I am surprised that so many disagree with me!
Let me state, that I consider firearms to be tools. I don’t hold many romantic feelings about the things, or their past. Maybe a little bit, but I was heavily influenced by a Civilian Service Rifle Champ. Quin Moore was unconcerned about the appearance of his M1a, and as he said “
you want to shoot your rifle or do you want to make love to it?” I decided I wanted to shoot the things. As such, I probably have lost lots of money on some of my vintage firearms by making them shootable.
I had this rare (less than 500 5.5” M46’s made) S&W target pistol made into something I could shoot by having it drilled and tapped for a sight base. Pistols this old were used with irons only. I am too old to use irons in competition shooting. While this has lost much of its “collector” value, I really don’t give a flip as I want to shoot it. And I have been shooting it regularly in Bullseye pistol competition and it is a great, accurate, rimfire. Let the collectors moan and groan in the estate auction where this will surely be sold. I don’t care. I got to shoot it.
Now I don’t plan to dork with this M37 Remington, a pre war model. I have the original irons, the front sight is dime sized, tiny compared to current practice. The Lyman super scope likely 1950’s or 1960’s, has a narrow field of view, but, it works. And that is what is important, I don’t want a gun I can’t shoot, and shoot well. Worn out or inaccurate firearms are of no use to me as all they are is pieces of machinery. I am the thing that makes them work.
I take the thing out at least once a year and shoot it in competition. I am proud to say I did win a 100 yard match with the thing, shooting a 400-32X’s against Nationally ranked shooters who were using the absolute latest and greatest. I did not win the aggregate. The guys I was shooting against are consistently good shooters, I am an occasional good shooter, and in the long run, consistency beats luck.
But, I am shooting the thing, not making love to it.
So in that regard, if someone wants an old piece of iron that looks old, because of the romantic associations they have with age, will, fine with them. It is a lot cheaper to go down to the scrap yard and acquire old rusted iron. I think the stuff is a dollar a pound. Fill your yard with a ton of the stuff, for a lot less cost than a couple of rusted Colts.