Brian, as I stated in an earlier post, it is his rifle and he is more than welcome to do whatever he wants to it. But that is not the point.
First of all, the owner of this rifle was wrongfully advised by a 'trusted friend' that mineral oil would be a suitable way to refinish the wood. Had he been told beforehand that mineral oil would degrade the wood fibers and glue causing his stock to delaminate over time, I have a pretty good feeling he would have taken a different approach.
What's done with this rifle is done. My post was meant to be informative in hopes of preventing new or unfamiliar collectors from making the same mistake. It's no different than teaching someone why putting low octane fuel in a car that requires high octane fuel is a bad idea. Learning how to properly take care of and maintain a historical rifle is equally as important.
As for the whole "should" thing...Your views are overly simplistic... and clearly extreme if you think something as historically significant as the Mona Lisa is okay to throw in a furnace just because whoever owns it at the time feels like burning it. Many historical buildings, and artifacts have been lost with your same mentality. The Mona Lisa is actually a great example, Brian. The Nazi's thought the same thing back in 1945 when they were in possession of the painting. Had the Allies not shown up in Altaussee when they did the Mona Lisa as well as a slew of others would have been a pile of ash years ago. Unfortunately, 1000's of other priceless paintings were destroyed when the Nazi's decided to torch what they couldn't take with them.
As much as I would like to, I can't take my rifles to the grave. These rifles are historical and we are only their caretakers until they are passed down to the next generation. I would like to think that someone who was shown how to properly take care of a rifle would want to utilize that knowledge to preserve it. If they still decide to slather mineral oil on the stock after knowing the detrimental effects it will have, it's their rifle and power to them. But what a shame that would be.
I can't afford to "buy up as many originals as possible." Sure I could start a not-for-profit foundation but I doubt that would do much good. You know what will help though? Hopefully this thread when a new collector searches for how to refinish a G43 on google.
First of all, the owner of this rifle was wrongfully advised by a 'trusted friend' that mineral oil would be a suitable way to refinish the wood. Had he been told beforehand that mineral oil would degrade the wood fibers and glue causing his stock to delaminate over time, I have a pretty good feeling he would have taken a different approach.
What's done with this rifle is done. My post was meant to be informative in hopes of preventing new or unfamiliar collectors from making the same mistake. It's no different than teaching someone why putting low octane fuel in a car that requires high octane fuel is a bad idea. Learning how to properly take care of and maintain a historical rifle is equally as important.
As for the whole "should" thing...Your views are overly simplistic... and clearly extreme if you think something as historically significant as the Mona Lisa is okay to throw in a furnace just because whoever owns it at the time feels like burning it. Many historical buildings, and artifacts have been lost with your same mentality. The Mona Lisa is actually a great example, Brian. The Nazi's thought the same thing back in 1945 when they were in possession of the painting. Had the Allies not shown up in Altaussee when they did the Mona Lisa as well as a slew of others would have been a pile of ash years ago. Unfortunately, 1000's of other priceless paintings were destroyed when the Nazi's decided to torch what they couldn't take with them.
As much as I would like to, I can't take my rifles to the grave. These rifles are historical and we are only their caretakers until they are passed down to the next generation. I would like to think that someone who was shown how to properly take care of a rifle would want to utilize that knowledge to preserve it. If they still decide to slather mineral oil on the stock after knowing the detrimental effects it will have, it's their rifle and power to them. But what a shame that would be.
I can't afford to "buy up as many originals as possible." Sure I could start a not-for-profit foundation but I doubt that would do much good. You know what will help though? Hopefully this thread when a new collector searches for how to refinish a G43 on google.