Consider the "provenance" of a historic firearm personalized by its owner,
As in maybe a Billy the Kid revolver with notches carved in it.
Maybe someone like Crazy Horse or Mariano Medina put brass tacks in his stock.
As a toolmaker,I appreciate a firearm as a Tool.
I do have my limits,there are a lot of firearms I would not mod.
Funny,if I take a resurrected receiver and do as honest of a job of restoration to a historical piece as I can...some criticize me for creating a fake.
My older,1970's vintage Super Black Hawk came with a 7 1/2 in bbl.
Sitting in my pickup with it in the holster,it held my right butt cheekup of the seat and bent my spine.
I think Elmer was right,that a bbl length of about 5 in is good.
I got the hacksaw out.Funny thing,a few other folks who shot it,got their hacksaws out,too.
Its a fact Elmer scrapped a fair number of fine handguns.Yet he pioneered advancements we take for granted.
When we defend the 2nd Amendment,we rationally declare the firearm an inanimate object.
But then some of us project some magical ,spiritual entity on them.
Its OK to do that,enjoy however you wish.
But I can't understand criticizing another person for modding a firearm (so long as it is safe) that is his property.
Its no different than shortening a shovel handle or a Hi-Lift Jack.
And if I decide I don't like the shorter barrel,I can buy a Douglas or a Kreiger or whatever and thread and fit it.
I have been "that guy" at the factory who runs the lathe or the mill or the broach or whatever that makes the parts.
I have made some pretty inticate gun parts,like the safety linkage to a Luigi Franchi double,that was a complex stamping.I machined it out of a solid block.A smith I knew needed a lower tang for a Winder Musket.I made three.
Rolling block extractors? I have made several.(Please,no PM requests,I'm not in the business of making parts)
I have also made Muzzle loaders where I started from a raw blank for a stock,a blank for a barrel,and a Siler kit for a lock.I forged and made the trigger guard,trigger,etc other parts.
For myself,once I had the skills,experience,and confidence...
Any commercially available firearm,or old basketcase from under a bench is just something to work with to make what I want.
Consider this,I'm sure it will be controversial.
I had a woman friend who was interested in hunting.She had an old Glenfield 30-30 that was backing out primers about 1/32 in.Just a little headspace problem.
I put her together a 7-08 on a Mex Mauser with a Garrett Accra-Lite stock.
She hated it!!!.Because she was a horse woman who liked wood and steel lever actions.
I saw a sav 99 in 300 Sav,full length rifle.Good price,decent shape.She was about 5ft 6 in.
I shortened the bbl and stock,drilled and tapped it,and put a Leupold Gold Ring 4X on it.
I made her snap cap dummy rounds,drilled cases and Flexane filled primer pockets.I told her to dry fire.I took her shooting.Over a rest,she was shooting groups under 2 in at 100 yds.
She went hunting with her family,got her deer.
She is proud of her rifle,and will never sell it.
You might think I commited a travesty by cutting an old 99.I don't care.
I turned it into HER RIFLE,not your rifle.And it mattered.To her.