Then you have the cheapskates who break down a rifle to save $10 on shipping in a smaller box. I never break down a rifle for shipping. All I need is butchered screws as stated or gouges etc. I bet it’s fair to say more than a few butt stocks have arrived damaged or pieces broken. 

Most, but not all, my guns are picked up by a good friend, who has all the proper tools for complete disassembly. He cleans them, and puts a light coat of oil on the internals and the bore. All the external parts are carefully cleaned, and Ren Waxed. The wood too. The result is a much better looking firearm. Like shiny and new as they say. Now, you have a completely protected firearm that will not rust and looks one heck of a lot better. 98% of my 200 guns are protected like this. Even those in poor condition. No sense letting them get worse. Big Larry

win4575 said  The only time I’ve found this necessary,  is if I discover the gun seems to malfunction.  
  

In other words, when it’s broke, then fix it, but not before.  I can’t keep up with the jobs that do need fixing, right away, so I don’t go looking for “something to keep me busy.”

Big Larry said
Most, but not all, my guns are picked up by a good friend, who has all the proper tools for complete disassembly. He cleans them, and puts a light coat of oil on the internals and the bore. All the external parts are carefully cleaned, and Ren Waxed. The wood too. The result is a much better looking firearm. Like shiny and new as they say. Now, you have a completely protected firearm that will not rust and looks one heck of a lot better. 98% of my 200 guns are protected like this. Even those in poor condition. No sense letting them get worse. Big Larry

  

True enough Larry, but as you know we choose not to follow this disassembly-based method with your lever guns. It’s “clean the bore” only, then address  whatever can be safely reached on the interior with spray and a soft brush. It’s much too risky, IMO, for amateurs like me to disassemble collector grade lever guns for reasons other than repair.

And of course exterior protection such as Ren wax is standard fare for all.

T

TXGunNut said
As some of you know a nice enough 1897 Black Diamond Trap Gun destroyed itself because I neglected to give it a detailed cleaning before I shot a round of trap with it. I cleaned it better than I generally do but I didn’t take the bolt apart to clean the firing pin and inside of the bolt. It was a hard-used old gun without much finish left but it was a slick old pump gun once I sprayed most of the gunk out of the action.

 

Mike

  

Did you ever determine what the root cause was?  I haven’t had many Winchester bolts apart.  The few times I did there were noticeable problems. 

Hi Guys,

I like this topic. I love all old firearms but in particular vintage Winchesters, Marlins, Colts, and Smith & Wesson. I buy a new rifle from a shooters angle and I want them to work correctly. Although I can see the value of leave it alone I am of a mind that a rifle was made to  use even the pretty ones. I also like to reload and form cases to make ammo for the rifles I have another side to owning and using vintage firearms. I also carry my rifles sometimes in a scabbard horseback.  I don’t generally disassemble my Winchesters but I have done some limited stuff. If you shoot them they need to be cleaned properly. So I would call my “collecting” targeted at a using rifle or handgun rather than a Collectors Grade. 

An interesting story, although about a Colt, was a pistol my grandfather had when he was a realtor back in the 1920′ & 30’s.  At the time he worked for his older sister and many of the houses that they were selling were abandoned or were repossessed. So at times he would go to check out a house that might be unexpectedly occupied. From what my dad told me he got the pistol to carry in his pocket just in case. The pistol in question is a Colt 1903 .32 and as a kid I remember that pistol in a box in my father’s desk. About a  year after my father died I was cleaning out his desk and there was the Colt but the box was gone and I never found it. The Colt is very lightly used but in fantastic shape and it had a full magazine in it but nothing in the chamber. I don’t ever remember my dad shooting that pistol and from what I could see the ammo in it was old. I took it apart and cleaned it carefully it had old oil in it and it looked like it had been there for many decades and there was no evidence that it had been shot. When I put it back together I took it out and shot it and I bet that I might have been the only one in my family to do so. From what I remember about the box it had a hardware store name stamped on it. That hardware store had been in the town I grew up in since around 1910 and closed sometime in the 80’s. My guess is that my grandfather bought it there and kept it with the box until my dad got it when he moved to California in the early 1950’s. My dad kept it in his desk at work and never took it out. I remember seeing it and asking my dad about it and that was how learned that it was originally my grandfathers. I use that pistol and I actually had a holster made to carry it. I bet it has been shot more by me than anyone who had it before. I value it because it was my grandfathers, I have used it because it is a handy handgun to have and is easy to carry.  When I find a Winchester I like I want it to be in good shape and if its collectible that’s great but I’d want it to shoot it. 

Rob

Hi Chuck,

Thanks for the pictures that looks like the box that I remember that pistol was in. It had the same label on the inside and a label on the end but the box was a plain cardboard box. The store stamp was in red ink on the top in the middle of it. I only wish I could find the original box I only had it in my hands a couple times when I was young. Knowing my grandfather he may have kept a bill of sale with it if he did it is long gone like the boz. In hindsight I think I value it more than my dad did I only wish I know more. 

I would be interested in finding a box to go with it. 

Thanks,

Rob