Quote:
...many people who collect and shoot and who have an appreciation of Military history see these rifles in a far more important light than yourself. They are considered to be living history and they carry the stories of the men who fought using them. It;s not quite the same thing as an run of the mill off the rack commercial hunting arm.
For collectors there are indeed ethical considerations ... you find the same with cleaning Antiques also and this is common if you know anything about auction houses and furniture ( Patina is a key phrase ). These considerations are explained for the benefit of people who either already get it ... or want to get it. If you don't, that's fine too, but understand there are many who do get it and feel very strongly about applying those ethics towards the collecting and shooting of Military arms.
|
Tiki -
You present an articulate and well-measured response, but I would like to point out some disagreements. How can a collector's view of my rifle be "in a far more important light than myself"? There is no superior, and therefore no inferior, point-of-view of my rifle.
I understand the desire to preserve the patina of history. Is it desirable? Yes. For some. Is it more ethical? No. For there to be a more ethical point-of-view means by extension that there is a less ethical point-of-view.
Like I said before, I don't radically alter my firearms because it's just not taste to do so. But I am not more or less ethical for having preserved them, regardless of what harrumphing and 'tsk-tsk'-ing serious collectors think.
Quote:
|
Note also I stated "ethical and otherwise for the collector and shooter" ... if that's not you then disregard.
|
That's me - a collector and a shooter, in the original and natural sense of both words.