Rifle upgrade
2 October 2011 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dime_novel_heroYesterday I visited the MAX Militaria Show in Monroeville. It was pretty much what I expected; all Nazis, all the time. Most tables were filled with WWII German collectables. There were a few other things, the neatest being the guy who had a collection of Geiger counters and civil defense signs. but they were the exception.
At one table, I took a look at a Martini-Henry rifle with silverwork on it. Silver wire had been wrapped around the stock and there was a silver "ring" around the foregrip and barrel. The forgrip was not the military version that extended almost to the end of the barrel but the sport/civilian stock that only went part way.
The dealer said it was $800 and that he had gotten it from someone in Alabama. He claimed that the silverwork was Indian, meaning American Indian, but I didn't think the styling was local and while Martini-Henry rifles were sold in the States, it was much more likely to have come from somewhere under British colonial influence. He said it was made in England, pointing out "Birmingham" stamped on top of the barrel but I looked at left side of the receiver and there was a small stamp there that looked Indian or Nepalese to me. I told him that carefully measuring the rifling might be able to give some clue as to whether it was a British-made rifle or not.
I explained that I had a similar rifle that was of Nepalese manufacture and told him there was a reasonable chance that this gun was not a British gun but a native copy, as it was common to duplicate these rifles, including the official stamps and proofing marks, in Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As I told him what I knew, another customer came up, hear our discussion, and declared that the silverwork styling looked like it was from Sudan. That would make sense since the British Army was in the Sudan starts in the 1890s.
The dealer asked me if I though his rifle was worth the $800 he was asking for it. I said that it could be but that I had paid $300 for a similar rifle that, while in poor condition, was of a known pedigree. My rifle has matching serial numbers throughout. His had a cracked stock. There was other damage on the stock. The sight was missing two pieces and had been wired down. I told him that it might be worth $800 but not to me and one could find rifles in better condition for about the same price.
He didn't look happy but I told him I am really an amateur and he should log on to the Martini-Henry forums and learn about this rifle's history.
Later in the show I got over to the other side of the room and found a display from International Military Antiques, the people I had purchased my Francotte M1878 rifle from (through Atlanta Cutlery).
They had canon!
They also had the same rifle as mine for $300. What I had paid for my rusty crap out of the box with a barrel plugged with yak grease was hanging on a display with the stock beautifully refinished, the steel blued and the brass gleaming.
I was sorely tempted but I didn't actually need a second rifle. The dealer said that I could buy this one and then sell the one I had. I was tempted by that as well. What won out was that I have a certain pride in having taken what would be considered a piece of junk and turning it into a workable firearm. I did that. And while its value on the market probably isn't much more than I paid for it, it has value to me.
If I think about it too much, I'll probably be able to convince myself that I made a mistake.
At one table, I took a look at a Martini-Henry rifle with silverwork on it. Silver wire had been wrapped around the stock and there was a silver "ring" around the foregrip and barrel. The forgrip was not the military version that extended almost to the end of the barrel but the sport/civilian stock that only went part way.
The dealer said it was $800 and that he had gotten it from someone in Alabama. He claimed that the silverwork was Indian, meaning American Indian, but I didn't think the styling was local and while Martini-Henry rifles were sold in the States, it was much more likely to have come from somewhere under British colonial influence. He said it was made in England, pointing out "Birmingham" stamped on top of the barrel but I looked at left side of the receiver and there was a small stamp there that looked Indian or Nepalese to me. I told him that carefully measuring the rifling might be able to give some clue as to whether it was a British-made rifle or not.
I explained that I had a similar rifle that was of Nepalese manufacture and told him there was a reasonable chance that this gun was not a British gun but a native copy, as it was common to duplicate these rifles, including the official stamps and proofing marks, in Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. As I told him what I knew, another customer came up, hear our discussion, and declared that the silverwork styling looked like it was from Sudan. That would make sense since the British Army was in the Sudan starts in the 1890s.
The dealer asked me if I though his rifle was worth the $800 he was asking for it. I said that it could be but that I had paid $300 for a similar rifle that, while in poor condition, was of a known pedigree. My rifle has matching serial numbers throughout. His had a cracked stock. There was other damage on the stock. The sight was missing two pieces and had been wired down. I told him that it might be worth $800 but not to me and one could find rifles in better condition for about the same price.
He didn't look happy but I told him I am really an amateur and he should log on to the Martini-Henry forums and learn about this rifle's history.
Later in the show I got over to the other side of the room and found a display from International Military Antiques, the people I had purchased my Francotte M1878 rifle from (through Atlanta Cutlery).
They had canon!
They also had the same rifle as mine for $300. What I had paid for my rusty crap out of the box with a barrel plugged with yak grease was hanging on a display with the stock beautifully refinished, the steel blued and the brass gleaming.
I was sorely tempted but I didn't actually need a second rifle. The dealer said that I could buy this one and then sell the one I had. I was tempted by that as well. What won out was that I have a certain pride in having taken what would be considered a piece of junk and turning it into a workable firearm. I did that. And while its value on the market probably isn't much more than I paid for it, it has value to me.
If I think about it too much, I'll probably be able to convince myself that I made a mistake.
