Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 16 to 30 of 36

Thread: Collecting.....blowing hot and cold

  1. #16
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    sheffield
    Posts
    6,693

    Thumbs up

    It's been so long since I used any of my guns that i'm getting bored now with them, I finished work (For good) a couple of weeks ago and can't see me using them even now, It was the thrill of the hunt with me too, Finding nice stuff in out of the way places but it holds no thrill any more, Now i'm done with work I may go through the gun room with a view to making some room soon!


    John
    for my gunz guitarz and bonzai, see here
    www.flickr.com/photos/8163995@N07/

  2. #17
    micky2 is offline The collector formerly known as micky
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    boston
    Posts
    2,140
    Quote Originally Posted by ccdjg View Post
    I think collectors like you, where the fun of the chase is the main thing, are a fantastic asset to collectors like me. You seek out the rarities with a real vigour, yet at some future date you are happy to let them go. I know I have obtained many choice items for my collection thanks to such collectors, and always at prices well below what dealers ask.

    Sad to say, my sort of collecting tends to be one way traffic, and I only let things go if I have more than one example, and then usually only as part of a deal for something else.
    Although it is mainly the thrill of of the chase, l still have quite a few that have stayed with me. l did have at one time 13 Webley services down to 4 now. and 6 Haenel model 28s which have all gone. l have also sold some rare guns to fellow collectors over the last few years to help fund my interest in antique firearms which are very hard to find at the right price.

  3. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    City of London
    Posts
    9,736
    Well it's sad to hear from long-time enthusiasts that you have lost your passion, but I suppose the time comes to us all eventually and as John G says, it release new waves of collectables onto the market.

    I must say, my interest in airguns is as strong or stronger now as it was 40 years ago, but as my collection has grown, there's fewer items that I want to own. The good thing from my perspective is that my interests morph into new areas all the time, in part guided by what is financially possible as my fortunes have waxed and waned over time.

    Starting the gallery has definitely proved to be a bit of a shot in the arm (to coin a pertinent phrase!) in that it has opened my eyes to airguns I didn't know existed before.

    But strangely at the same time, seeing other people's collections has to some extent scratched the itch: As if knowing where they are and that they are safely stored with other collectors who share their pics willingly means I can tick them off my personal list in a weird way!

    I never would have predicted the envy that I might have felt as a rival accumulator once upon a time, would nowadays give way to a sense that all of us are part of a giant worldwide collective of airgun collectors, if that doesn't sound too cosy... But it's true, up to a point.
    Vintage Airguns Gallery
    ..Above link posted with permission from Gareth W-B
    In British slang an anorak is a person who has a very strong interest in niche subjects.

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Basingstoke, U.K.
    Posts
    6,728
    On a positive note, my passion is as strong today as it has always been.

    Despite virtually completing my Webley and BSA collections, I was still able to find two Webley Mark 1 rifles and a pristine etched BSA Standard with 1929 'transitional' stockxthis year, not to mention the BSA Improved Model D in .25!

    The above were very much exceptions though as I have very nice examples of most of the BSA and Webley variants I have always aspired to own. I have to have focus to feed my passion and that is currently being fed through my renewed born again interest in the Baikal Makarov; a pistol made from firearms grade materials, just like the Webleys and BSAs of old. My goal is to find a model from every year of production plus any specials such as factory suppressed versions, so that will keep me occupied for some time

    John M

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Callow End
    Posts
    1,616
    Quote Originally Posted by WebleyWombler View Post
    WHY? a set of proper shooting glasses or a correction lens fitted in the sights eyepiece can make a huge difference to the quality of enjoyment. I have a couple of PH sighted rifles and swop an eyepiece between them. My optician charges me about £25 to supply a fitted prescription lens.

    I also have 2 pairs of Knobloch spectacles. 1 for pistol , 1 for rifle. The Varga ones are just as good and they do make a big difference, especially for pistol.
    Thanks for that, didn't know you could do that re eyepiece in PH sights. All my rifles have teles - apart from the early Webleys/Sporter/Diana.
    Usually wear varifocals nowadays.

    ATB

    Bru
    Webley Mk3 x2, Falcon & Junior rifles, HW35x2, AirSporter x2, Gold Star, Meteors x2, Diana 25. SMK B19, Webley Senior, Premier, Hurricane x 2, Tempest, Dan Wesson 8", Crosman 3576, Legends PO8.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    London
    Posts
    1,556

    Reached a bit of a point.....

    This is a very interesting thread, and for me rather timely as my venture into the world of vintage airguns has hit a bit of a wall.

    I only started collecting a couple of years ago, and it was mainly due to the Lea Valley monthly Vintage and pistol comps which me & the missus have religiously attended for the last 3 years.
    This gave us the opportunity to compete with pre-war, classic and also semi-recoiless match rifles in both HFT type comps and bell target.

    Over the 3 years I've collected a few fine vintage rifles, one of each type of the classic 10m rifles and most of the pistols I'm interested in.

    So there was a nice symbiotic circle: research - buy - service - practice - compete - share - make video - then put into the rotation for competition....... and so-on on until there is a great selection of airguns which are all set up for competition or a bit of plinking.

    I was always conscious that if we didn't have anywhere to shoot them competitively then one of the driving forces behind my passion for this hobby would go....... and sure enough Lea Valley has just undergone some 'management restructuring' which means we won't be shooting there anymore from the new year onwards.

    I can still shoot my collection at our other HFT/FT clubs but a casual plink with maybe one or two fellow enthusiasts is nowhere near as inspiring and fun as a vintage comp with 30 odd competitors.

    Coinciding with this I feel I have all the rifles I want (25 at the mo, don't know how that happened) and most of the pistols I want too. (with a few exceptions that are proving to costly to aquire)
    So I've reached the point where further purchases are proving unlikely, but I definitely don't want to sell anything, I just need to find new ways of enjoying what I have.

    There are whisperings of a new vintage shoot somewhere else, and I think we will try to join Bisley who do a pre-war shoot as well as pistols, HFT & FT.

    I suppose I can rotate the 10m springers for informal Bell Target at one of our other clubs. It's always mildly disappointing when you bring out a really nice old vintage rifle and no-one's interested! Nothing beats a group of fellow enthusiasts.

    I have some interesting Vintage projects on the go, and am still very enthusiastic about making the Vintage airgun videos, to try to spread the word.(Les's 600 thread was very nice to read)

    Me & the missus are both heavily into HFT and I'm just starting FT so plenty of competing there
    ....We will really miss the Lea Valley Vintage comp though... really was nothing like it.

    Cheers,
    Matt

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    523

    Nowadays

    I don't shoot.If I did,I be kicked out of my salubrious accommodation before I could say 'Jack Robinson! I 'handle'my shooters and bang off the odd CO2 gun. Love the kick of my Crosman 451! I sort out my pellets etc,thumb through old literature....spend a lot of time in the past and enjoy most of it. Get palpitations if I contemplate empty gun racks! A once handsome metal waste paper basket looks woeful after having been given the Ampell Super Magnum treatment. Something rather satisfying about BBs twanging around one's ears/Very much an aquired taste. Trev

  8. #23
    ggggr's Avatar
    ggggr is online now part time super hero and seeker of justice
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Flintshire Ch6 sort of near bagillt
    Posts
    2,317
    I have "few" cough cough airguns, and to be honest they rarely get used. I bought some just to look at and strip down for "the idiots guide" . Some were fettled a bit and others just stripped and lubed.
    I dont really want to get rid of them as I feel a part of me is involved in some of them. I always say I'm not a collector, but just a big kid who enjoys plinking. I do enjoy seeing some of the modifications or bodges that have been done to guns over time and there is something "FUN" about plinking with a rough gun.
    On Christmas Day, which should be my first drink for 5 weeks, I plan on a quick plink with a rough, tired Webley Falcon. Why? It hs become part of my Christmas tradition
    On My birthday, I get a 1907 Bsa out and shoot a few "Zulus " , little bits of black wood with eyes painted on The Webley Service Mk2 is good for this as well.
    If I am trying to teach someone to shoot with a rifle, the little Baikal Ij 38 is usually used.
    If it is with a pistol, usually a Tempest.
    My favourite pistol is a dog rough Bsa Scorpion. The pistol I have been know to have the odd drunken Saturday night plink with.

    When I'm in the mood on calm days (gets bloody windy here) , sometimes various Webley pistols will come out for a plink.

    I have the odd go with a Mibro Cougar i got together. It is odd as the sight base goes one way, the sight the other and my home made foresight post is not straight either

    With some of the things, I try to share them and Danny has put a few things up on his site, Webley Tempest trigger tuning, Milbor Cougar Trigger and the differences between Relum breakbarrel and underlever pistols. It is just a small way of trying to help people and give something back.

    But I'm not planning on getting rid of all my guns just yet and I am still after a few things as well.

    (Rough Webley Typhoon anyone? I want to make a Typest)
    Cooler than Mace Windu with a FRO, walking into Members Only and saying "Bitches, be cool"

  9. #24
    edbear2 Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by micky2 View Post
    Although it is mainly the thrill of of the chase, l still have quite a few that have stayed with me. l did have at one time 13 Webley services down to 4 now. and 6 Haenel model 28s which have all gone. l have also sold some rare guns to fellow collectors over the last few years to help fund my interest in antique firearms which are very hard to find at the right price.
    Thought I would resurrect this after seeing Trevor's post. I still enjoy the ones I have, and can't walk past anything I see for sale without a look and a chat, but as Micky says the proceeds from all I sold were put to use funding other interests, I was very strict on this, to the extent of opening an account just for the stuff I sold. I spent some of it on operations on my hand, and because in the last 3 years I have been out and about a lot more musically, invested in a vintage guitar of a diffrent type (wider neck) to suit my hand issues and some amplification stuff.

    The rest I wasted on a classic motorbike which is a wonderful window back to my youth when out on it.

    I still have a gun for each day of the week, and do have slight pangs over some of the really nice ones I let go (engraved Lights / Milpat / Mod B / Boxed Juvenile) but know they are beng enjoyed by some other people now, so all is not lost.

    I think the things I have gained on balance have given me more and more varied fun than having stored guns I hardly shot, although I tried my hardest to give them all outings, having so many meant months between each time for each gun, and soon you settle down to the old favorites ...which are the ones I still have.

    ATB, Ed
    Last edited by edbear2; 19-12-2020 at 05:05 PM.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    Dartmouth
    Posts
    298
    Vintage to me only goes back to the 60s, I don't yearn for stuff much earlier, Mk 1 meteor being the oldest.
    I do love my webley collection, only three, mk2 junior, early tempest and hurricane. I will add to that, but only at a reasonable price, and at the moment, with job insecurity as it is, I m not sure how long work will go on. Hopefully I don't have to sell my toys and start again, but sometimes needs must.
    My interest, rather than just collecting, is fettling and using, not competition wise, just garden and sometimes local range shooting.
    I've had some magic help along the way, Guy ggggr to name one, has been brill in giving me info and advice.
    Ive parted with a couple of guns, but they were ones I wouldn't use. Today I shot about 30 or 40 pellets through all my guns, magic, loved it, so when finances dictate I can buy another, I will.
    Untill then, anyone fed up with any gun, p ll ease feel free to send it to me for safe keeping and a bit plinking lol
    Stay Safe..
    Dan

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    gateshead
    Posts
    24,046
    im down to 2 rifles now and hope to get down to one soon

  12. #27
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Narberth
    Posts
    767
    Mmmm....As I am getting old and doddery, it blows cold when I go to bed at night and before drifting away, I think how to reduce the collection, not vast by any means about 35. Which do I sell? When to part with the lot, as my two sons and daughter are not interested and haven't a clue what they are worth - at least I have a complete history files of each; cost, when and where bought, serial numbers, condition, any work done,up to date value, etc. Which may help....? But, then it blows hot when the first thing I do in the morning is to log in to this most excellent forum in the cosmos. Browsing General, Collectables and dare I say it, the Sales section. All is forgotten about last night's terrible thoughts - until the next time.....

    Keep safe and well, Merry Christmas to all....

  13. #28
    ccdjg is offline Airgun Alchemist, Collector and Scribe
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Leeds
    Posts
    2,039
    When a fistful of fivers gets the adrenalin flowing more than a tasty air gun, then you know its time to throw in the collecting towel.

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Jun 2000
    Location
    Basingstoke, U.K.
    Posts
    6,728
    Quote Originally Posted by edbear2 View Post

    I still have a gun for each day of the week, and do have slight pangs over some of the really nice ones I let go (engraved Lights / Milpat / Mod B / Boxed Juvenile) but know they are beng enjoyed by some other people now, so all is not lost.

    ATB, Ed
    Hi Ed,

    The cased Juvenile found a very good home with me, as I was offered it around a year ago. Lovely example.

    Kind Regards,

    John

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Ickenham
    Posts
    328
    I have got my collection[hording] out to photo and catalogue, and find the values as most have not seen the light of day for years. Now that I have I'm getting interested again now, It must be some kind of sickness.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •