Are there Establishments/Museums that Collect Airguns out there......

[walnutfarmmick]

Hi

I went along to my local museum with an old (330 years old) Samurai sword to see if I could get any info on it, They just wanted me to donate it to them all the time, I know that if I had donated it, I'd never see it again as it wouldn't get displayed so I gave them the elbow, It was a waste of time anyhow as they let a European sword specialist give an opinion on it that hadn't a clue about them!

John
I'm

When I was far more naive I lent some aviation collectables to an aircraft museum. The only way I’ll see then again is by buying a ticket. Sadly a common story.

Live and learn, Mick

[keith66]

About 30 years ago when my parents moved up north one of my dads friends took on the job of curator of a new Maritime museum at Barrow in furness.
We got a guided tour of the place one day. They had a warehouse full of stuff, much of it irrelavant to the museums remit.
Guns, swords, artefacts by the ton. None of it ever to see the light of day again & like many other such places with stringent rules that prevent disposal.
Im pretty sure the maritime museum folded & was replaced by something much smaller.
Personally the last place i would put anything is a museum!

[ccdjg]

IMO all museums should now, by law, list all their artefacts online, with detailed images and relevant information. Otherwise they are just black holes that swallow up and hide away all but the small percentage of items they choose to put on show. In 20 years of researching air pistols I have unearthed vastly more information from private collectors than any museum has been able to do. There must be many, many antique airguns mothballed in museums all over the world that have no online listing.

John

[Garvin]

IMO all museums should now, by law, list all their artefacts online, with detailed images and relevant information. Otherwise they are just black holes that swallow up and hide away all but the small percentage of items they choose to put on show. In 20 years of researching air pistols I have unearthed vastly more information from private collectors than any museum has been able to do. There must be many, many antique airguns mothballed in museums all over the world that have no online listing.

John

I completely agree with this. It's amazing to me that some people in charge of museums are so unimaginative that they don't see the value of harnessing technology to open up their collections to a wider view. It's already happening in some museums, but not nearly fast enough overall. E.g., we should all be able to view the complete John McCrossen Webley airgun collection online now.

if it's a lack of resources that's the problem, they should think about how online visits could be translated into cash. Not through advertising but by charging a small - and I mean small - fee to online visitors. It would add up soon enough if the offering is attractive enough. And as John suggests, they should be compelled to do it if they don't. Particularly if they are funded through public grants.