Pistol Display Ideas

[MRB1863]

Very nicely displayed!!! Ahem....let me just mention...ummm....my birthday is in October...

 

[Ferd454231]

Absolutely mind boggling. My first thought was, "My God, the original wheel of fortune." Thank you so much for sharing. H

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

The "stuff" is kept in a six sided, 5" thick, closely mesh re-barred concrete room with a steel vault door. This has a separate Halon fire system and heating / air system holding 70 degrees F year round. As a result there is very, very little dust or humidity, which in the South can be a real problem.
The more valuable stuff is Renaissance waxed, wood, metal and leather. On the rest of the metal I use Balistol, very thin. Stocks, pistol grips, etc, get a very light rub with Kramer's Best.

My first reaction was right - it is its own museum! When and how did you first start collecting? Did you start out with top of the line stuff?

I have to admit, I was wondering about the dust too.

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

And mine is December, if there is anything left after gifting @MRB 1863. We are good Yankees - I promise!

 

[Lanyard Puller]

Hey there NH Gal...
It all started with a $15 dollar Burnside carbine, because I didn't have enough money to buy a $40 CS Richmond. This was my hard earned money from my daily newspaper route over 60 years ago.

Started selling off my Federal stuff quite a few years ago when the prices were getting into the stratosphere, and totally focused on confederate items. Federal stuff is way down now, but CS has help up reasonably well, especially if rare or ID'ed.

You'll be added to the Christmas list, but don't know about the Naughty or Nice part .

 

[NH Civil War Gal]

Any ideas on why Federal stuff is way down? I can understand CS stuff holding its value because it was rarer to begin with and more rare now. But the Federal stuff hasn't increased (or it shouldn't!).

 

[Lanyard Puller]

The biggest factor is the loss of interest in the market, as the majority of the young generation have little or no interest at all in the ACW.

Secondly is a general lack of rarity,as you mentioned, or the over-supply. A couple of hundred thousand Springfield rifle muskets {plus more including the contractors} opposed to limited production numbers of even the biggest CS armories and makers. For example; at the top of the market a Fine condition model 1863 Springfield would have been close to 4K, but now they languish on sales tables for $2975, and very few people even flip the price tag to look.

As for condition, I'd buy the very finest example I could afford no matter what it is.

Don't "sell it to yourself" , by overlooking missing or replaced parts, repairs, or that "it doesn't look right" feeling, no matter how much you want that type of item.
D

 

[JOHN42768]

You are on the money about lack of interest, but also the reproduction market has sweetened the pot by being able to use as well as appreciate

 

[ranger326]

Double "nice set up"!

Thank you for the run down procedure on cleaning. With a collection like yours, I would imagine you are always working maintenance on something. To me, that is half the fun.

 

[archieclement]

Isnt Alabama an open carry state, what better way to display it then it then the way it was meant to be displayed/carried? Assuming its functional and not just a relic

 

[vmicraig]

Dave, even if you decide to pare down your collection, at least you'll still have a safe room for the zombie apocolypse.