rifles.

Some people don't care about subtle differences. For some, real or imagined, the differences in fit and feel are worth it.

IMHO if it doesn't fit it aint worth diddly. I am however pretty average and when I find stuff that fits, set it up for me.........it makes shooting good, esp on game afield, rather easy.

 

The Sako was scored at about half market value (rifle alone), and it sat a while. Bore was full of dust. Scope was fogged.

I dunno how many Ruger American and Savage Axis rifles they sold ahead of it LOL

 

A bunch I'd bet. The vast majority of gun buyer's are cheap bastard's!
They mainly buy the cheapest gun they can find, and top it with an even cheaper POS scope.

 

This little carbine was made by DWM in Berlin in July of 1897 - one of 2000 for the Zuid Afrikaanse Republik - basically, the Boers.

It was captured from its owner Pieter Huijsen, on May 10th 1901, after a two-day engagement with the New South Wales Mounted Infantry, who were scouts for a large column of troops. They started off the previous day by making a huge mistake - having seen a couple of Boer riders on a ridge overlooking the route, a bunch of them had ridden off like a Tom and Jerry cartoon up to the ridge with the intention of taking them prisoner. However, that is where the wheels fell off. There were a couple of hundred Boers waiting for them, and they got shot to sh*t.

Such success couldn't and didn't last, and the tide turned the following morning, and the Boers were beaten back, many having been taken prisoner - it was called the Battle of Korrannafontein - the name then, and now, of the large farmstead in that area.

Here - for some reason I've taken out the cleaning rod - maybe to clean it?


Pieter Huijsen's name crudely cut into the stock -

My serial number - 6991 -

Forgotten Weapons - Ian's demo example -

It is, of course, in 7x57 Mauser, that flat-shooting long round-nosed 175gr bullet that the Boers - a nation of farmers AND riflemen - could deliver with amazing accuracy at individual targets - sound familiar? Officers were prime game, and lasted as long as morning mist when engaging in long-range two-way shooting matches with Boer riflemen - some as young as twelve.

In the end, the butcher's bill was astonishing - and one sided, but not the way you think it was.

Around 2000 Boers died.

Around 6000 British Empire troops and auxiliaries died.

And around 26,000 women and children died in the 'concentration' camps invented by the British.

The shame of it lives on to this day.

PS - if anybody wants to know more, I've translated most of the archival material into English, for most of which I'm indebted to Mr Pieter De Jaeger of Korannafontein Farm, Natal, RSA.

 

Plus, I like blued steel and wood!

 

I have a Remington 700 that shoots like that, judging by that target I bet she's dead center at 200/225.

 

I mostly collect antique firearms. I tend to go to antique stores to find that hidden gem tucked away. I mostly try to pick up old percussion rifles and flintlocks but I got lucky last week and picked up a 1916 dated WW1 French Berthier but its missing a few parts.

 

Plastic Stocks: It's kinda a non-event to get a rifle with synthetic stock. Right here next to me is my Tikka T3 with one of the most hated plastic stocks. The rifle shoot wonderfully and there is no interest in making changes.

Also, one of my project guns is a Remington 788 in 22-250 with hardwood stock. The change in firearms jumps out comparing this rifle to the current entry level rifles. I'm past snowing the peanut gallery with fancy wood. High humidity here does not affect synthetic stocks. If it shoots it stays otherwise it's gone on to another owner. That is, without regard to what kind of stock it has.

 

I've had accurate and stable rifles w wood stocks (a couple of them bedded).
Not really worried about accuracy with them, they were champs.
What I dislike is dinging them up.........usually when cleaning them at home, not in the hunting field LOL.

Buy a gun safe and the dings multiply.

Plastic looks better longer, but is cold.