[Ron Wood]

Arvin,

Your points on restoration are well taken. However, standards vary from hobby to hobby. Within the antique car community, considerable effort is made to restore vehicles to original and operable condition. This is acceptable and encouraged for this hobby. Other collectables do not follow those rules. Coin and stamp collectors are on the opposite end of the spectrum. Nothing may be done to enhance the condition of a specimen. Lugers fall somewhere in between. For most Luger collectors, a Luger in 95% or better original condition is a very desirable find, and restoration or alteration diminishes its worth. It is difficult to find specimens that have withstood the ravages of time and mistreatment, consequently choosing not to apply any ministration other than cleaning and preserving is not considered neglect, and certainly not â??sillyâ?. Conversely, some Lugers are in such poor state of preservation or operational condition that restoration, to include re-barreling, will enhance their worth and safety. I need only point out the restoration efforts of the forum member â??Thorâ? that have transformed pitiful examples to objects of beauty that command prices approaching original specimens. Also, there have been examples of very rare Lugers and other early firearms that were so decimated by rust and damage that restoration has been fully justified to preserve a historical item. To address your comment specifically, yes, depending on the firearm in question, restoration and/or changing a barrel on a weapon is considered destroying a gun.

What is and isnâ??t operationally safe is not a â??sheep like state of mind that you are destroying something if you change it to make it useableâ?. I think the fundamental difference in our views lies in what constitutes â??safe to shootâ?. You appear to be of the opinion that a pitted bore is unsafe to shoot, and I am convinced that it isnâ??t. You obviously are not a collector, and there is nothing wrong with that. You donâ??t have the mindset of a collector; therefore shooting and safety are foremost in your consideration.

I apologize profusely for subjecting you and the readership to my lengthy tirade, but as a long time collector who has very strong feelings about the preservation of the hobby, I sometimes get carried away. And although you think I am â??not thinking smartlyâ?, I thank you for the opportunity to state my case.