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I just have this deep down inside belief, that anything I own aught to be shootable, I don't collect for the sake of collecting...
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I see this all the time. Its such a prevalent concept today, that I won't judge you right or wrong. Its your opinion. But there are some things that I myself do not understand about this whole scenario. I am not trying to state the obvious so forgive me if these are things you already have considered:
1) Whats the reasoning behind getting this gun to fire? Once it fires, is this going to be for.....CC? target shooting? I know it cannot be used for hunting or bullseye competition just to name a few things.
2) Cost vs Benefit vs Value - If you got it for a good price or even fair, considering the market, current value, demand, etc, why alter it to lower the value? Most people do not realize that guns do not always beat inflation. Depending on what you paid, I could see a H&A appreciating in value, esp one in the condition of yours. So if you paid say $300 for the gun (for example) and the alteration cost about another $150 or so, you would have $450 in a gun that a collector would not want because its altered and a shooter would not want since the gun was intended to be a CCW and would probably be inaccurate past 10 yds. If money is no object to you, rock on, but I'm not sure that the enjoyment of shooting a gun in such a caliber would outweigh the total cost since once you alter it, there really is no turning back.
3) CCW - If you are thinking about that, just once in a while maybe, 32 short colt or 32 S&W or whichever are not great SD calibers. Of course at the time they were fairly popular but now there are much better things. Could you really ever carry it? But why trust such an old gun for CC? If you do this alteration, will this gun be the "BBQ gun" that you had a thread about before?
4) Informal shooting - Doesn't the concern of breaking a part or wearing out something bother you? These guns do not necessarily have the stamina of revolvers made in the last 50 or even 100 yrs. So what if you spent all this time and money altering it and after approx 100 rds something broke, because HEY it could happen...
5) Here's what I always wonder about people who alter guns so that they can be shot: doesn't anyone love the history of the gun? I can look past a gun not being able to fire (either broke, ammo rare/unavailable, too fragile, etc) and think of it being new and used back in the day and who had it and why and when etc. I can forgive such an old gun if it never attends a range trip or volunteers to save my life from a BG. Getting such an old gun in shooting order by altering it is almost like taking an old man from an old folks home and replacing his joints to get him to work 5 or 10 more years. I say let him rest, hes done enough and he should be appreciated for what he is now instead of what he could have been or could be or even used to be.
I myself buy some guns to shoot, some to collect/invest, etc. I'd be proud to have such a gun even though I would never bother seeking out .30 rimfires to shoot in it. Its almost effortless if you think about it: if you can buy guns and realize they do not have to be shot or even serve a purpose. You then realize you don't need the extra reloading supplies, to look for ammo, to replace parts if it happens, to find a smith who would work on it - if you retire it, there isn't a worry in the world.
Btw, I'm not bashing you at all, I'm just being my inquisitive self. I really liked your thread about the taurus/DW hybrid 22 hornet. The alteration there made a lot of sense. But this one? Hmmmm. Seems a lot different and less useful to me. I am interested to hear your thoughts on the gun after its altered. I just hope that if you do it, you don't regret doing it.