Detachment Issues

[ggggr]

A phrase I was introduced to yesterday by Phil (PjBingham).
I think it means that after you have got a rough gun up and running again, even if it is still rough, that you have formed a bond with it and cannot let it go.
I know I have this problem, which is why I have so many crappy old guns.
A few of my favourite pistols are my dog rough Scorpion, a rough Tempest, and a rusty Senior I got from John (Duomatic 410). I had trouble letting go the .177 Tempest with a bit missing out of the frame, where I think someone had fitted some flat bar to make a shoulder stock. That was the one I got off Hsing-ee. My niece had the sense to claim that one before I started to do it, but it was still hard letting it go.

I have the feeling that this affliction is more common amongst those of us who tinker with the really rough stuff.

Do you suffer from this?

[pjbingham]

Guy has outed me so here goes....My name is Phil and I'm addicted to crap Airguns. Often the worse they are the more I want them,I almost feel for their suffering. I'm the same with other stuff,I bought my house as a wreck and even my cats are rescue cats with only one tail and 3 eyes between them.
Once I have rebuilt an air pistol I wouldn't be able to get rid of it unless it was passed on to someone who feels the same and even then it would be difficult,however I don't have any issue selling something that's newish. I tend to hoard as many old spares as possible and it's almost as hard passing those on but I'm a hypocrite because I could never bring myself to break a gun myself. I was never this bad until I got divorced and lost almost everything. I bought her out so I had the house but I had to sell everything prior to pay for the divorce and she took the rest. I had a coffee table and a wooden trunk and that was it. The gas/electric/phone/water etc she had cut off. I had managed to hide my Airsporter and Tempest and parts of a BSA cadet in the loft,these were parts of my collection that I just couldn't bare to part with and the night she left I went up with a torch and retrieved them from under the insulation Since then I've collected every waif and stray I could get my hands on and that genuinely makes me happy. I've had councilling because I have an obsession with fixing things,not being able to fix things genuinely distresses me,other than all that I'm completely normal

[piggy589]

I like Meteors,rougher the better.

Ok confession over .

[njaw]

Guy has outed me so here goes....My name is Phil and I'm addicted to crap Airguns. Often the worse they are the more I want them,I almost feel for their suffering. I'm the same with other stuff,I bought my house as a wreck and even my cats are rescue cats with only one tail and 3 eyes between them.
Once I have rebuilt an air pistol I wouldn't be able to get rid of it unless it was passed on to someone who feels the same and even then it would be difficult,however I don't have any issue selling something that's newish. I tend to hoard as many old spares as possible and it's almost as hard passing those on but I'm a hypocrite because I could never bring myself to break a gun myself. I was never this bad until I got divorced and lost almost everything. I bought her out so I had the house but I had to sell everything prior to pay for the divorce and she took the rest. I had a coffee table and a wooden trunk and that was it. The gas/electric/phone/water etc she had cut off. I had managed to hide my Airsporter and Tempest and parts of a BSA cadet in the loft,these were parts of my collection that I just couldn't bare to part with and the night she left I went up with a torch and retrieved them from under the insulation Since then I've collected every waif and stray I could get my hands on and that genuinely makes me happy. I've had councilling because I have an obsession with fixing things,not being able to fix things genuinely distresses me,other than all that I'm completely normal

Excellent post sir!

[pjbingham]

Excellent post sir!

Thankyou,it was very therapeutic No detachment issues of you're own to confess?

[njaw]

Thankyou,it was very therapeutic No detachment issues of you're own to confess?

Yes indeed. I have 8 restoration projects in hand as we speak. Two Tell air rifles, a Relum, a Cadet, two Nepalese antique 'Enfield' muskets and a couple of other examples that only their mothers would love. All are in storage awaiting the light of day. Would I ever let them go? To the right person I guess.

[pjbingham]

Yes indeed. I have 8 restoration projects in hand as we speak. Two Tell air rifles, a Relum, a Cadet, two Nepalese antique 'Enfield' muskets and a couple of other examples that only their mothers would love. All are in storage awaiting the light of day. Would I ever let them go? To the right person I guess.

We still seem to be a minority,no one else is confessing

[Binners]

Guy has outed me so here goes....My name is Phil and I'm addicted to crap Airguns. Often the worse they are the more I want them,I almost feel for their suffering. I'm the same with other stuff,I bought my house as a wreck and even my cats are rescue cats with only one tail and 3 eyes between them.
Once I have rebuilt an air pistol I wouldn't be able to get rid of it unless it was passed on to someone who feels the same and even then it would be difficult,however I don't have any issue selling something that's newish. I tend to hoard as many old spares as possible and it's almost as hard passing those on but I'm a hypocrite because I could never bring myself to break a gun myself. I was never this bad until I got divorced and lost almost everything. I bought her out so I had the house but I had to sell everything prior to pay for the divorce and she took the rest. I had a coffee table and a wooden trunk and that was it. The gas/electric/phone/water etc she had cut off. I had managed to hide my Airsporter and Tempest and parts of a BSA cadet in the loft,these were parts of my collection that I just couldn't bare to part with and the night she left I went up with a torch and retrieved them from under the insulation Since then I've collected every waif and stray I could get my hands on and that genuinely makes me happy. I've had councilling because I have an obsession with fixing things,not being able to fix things genuinely distresses me,other than all that I'm completely normal

I used to have detachment issues until I met you Now I have plenty of space in my sulking shed

[pjbingham]

I used to have detachment issues until I met you Now I have plenty of space in my sulking shed

You have helped me that much with my addiction Pete that you are practically a Doctor

[Benelli B76]

Guy has outed me so here goes....My name is Phil and I'm addicted to crap Airguns. Often the worse they are the more I want them,I almost feel for their suffering. I'm the same with other stuff,I bought my house as a wreck and even my cats are rescue cats with only one tail and 3 eyes between them.
Once I have rebuilt an air pistol I wouldn't be able to get rid of it unless it was passed on to someone who feels the same and even then it would be difficult,however I don't have any issue selling something that's newish. I tend to hoard as many old spares as possible and it's almost as hard passing those on but I'm a hypocrite because I could never bring myself to break a gun myself. I was never this bad until I got divorced and lost almost everything. I bought her out so I had the house but I had to sell everything prior to pay for the divorce and she took the rest. I had a coffee table and a wooden trunk and that was it. The gas/electric/phone/water etc she had cut off. I had managed to hide my Airsporter and Tempest and parts of a BSA cadet in the loft,these were parts of my collection that I just couldn't bare to part with and the night she left I went up with a torch and retrieved them from under the insulation Since then I've collected every waif and stray I could get my hands on and that genuinely makes me happy. I've had councilling because I have an obsession with fixing things,not being able to fix things genuinely distresses me,other than all that I'm completely normal

Great post Mr. Bingham, and you do not need counselling for fixing things. People who do not fix things need counselling, if it wasn't for people like you others would be living in a world of junk that does not work. As for letting go of things I have slowly got used to passing things on and having a loose grip on material possessions or they can control your life. Some rifles and pistols that I had and said I would never sell have gone and I do not feel any the worse for it. Also have more available cash to look for something different in future !

Regards, Baz

[ggggr]

I think I may be starting to develop "Detachment issues" with a Webley Mk1 pistol I bought off here the other week off Webman----it was in better nick than I thought it would be and he sent a couple of pairs of wood grips he had made. "Thank you Sir" . It was quite hard to cock and when I stripped it (Not that it really needed stripping--I am just like that) It had a flat section spring in it. I cleaned the pistol out and relubed it and tried a bit of shorter spring on the sear, but it wouldn't cock with that in and I didn't want to cut the one that came with it. It was still had to cock, so I swapped the spring with a round one I had knockng around here. With the trigger adjusted fairly light it really is an accurate pistol and send the bottle caps flying. After a quick word with my Niece, who the pistol is intended for, I decided to have a go at the wooden grips and then fit them. I don't know what sort of wood they are but they were a fairly plan brown colour, so I attacked them with the blow lamp so a lot of them are black. A few coats of Tru oil later and they have been fitted. It really does shoot well, so I will have to try not to shoot it now or I will want to keep it

Thank you Webman. It's a good un

[pjbingham]

Keep it Guy if you have bonded with it there’s a million other Mk1’s out there that your niece would be equally happy with

[Huttles94]

I might not have the largest of collections (13 air rifles and 3 (maybe 4 ) air pistols) and I dont see myself ever selling them. In fact the only air rifle I have ever sold was my Original MOD 45 and that was to my brother!

I also have the knack of whenever I see an old and abused air gun, I find myself buying it (if I can afford to do so, I aint that bad yet...) For example I bought a Diana MOD 55 of free ads not too long ago. The thing is in shambles, missing parts, damaged wood ect.... and I knew I would never find parts for the thing and nor do I have the skills to make them. But I bought it anyway. Now it is sat on my work bench waiting....

Ill get it right one day....

[Hsing-ee]

A phrase I was introduced to yesterday by Phil (PjBingham).
I think it means that after you have got a rough gun up and running again, even if it is still rough, that you have formed a bond with it and cannot let it go.
I know I have this problem, which is why I have so many crappy old guns.
A few of my favourite pistols are my dog rough Scorpion, a rough Tempest, and a rusty Senior I got from John (Duomatic 410). I had trouble letting go the .177 Tempest with a bit missing out of the frame, where I think someone had fitted some flat bar to make a shoulder stock. That was the one I got off Hsing-ee. My niece had the sense to claim that one before I started to do it, but it was still hard letting it go.

I have the feeling that this affliction is more common amongst those of us who tinker with the really rough stuff.

Do you suffer from this?

I think it is actually ATTACHMENT issues. You get attached to the object and then cannot let it go or detatch from it. If you do, you will have the nasty feeling of ALIENATION.

The phenomenon is actually quite deep. In re-building the machine, in this case air-pistols and rifles, you put your labour both mental and physical and sometimes artistic, into the object and transform it from one state to another. The object then contain or represents part of you, it can legitimately be seen as part of you. So of course it is difficult letting go of part of yourself.

Karl Marx had a whole theory based on this phenomenon, in that a person works for another person, say fixing old air-pistols and making them useable and good again. The boss, who owns the workshop and the capital to buy old pistols as raw materials, then takes the refurbished pistols and sell them, giving the worker only some of the money. The worker is therefore alienated from himself, as his labour disappears into the object and he does not receive full compensation for it.

If people have the skill, they love to make and fix things. Its much more satisfying as the objects - clothes, airguns, furniture, cars whatever - contain part of their owner. Its a strange process but much more interesting than just buying something made by people unknown in a distant factory.

[Modski66]

I have a Zastava GP45 that I have been working on for about five years now, still not quite got it going at 100% yet, but I am close.
The amount of time I have put into it, modifying the grip, getting accessories, etc etc, I don't think I could ever part with it.
I spent a lot of time working on a Haenel 303s, only to go and sell it, then almost immediately regretted it. Then recently I got the chance to buy it back, and yes, for more than I sold it for. Not going to sell it again!