Have you defarbed your percussion revolver?

[jimhallam]

I do agree that the marking on reproduction firearms should be under the loading lever or under the barrel on rifles. Lawyers have way to much influence in our hobby

Lawyers have too much influence --- PERIOD !

 

[jimhallam]

I’ve noticed often European antique handguns are in much better condition than American guns of the same vintage. Not sure what that means but it’s an observation.

Simple explanation --- - most civilian pattern guns in America were WORKING guns for WORKING people --- often in the boonies... until the rise of the New England junk at a buck 25 for a .32RF revolver.

Apart from SERVICE ARMS European firearms owners were from the aristocracy and the upper monied classes so
(a) they were much better quality, (b) used less and (c) their "man" looked after them. Possibly the exception was the production of cheap pistols / revolvers in the latter half of the 19th Century -- Belgian & Spanish stuff made down to a price -- pinfires etc., but these are "unmentionables" so I haven't mentioned them ;-)

 

[jimhallam]

Even possession of a defaced firearm is a federal violation. Since our topic doesn't include "Firearms" as defined in current regulations, I only offer this for discussion. During my career of 40+ years, I've only seen two cases where this was an issue - both had serial numbers altered to be unreadable. Hint-even if ground off, most stamped numbers can be brought to the surface temporarily. Stamped with a tool is harder to do. Highway Patrol firearms lab tech allowed me to see him do this once.

Faked Civil War Stuff - guns, swords, leather, and most anything you can name was pretty common in the 60's and 70's. Nazi "collectibles" are still common today. Where, at one time, parts were hard to come by, today with a few mouse clicks, they are not. Same with metal-stamping tools, "how to" videos, and foreign companies cranking out about anything they can sell.

What a person does to his own stuff is interesting. Passing it off as something it's not to an unsuspecting buyer is just wrong.

Luckily most M-L firearms are NOT "firearms" under Federal Law, unless you live in a state that designates them as such.

 

[James Dietz]

Lodgewood Mfg. does great de-farbing on several types of long guns and revolvers. They remove the serial number and re-stamp under the barrel. Check them out:

www.lodgewood.com

 

[ShotgunDave]

I usually only defarb if it's needed. What I mean is, if the gun is already in rough shape, I will take the extra steps to remove unwanted markings. The one marking I always leave untampered with though, is the serial number.

This is a 1972 vintage ASM Dragoon that I acquired a few years ago. The finish was in a sad state when I got it. So I removed the rest of it and took off some of the markings. Mostly the billboards on the barrel. The grips had a big brass eagle tacked onto each side. After removing them, the grips had holes in them from the tacks. So I just put them back in the holes. It's not ideal, but until I can find a set of grips for it, it'll have to do. Here it is with my 1860 Army. Both of these guns have been tuned by Goons Gun Works, and are prized possessions.

 

[M. De Land]

I usually only defarb if it's needed. What I mean is, if the gun is already in rough shape, I will take the extra steps to remove unwanted markings. The one marking I always leave untampered with though, is the serial number.

This is a 1972 vintage ASM Dragoon that I acquired a few years ago. The finish was in a sad state when I got it. So I removed the rest of it and took off some of the markings. Mostly the billboards on the barrel. The grips had a big brass eagle tacked onto each side. After removing them, the grips had holes in them from the tacks. So I just put them back in the holes. It's not ideal, but until I can find a set of grips for it, it'll have to do. Here it is with my 1860 Army. Both of these guns have been tuned by Goons Gun Works, and are prized possessions.

Now that makes perfect sense to me when one finds a sows ear that's been neglected, treated poorly and needs some TLC to get back in shooting trim and looking good.

 

[ShotgunDave]

Now that makes perfect sense to me when one finds a sows ear that's been neglected, treated poorly and needs some TLC to get back in shooting trim and looking good.

Thanks.

I took some ribbing for removing the bluing from it. But if you had seen it before, you'd probably have done it too. The barrel had a lot of heavy scratches on it too, so while I was fixing those, I just went ahead and removed the billboards. It was said that I should have just refinished the gun, but to me a re-blue looks worse.