By Alex Christenson January 11, 2024

Over the past year I tackled many preservation and restoration projects. The firearm is usually brought in under the assumption that the finish will have to be completely stripped and redone. However, this usually not the case. What the normal case is that the firearm just needs to be "preserved" and not restored.

What is preservation?

What may come to many people's minds when they hear "preserve" is what happens when you can the leftover vegetables you didn't get around to using before the winter months hit. In the firearm world, this word has more similarities than differences. When a fruit or vegetable is preserved it is kept from decaying. Same thing with a firearm. When a firearm is preserved it is kept at the current state it is in and is prevented from decaying further. 

How is preservation done?

Another way of saying preserving a firearm is doing the maintenance. As stated above, preserving prevents a firearm from decaying any further. Many preservation jobs start with a firearm that has surface rust, a dirty and oxidized appearance on the wood furniture, and possibly cracks in the wood or dents in the metal. The first step in preserving is to thoroughly clean the firearm. It's hard to definitively determine the state of a firearm if it is in a dirty state to begin with. This includes removing all dirt, grime, and old grease from the entire firearm, stock included. With the firearm clean you can then determine if a full restoration is indeed necessary, or if it only needed the maintenance done. 

Preserve or restore?

The largest consideration to be made in the final choice of preservation or restoration is cost versus value. Restorations can get expensive. The cost of refinishing an entire firearm can sometimes exceed the value of a firearm monetarily. Many firearms are not valued highly even though Sears and Montgomery Ward firearms are now 50+ years old in most instances. Old age does not immediately increase the price someone is willing to pay for a firearm. However, not all value is monetary. More often that not firearms that I work on have sentimental value. Cases of "This was my first gun," "I inherited this from an uncle," or "I remember my late grandfather using this when we would go hunting." In these instances, it's hard to put a dollar amount on the value of the gun to the owner.

If you have a firearm that needs some love and care give me and call, text, or email and I'll walk you through what I have to offer.

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