Vintage Airgun refinishing and collector value

[cinedux]

another LP52 will pop up.....it will be grabbed irrespective of the finish/refinish. Thanks to Bondies it has become a legend in it's own time! ;-)

[Troubledshooter]

As a collector I tend to always prefer original unmolested guns, but have bought a couple of refinished guns because of their rarity.
The first was a boxed Mk.1 Spring Clip from KB, that, according to Keith, had been refinished to a superb standard by VAG, and it certainly was. This pistol is no longer in my collection.
The second was an uncommon variant of a pre war BSA rifle, bought from a very keen collector in London on behalf of another collector friend of mine, who also is not a fan of refinished items. Because of it's rarity he did relax his objections and purchased the rifle at a very reasonable price, but the more he looked at it, the less enamoured he became and soon sold on the offending item.
Years ago when they still did such things, I had some Webley pistols refurbished at Webley under the supervision of Tom Cooper, and the finished products were superb both inside and out, as Webley at the time still had a few inner spares. Most of these have been sold over the years as refurbished items, but I still occasionally unearth another one I'd put in a box and forgotten about.
If a gun is to be used but is looking the worse for wear, I have no problem with it being refinished to protect the surface in future use, but as part of a collection, generally no.

[Garvin]

Here is an example of a very rare air pistol I passed up the chance of owning - or at least didn't pursue as vigorously as I might have done when the owner mentioned he was thinking of selling it some years ago (which I think he then did).

I was in two minds because of its extreme rarity, but ultimately I couldn't face pushing the boat out, price-wise, only to end up with a pistol whose history had been completely erased, albeit very skilfully:

https://forum.vintageairgunsgallery....tol/#post-1934

[ccdjg]

I agree with you entirely about that Certus, and it is something would certainly jar with me every time I looked at it. I am not sure though if it would be the fact that it was refinished that would annoy me, or more the fact that its finish was too good and kept reminding me that it was refinished. If it had been properly "aged" I would probably have been more inclined to own it. To some extent, it is all in the mind.

This is an example of a pistol I refurbished and I feel no pangs of guilt about doing so. It is a unique Lincon Jeffries prototype for one of his patented
but never commercialised designs, and I am never going to find another example. When found it was totally unusable, very rusty, with seized screws,missing cylinder plug and damaged thread where the plug would go. It did have its original piston and spring however. I decided that a sympathetic restoration was needed. Rust was removed, leaving what was left of the original blued finish intact. Screws were freed and damaged heads cleaned up. The cylinder thread was repaired and a replacement plug made out of steel. This was rust blued and aged to match the rest of the gun. The gun is now fully functional, looks good in my collection rather than being an eyesore, and yet it still looks its age. I don't feel that I have destroyed its history but that I have brought its history to life, but of course, that is just my opinion and others may feel differently.

[Garvin]

I very much approve of that unique LJ prototype being restored to the degree it is, and especially the replacement end plug you made. It's restored enough to preserve it for the future but not so much as to make anyone think you knew (or pretended to know) exactly what it looked like it on the day it left the workshop.

But I'm not sure I would necessarily want to own it myself, extremely desirable collectable though it is!

[ccdjg]

Thanks Danny.

But I'm not sure I would necessarily want to own it myself, extremely desirable collectable though it is!

There you have it in a nutshell. There are almost as many different motivations in airgun collecting as there are airguns!

[Rotherham Owl]

I'm lucky to have a nice collection of full-on original spec Air Arms rifles with a couple having had a minor touch up to the walnut by Warren Edwards. This doesn't bother me in the slightest.

My pride & joy is Shamal number one - the first production Air Arms PCP.

The original owner decided to update the bolt housing with the later, much nicer looking one.

Now this would normally be a major problem for me & I would not be happy until the original style housing was put back on.

However, that first owner was legendary Air Arms sales manager Bill Saunders so I am more than happy to leave it as it is - to me it is more appealing & a great piece of Air Arms history in more than one aspect.

I'm sure some would disagree.

So, the appeal of a rifle that has had a re-finish or changes made to it can be more appealing depending on the story behind it.

[cinedux]

John,your agony is shared.Diminished a bit by the singular nature of the subject but certainly 'sleep destroying".If a model went into production then I'd go for the jugular(as it were).As a prototype I'd do a heap of rationalising.Even now.my pulse is racing!Trev

[Dutch]

Another interesting phenomenon is that collectors usually develop a particular taste in period, brand, quality etc (moderated by age, budget, space, spouse etc). Volume (wild interest collecting) usually precedes quality & focus. I started with an old shaved & refinished Webley MK1 pistol, with faint markings, which I loved! When I was offered an unrestored VGC boxed mk1 pistol, I knew that originality & condition would be important factors in my future hunting. Sold the refinished MK1 & and I'm always on the lookout for an even better specimen. The volume is still there, but expansion is definitely more controlled now.

When to refinish: personally I think a bit of wear & tear is very acceptable, more so when an item is rare. But there is a point where rust(pitting) is overwhelming and the piece is better off restored. Besides rust pitting I have difficulties with refinished wood, especially when it's not grainy walnut.