MidwestCrisis said
That appears to be a brand new 1929 92 to someone like me.  
  

Yeah to me too! It looks amazing and would love to see the before pics if any exist. If you are feeling guilty for owning a restoration and need to get rid of it to cleanse your soul, I will be happy to give you back your original $399 😉 Kidding of course. Great job Zeb and thanks for sharing!

This was not an attempt to make the rifle historically correct -- as you can see, the buttplate, lever, and nose cap are not case colored, the tang sight is Lyman's then (circa 1999)  current reproduction, and the front sight is a modern Marble's.  

The reason I bothered to have this work done was (1) the gun had been badly abused by more than one owner, although the bore was pristine and the gun perfectly functional; (2) I bought it for $399 USD; (3) first trial at the range it shot 50 yard cloverleaves with 86 grain Remington factory ammunition. 

As bought, the steel had been over-buffed and rounded, although bozo did leave the rollmarks and serial alone. Screw heads were flattened. Garish blue job.  Left receiver wall had been drilled and tapped for a side scope mount. The wood had been hopelessly sanded down. 

I turned it over to Scott May, the talented gunsmith and custom stockmaker who has since gone on to manage Beretta's custom shop in Dallas. Scott ordered new Walnut and screws, stoned the steel back to contours, welded up the extra holes - had a hell of a time find welding rod that wouldn't be a sore thumb -- rust blued the barrel and the receiver, fitted and finished the furniture in oil.  

This was more than 25 years ago. The tab was $700. So $1,100 all in, in 2000 Dollars. Could I have bought an original small bore 1992 with a pristine barrel for that money back then? I don't know. I don't think so because Cowboy Action competition was hot. But I had no intention to spend $700 more until I saw how accurate the little rifle was. 

In any event, the gun was so far from any sort of original condition, it needed to be either parted out or given back some portion of its dignity. 

Mike

Bob

The dummy cartridge is brand new starline brass with 300 gr bullet seated properly.  But i will check.   When pushed in by hand it looks flush with barrel

Just measured the bullet.  Within size.  I ran a new empty cartridge into the chamber.  It came out rolled at a 2.398 not 2.40.  This is a new barrel too.  Maybe needs cut anther 0.002?

I take care of my stuff and don't treat my guns like plumbing tools. I have no issue with shooting anything I own, although i own several I wouldn't hunt with in bad weather. 

Now, having said that, I don't have an investment in rare, ultra-high condition, historically important specimens that are worth several times my 2009 Tacoma. I don't for two reasons: First, I can't afford them. Second, I'd get bored just looking at them.  I'm happy for others to pursue them and I like to see and hear about them. But, like my grandchildren, I don't mind when they go home. 

I like honest guns. If somebody tries to fool me into buying a grooved Winchester 61 that has been re-blued and swears on the bones of his father and his mother's honor it's factory original -- and wants the market price for such things -- he can go to hell and take his 61 with him. 

Conversely, I have a nicely reblued 62A ($600) that I dote on and have spent money to equip  with a new Marble's tang sight, barrel slot blank, and big white bead up front. A collector of any experience could spot the reblue in a New York minute, but I don't care. Yard pests fear it and 22 shorts with reason. 

I cheerfully disagree with my fellows who like to look at a derelict (28%) Winchester 73 or 92 and imagine all the places it's been. I look at it and imagine it's been in a busy sewer for too many years, for whatever reason. They are welcome to my share and please don't bring it into my wife's kitchen. 

The smart folks at Browning Arms who got Miroku to build new versions of JMB's and TCJ's best designs -- and the even smarter ones at FN who bought Browning -- are the subject for another conversation. But I have owned and enjoyed several and still do. Particularly an 1873 44 WCF half-octagon Sporting Rifle that will knock your eyes out and has no tang safety or rebounding hammer.

James W said
I think there are too many variables to saying a restored or repaired gun isn't a collectible or is worth less than it was originally. For example- I have a Model 21. Really pristine and perfect. I had it for about twenty years. I shot it one time. It doubled on me. I put it back in the safe where it stayed for decades. I finally decided to have it engraved two years ago. I drove the gun up to Connecticut and dropped it off at a smith's shop, so that he could dismantle it and send it to Pauline Muerrle. When she finished the gun, it went back to the Smith, he blued the gun. Repaired it from doubling. I drove back up and picked the gun up. I figure the gun was worth $5-6,000.00 before it was engraved. Now? probably worth twice that much. I believe if you check, some of the Winchester engravers- engraved guns on the side at their homes. Plus, the Smith was Mitch Schultz. They don't get any better than that. The gun had to be reblued, since it had been engraved. Plus, when I got the paperwork from Dena Hollowell at the Cody Museum and she informed me when the gun was shipped, the date was the same day I was born. Sentimentality means a lot in some cases on how much money to put into a gun. Can you blame someone if they have their dad's gun that is nothing but a wall hanger unless he has it repaired? People aren't going to know the difference in the inner parts of a Model 12 after a gun has been "restored"......... Guys come to me and want their old gun's worn out butt pad or buttplate replaced with a leather one. I install a leather covered KICK-EEZ  pad and when they pick up the gun, I give them the buttplate or the old original pad. As long as I haven't had to grind the curved end of the stock, they can always make it "original" again. A new leather pad looks better and shoots better than an old Hawkins pad that is rotted and falling apart. So, I believe there are just too many differences of opinion about whether or not to put money into a gun and change it's "originality". But, that's just my .02 worth. Take care.
  

James,

There are a small number of exceptions to the rule (and your Model 21 is in that category), but for the vast majority of the guns we collectors encounter, refinishing or restoring an old Winchester rifle or shotgun is a very negative event.  Repairing a gun (replacing severely worn or damaged parts) is not the same thing as "restoring" it, and it is not nearly as negative when the rest of the gun is left original. 

Bert

MVA gets a painful $36 plus shipping for their screw. 

Zebulon said

The knurled screw I ordered replaces the slotted head screw that secures the upper part of MVA's several Soule tang sights to their bases. A number of BPCR competitors prefer to remove the staff and store it separately from the rifle while travelng.
To answer your question, it would depend on who made your sight. If it is an original Sharps, I doubt it. 
  

The sight base is an original Sharps.  The staff is from a Maynard.  The current screw is slotted not knurled as it should be. 

The knurled screw I ordered replaces the slotted head screw that secures the upper part of MVA's several Soule tang sights to their bases. A number of BPCR competitors prefer to remove the staff and store it separately from the rifle while travelng.

To answer your question, it would depend on who made your sight. If it is an original Sharps, I doubt it. 

Yes, most shotguns in England get reblued.  They like pretty.

OK, this is a little off base.  When I was in Junior High school one of the nicest looking teachers would get picked up each afternoon and try to get into a 300 Gullwing.  A few of us would set and watch her try every day. 

Chuck said
Nice shooter.  You need a little sock for the rear sight so it can be flipped back in the correct position. 
I would shoot the 21.  Maybe one shot per side.  After cleaning no one would ever know.  But then again, I don't collect safe queens.  That kind of money I could buy a few rifles. 
  

Chuck,  

We think alike. I just put in an order with MVA for a set of sight covers and a replacement knurled head screw so the rear Soule sight can be removed from the base and replaced, without a screwdriver. 

I assume you are talking about the 25 grand .410. I can't imagine buying a gun I couldn't shoot.  If I could have afforded a Gullwing 300 SL I would drive it. An old friend, when he was in tall Cotton for a while, ordered a 21 Grand American. Kept it in his safe and only took it out to wipe it down, once a year. The magic leaked out after a couple of years and he sold it..

My Irish ancestry forbids my ever being an Anglophile but, when it comes to "bespoke" shotguns, the Limey's have a better idea. If a Royal grade Purdey your dad ordered and you inherited, has a too-long LOP and blue-worn barrels? Cut down the stock, reblue the barrels, re-cut the checkering -- Purdey will do it for you, send lots of money. Open the chokes? Sure. Barrels too long? They'll cut 'em down and jug choke them.

Won't all that kill the resale value?  Try to buy one and find out!