Opinions on firing a rare or expensive gun?

Would you fire a rare or expensive historical firearm?

  • No, it would be a safe queen

    Votes: 17 17.9%

  • Yes, but I would limit myself to a certain amount

    Votes: 49 51.6%

  • Yes, I would fire it like all of my other firearms

    Votes: 29 30.5%
  • Total voters
    95
I had a 1903A4 sniper that I rebuilt. it wasn't worth the $5000 that originals sell for, but it was still a $2000 gun. I shot it regularly until I got tired of dumping money into it. ever since then most of my guns have been between $1000 and $1500 with optics and I shoot them a lot too.
 
I have several C&Rs that could be considered rare or expensive and I do shoot them, but within reason. One reason I own them is I enjoy seeing smiles on peoples faces when they get to hold and shoot a piece of history. I have a 1873 Custer era Carbine that does see range time, but only with black powder, reduced loads, my Lend Lease Garand goes to the range every so often, but then I have another Garand to pick up the slack. I have a 1913 NRA Sales M1903 that I have yet to take out, but it will go out sometime, for some reason US bolt action rifles, other than the Krag, really don't excite me.
The only answer that matters is the one you decide on. For myself, the enjoyment of sharing some historic arms and introducing people to shooting is all I need.
 
As many others have said ... It depends.

I bought an all matching, near pristine 1941 byf P.08 about 20 years ago that obviously had not been fired much. Since I already had (still have) a shooter grade P.08 I've been able to resist firing the byf all those years. I haven't had the byf appraised but expect it's worth about $2500, but a broken numbered part would drop the value greatly. Heck, its original "black widow" grips are probably worth $250 but back when I bought it those grips were viewed as a negative by the seller and me. Who knew they would grow popular.

However, now as I get older I do want to run a magazine or two through it. Not often you get to fire a 75 year old but like new pistol. My shooter is a 1913 and we made a big deal of shooting it on its 100th birthday! The 1913 has suffered only one broken part after shooting thousands of rounds since I bought it in 1975. The byf is made of stronger steel so you wouldn't expect a couple magazines to hurt it.
 
Mint, unfired, NIB,-No. Moderately used-yes.
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Mint, unfired, NIB. There is no such thing. Every manufacturer test fires every firearm before it leaves the factory. So mint-never fired-nib does not exist.
 
Mint, unfired, NIB. There is no such thing. Every manufacturer test fires every firearm before it leaves the factory. So mint-never fired-nib does not exist
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That's your opinion, but it's a minority opinion. The majority hold that factory test & proof firing are part of the manufacturing process, and are not "counted" when the gun is described, AFTER LEAVING the factory.
 
Mint, unfired, NIB. There is no such thing. Every manufacturer test fires every firearm before it leaves the factory. So mint-never fired-nib does not exist.
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And yet... there is such a thing. A relative of mine has just such a gun. In the 1970s he bought at auction an NIB Winchester Rifle 1873 manufactured in 1873 a very early model, a very low serial number. At the time he paid almost a years wages for the gun. His wife almost left him. He collected all the paperwork up from Winchester and did all the background and province work on it years ago. The guy at Winchester suggested that it may never have been fired.

He has never fired the gun himself, never even handles it without gloves on, on the rare occasions when it does come out of the case. Today the gun is worth approximately 30 times what he paid for it back then. Had he fired it the value would likely be less.

This is not really a gun, it is more a show piece, investment and a piece of frozen history.
 
If it was a gun I thought I might not shoot...I wouldn't buy it!

I appreciate older guns but for NIB and never fired, let someone else buy it for a safe space saver. If I get it, it wont stay unfired until the weekend.
 
As someone who was once a broke and dirt poor college student, I say that $1800 is actually a lot of money for a gun. $1800 anything is expensive. 'Rare' is another issue.

If you have a rare and expensive C&R gun, as long as it's safe, shoot it. These guns can handle it. The exception is if the gun is somehow unfired and it's provable that it's unfired.

Wall trophies are boring.
 
He has never fired the gun himself, never even handles it without gloves on, on the rare occasions when it does come out of the case. Today the gun is worth approximately 30 times what he paid for it back then. Had he fired it the value would likely be less.

This is not really a gun, it is more a show piece, investment and a piece of frozen history.
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It it rarely comes out of it's case it is not a show piece and there is no history in something like that.
 
I don't think the OP is asking about shooting priceless museum pieces but shooting really nice examples, possibly unfired, of more common guns that have a much higher than average value because of their condition.

Several years ago I traded into a 1954 Colt Commander in a somewhat tattered box without the paperwork. The condition led everyone that looked at it to believe that it was unfired. I suspect that it may have been worth upwards of $1500 at that time but that was still substantially less than something built by Ed Brown or Les Baer or Nighthawk Custom or any others.

It is my favorite of the 5 1911s that I own and I have no regrets whatsoever about shooting it.
 
A C&R gun costing around $1800 is not one that I'd consider shooting very often, if at all. Collector value can really be dented heavily with added wear and tear. Plus any parts damage might be difficult to replace. I wouldn't have a problem shooting my Trapdoor Springfield, my 1870's-ish Martini-Henry or 1851Enfield Snyder conversion, but then they didn't cost me anywhere close to 2grand.
 
I have a '43 Colt Lend Lease 1911 A1 in 95% or maybe a little better. Probably will never fire it again. I have other 45's that are much more accurate if I want to scratch the itch.
 
My answer to that dilemma is simple..I don't own anything I wouldn't shoot. No safe queens, and no museum pieces in my "accuulation".:D
 
Everyone seems to put their answer in a box. Generally, I'm going to shoot a gun no matter the value or age... but there are some exceptions. My great-grandfather's shotgun circa 1880 or so? No way (not to mention it needs a BP shotgun load, which aren't exactly common). As others have said an original numbers matching luger? Negative.

Most guns WWI and later I will shoot, unless it's a historic piece with numbers matching parts that are prone to wear. A bolt action K98 Mauser? I would shot it even if it was numbers matching in pristine condition. It's a simple design that isn't likely to be harmed by firing it. A Luger, numbers matching? Probably rarely if ever.
 
Heavy Boxes??

Some folks are gun collectors, while others collect heavy boxes.

I'm a gun collector, Can't wait to shoot my LC Smith on it's hundredth birthday. My Smith is a very low serial number single barrel trap, it still smashes the targets.

Gotta wait till April 2018, I'll do my very best to break a 25 that day.
 
I wouldn't take a tactical pistol course or shoot a rainy 3 gun match with it, but with a gun of historical significance or collector's value I would like to shoot a box now and again where feasible.
 
I would not treat it like a truck gun but I would shoot it. I have a Remington
22 Rem Special. It is 90 years old, nowhere near the price of $1800 but I shoot it all the time.

The only gun I have that is close to your value in my M1A standard. I shoot that all the time. I only one I don't shoot all the time are the ones stuck in the back of the safe and I forgot that I have them:D.

Might as well enjoy it before Hillary takes them away and melts it down to make a Smart car:(.
 
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