re-finishing antiques

Urban

Urban

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Toronto
I just got into the antique scene. Thanks to dingus
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Has anyone ever refinished their antiques?
Im currently in a transaction to get a American Bulldog 0.32RF revolver.
I was doing some research on the internet and found this.
http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?itemnum=6007235
So apparently... this guy refinished his gun and wow... It looks like a BRAND new pistol :eek:
 
You don't refinish an antique, you restore it, unless the gun has no collector or commercial value at all, or the gun already has been bastardized by previous owners. A decision has to be made whether the gun has collector value because of its antiquity. A refinished antique that looks like new, has virtually no collector value, and becomes just a shooter. If you're buying it as a shooter because it doesn't need to be registered, hopefully you're not destroying a valuable antique just to avoid the registry...
 
An antique that has been refinished is usually worth less than the same piece without original finish, from a purist collector point of view. Even a piece that has little collector status right now may have value in the future.
 
If it has been refinished, there is little you can do about it. Don't spend more for it than you can get out of it. Sometimes refinishing is just for the sake of the appearance, sometimes it hides problems. In Europe, refinishing antiques is pretty common. In the US it is not uncommon to take something like a grey '86 Winchester, and have it totally rebuilt to new - not just refinished. Collectors disapprove, some fanciers of fine firearms think its great. In the US, Lugers have gone through the roof, and condition drives the price. So, they are being totally refinished, duplicating the original polishing pattern and procedures, finishing techniques, etc. It is a problem. Personally, I don't like the idea of refinishing antiques. I really don't like the practice of taking vintage shotguns, and sawing the barrels off for cowboy action shooting. I am old enough to remember when Lee Enfields were $10 -$20, and who cared if someone sporterized one. Look at what they sell for now, and how hard it is to get a nice one.
 
Just to be different, I think there are a lot of antiques which suffer no monetary harm by being refinished. Particularly with muzzle loading british shotguns, if you find one rusted dark brown, dents in the barrel, worn locks and cracked stock, its value is already pretty low and I see nothing wrong with restoring it closer to its original glory and making it shootable. On the other hand an original trade gun would have to be pretty far gone before that statement would apply.
Bottom line I guess is that you need caution and a good knowledge of current market values the specific category of gun you are dealing with.

cheers mooncoon
 
Don't refinish any antique!!! Tiriaq....I can remember when No.1 Mk.3's were at $8.00 in our local grocery store. They had a big rack full in aisle three. We won't find these for sale in Canada now...price or not. It's just not "nice" you know! Liberal idiots! Dave
 
Well if there just gona sit in a glass case as Collectables leave them alone. But most guys i know that have Antique revolvers like to shoot em not just stroke and look at them. ;)
I have a couple im keeping and enjoy shooting and one im gona do an Antique restoration, If your any good the orignal Black antique finish isnt imposible to duplicate this gun has no finish and has some exterior pits im gona fill.
But most of em 98% i do leave orignal.
And if the guns in need of mechanical repairs to make it safe to shoot of course go for it if shooting it is why you bought it.
 
So what the majority of you are saying is that I should have left this gun
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as a collection of broken rusted parts instead of rebuilding it to a shooter.
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The gun now has a forestock and while not apparent is sleeved to 50-70 from its original .45 cal something.
Like Dingus, my guns are for shooting and while I am not in a great rush to reblue something in good working condition with a smooth grey patina to the metal, I think most of the respondants are forgetting about the relics and debris of very limited value that can be brought back to some useful level.

cheers mooncoon
 
First, there is a big difference between refinishing and restoring. I would not consider refinishing any gun. However, if an antique has been abused, then I might consider restoring it. Right now I have a Winchester 1886, made in 1889, that had had a couple inches sawed off the barrel, the magazine sawed down to 2/3rds, the magazine hanger bashed out with a hammer, and an outrageous job of sanding on the wood. It's so bad, it bothers me to even look at it. I'm planning to have it restored.

What do I mean by restored? Well, it will be rebarreled with an octagon barrel that is indistinguishable from the original barrels Winchester made (except for a higher strength steel). All metal parts will be repaired. The color case hardened parts will be bone and charcoal color case hardened. All printing will be restamped to match the way it would have looked originally. The wood cannot be salvaged, so will be replaced. Any blueing on the gun will be done according to period. When a restored gun is finished, it should look and function like it originally did when it left the factory.

All history is erased with a restoration, but the way the rifle looks now, there's nothing but a history of abuse to see and that is not what I enjoy looking at. Someday, I'm really going to enjoy that rifle when it is finished.

I have several other old Winchester that have their histories silently spoken in their appearance, but they are good histories that just add to the pleasing appearance of the rifle. I don't plan to restore those.
 
At one time I had a German turn over gun, one barrel .58 smooth, the other .58 rifled, rifled barrel swamped octagon, smooth swamped octagon/round. Ca 1770. Stock was burl walnut, 3" across the cheekpiece, relief carved with roses around the tang. Had been percussionned at some time. Bubba had had it hot blued, and had repaired some wood cracks in the forend with epoxy. Did it when epoxy was first on the market, when epoxy was white. This had been a beautiful classic German hunting gun, weighed about 7 1/2 pounds. I stripped the metal, browned everything, dug out the epoxy and rerepaired the stock unobtrusively. Put it back to flint (no welding), making up two front half flintlocks, frizzens w/pans and springs, fitted a flintcock, made a new mainspring. The iron and steel parts wouldn't have been browned originally, of course, but brown was in keeping with a used 200 year old gun. Eventually traded it off with some other stuff, wound up with an I/l\D branded Indian gun, and a Cdn made 11ga 14 lb double shotgun. Made using a pair of India Pattern Brown Bess barrels, and a Long Land Bess buttplate, and a trigger guard stylistically ca 1740. Interesting gun.
 
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