Years back, it was challenging to acquire antique/collectible firearms. Travel to shows, paper catalogs, print magazines, networks of similar-minded people were required to find/fix/sell. Kinda like getting a case of beer before you were 21, the process and challenges were exciting and fun. You really had to know the right people to get what you were after.
Now, anyone with internet access and a valid credit card can find and acquire anything. Probably affects monetary values more than I can appreciate. Definitely limits the fun we once had. I daresay, were it not for the internet and forums such as this here one, now that my buds are dead, my interest in muzzle loading had darn near fizzled out. I am "making money" on stuff no longer needed, bought 50 years ago - but the "profit" is in great memories, not coin of the realm.
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