Shoot what you want and accept the wear. It is honest wear. My Marlin is only eighteen months old. But it has that "I've been in a gunfight look". A few minor scratches, the wood turning a dark red, wear on muzzle from having been drawn from rifle scabbard. Same with revolvers and shotgun. You stage them to be on a wooden table or placed back down on a wooden table or prop in a hurry, but careful. Drawn from leather and shot. Pushed back down into the leather dirty. The top strap of my Vaquero is more a light case hardened blue now. My stag handles, exposed to 99 degree shoots and such have darkened and aged beautiful. Cowboys always comment about "Where did you get those stag grips?". Its not so much that as the amount of time outdoors they spend. Even now, I'm getting ready for a January shoot in Eastern Kentucky. Gotta go.
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