Parallax: where men are men and the sheep are scared.

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MasterChief	Parallax: where men are men and the sheep are scared.	Lead	[-]
Posts: 1004 (06/18/09 09:49 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Tags : None From a Senior Member of another forum (not Parallax): "One of the few redeeming qualities of these recurring stock threads is it allows me to expand the list of people to apply extra scrutiny to if I ever wanted to buy a collectible gun from them. Their views on refinishing-maintenance-preserving-enhancing-repairing-supplementing and whatever other favorite words they may have for screwing with stock finishes, indicates a higher liklihood that the stock on any particular WTS item they may offer has been messed with more than I would care for. Especially the ones with those tendencies who are also proud that they can reproduce an original-looking finish, which elevates them on my alert scale from mere wanton refinisher alert to potential fraud alert status." Run Forest Run! Well, it's good to know that domestic surveillance is still underway. However, the thought police are becoming a touch unhinged if you were to ask me. Best wishes. Dave
Crunch130		#1	[-]
Posts: 891 (06/18/09 11:48 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Dave, You didn't sell that awesome-looking VZ-24, did you? 8~) I still remember the pictures. Crunch
eb in oregon		#2	[-]
Posts: 926 (06/19/09 03:44 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	There is room for all of us, and one persons "JUNK" is another persons "TREASURE." I still find it curious though how "repair" is seen by some as "destruction" or worse "fraud." "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776
mh47		#3	[-]
Posts: 1284 (06/19/09 05:59 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Hmmm, I've put a lot of effort into removing cosmoline from various stocks, mainly so my hands don't stick to them....better add me to the watch list.....
Cabinetman		#4	[-]
Posts: 5338 (06/19/09 01:14 PM) Host Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	MC, that's an interesting take on the subject to be sure. I'm glad his words weren't here at Parallax as I'd feel that I'd failed to state the purpose of this forum clearly enough for him to understand. He sounds like one of those critics who bashes someone for their performance without actually seeing it or hearing what was said. If he spent any time here reading the essays or following the threads, I would hope he would have a different opinion. Oh well, we can't make everybody happy. Sure, we'd all LOVE to find examples of what we collect that are literally pristine. They are out there, to be sure, but for every one, totally authentic representative model of any particular rifle, there are probably 5000 that don't measure up to anything close to them. And, to be sure, the older a rifle grows, the chances of having it seen some type of rearsenal from some source: military or otherwise, gets more and more likely. The ones that haven't been rearsenaled are the ones that end up being discussed here because they are embedded with some type of preservative to the point that they've doubled their weight, have stocks that are tacky, sappy, heavy, wet feeling and usually smelly. What, then, are we supposed to do? Destroy them? Wear gloves and have to wash our faces because of the slop on and in them? Also, safety enters into the equation with wood that can not support the pressures of firing. Well, I believe that that fella is painting with a pretty broad brush and is ignoring the basic fact that we have preserved many a rifle for the decades to come by applying simple but effective strageties that don't in any way detract from their history. Our approach.......and that of Parallax.....is all about preservation. If that writer can't understand the need for preservation for the future generations, then he's living on another plane than mine. Rome A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.
Carl Gustav		#5	[-]
Posts: 3437 (06/22/09 11:14 PM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	What are you supposed to do with a Russian 91/30 when half the shellac has flaked off and the rest is about to? I've cleaned and reapplied shellac to those without any guilt. Carl
nothernug		#6	[-]
Posts: 11351 (06/23/09 08:36 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Cosmolene is not an "original finish." In the case of Yugo mausers, they washed the things with harsh chemicals and recosmo'ed them every 5 years. What 'original' finish? Besides, on rifles used in the field the Yugos used old motor oil as a clear. Seen those really dark stocks? Wanna bet what the 'original finish' was??? Vet bring back K98. Stored in the basement for 60 years. Finish of dust, mold and mouse droppings is 'original'? Now I do have a Finn Mosin M39 with that dry, purple looking arsenal re-finish. Whatever it is, that has not been touched. It all depends on the subject as to treatment. Diplomacy is the art of saying nice doggie until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
beanstrung		#7	[-]
Posts: 5267 (06/23/09 10:53 AM) Forum Site Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Sheep? We ain't scared of no sheep. I just so happen to be working on a project of feeding machine-shop shavings mixed with activated charcoal to sheep, in an effort to produce "environmentally green" steel-wool. Once I figure out how to calibrate the sheep's folicles to 0000 diameter, I'll send some around to all the members to use in "violating" their old stocks. I got some good information off of these YouTube links, from a similar project involving a "Loaded Goat": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTFNvslHNDc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOxTDWtOlNo (nice vintage Winchester in the second clip as well, just to keep it on topic) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- What part of "shall not be infringed" don't you understand? Joel 3:9-10
skywarp989		#8	[-]
Posts: 3233 (08/17/09 12:40 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Thought I'd chime in here, as I was involved in that other discussion, too. To be fair to the poster of that excerpt, it is taken somewhat out of contest. The guns in question there were Finnish rifles, and rather highly collectible ones at that. As much as I love my meager collection, there is a difference in "valuable collectibles" and the more common rifles that make up most of my arsenal. Yugo M48s and refurbed 91/30s are a very different story than some of the very rare Finnish rifles and carbines. The true collectible Finns are ones that have not been refinished or refurbed or otherwise altered since they left the battlefield after WWII. What it boils down to is that a few people in that debate don't think that applying new products, some certain "mixes" in particular, to be "alteration" of a rifle's originality. What this means is that not only do they apply it to many if not all of their otherwise original and collectible rifles, but don't consider it an alteration, and so might not state it in a for-sale ad. Further, they advise new collectors of the "harmless" nature of "rubbing in some..." to the wood. Some of us on that forum really disagree with the notion that it's a harmless maintenance procedure. I think it's fair to let those new collectors know that HEY, not ALL of us think it's kosher to apply a new topcoat to an original wartime finish. In fact, we consider it akin to refinishing and we now understand that we have to watch for-sale ads from some of those who advocate the use of these certain products. Finnish rifles with a fresh topcoat of a controversial semi-historic finish are not something I'm interested in. I don't think the comments quoted above apply at all to Yugo Mausers or refurbed 91/30s, nor do I think they were intended to.
MasterChief		#9	[-]
Posts: 1015 (08/17/09 08:56 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Skywarp thank you sincerely for your thoughtful post and for bumping this thread. I admit when I first started this thread it was a "slow news" day and I also wanted to make this point: you can put me on the list. My real point is contained in the quotation: Like the person quoted, I also believe it is possible to reproduce an original-appearing wood finish which even the master collectors would have trouble detecting. Before my shipmates and others agree or disagree with this admittedly extremely subjective assertion, I counsel that you don't brand yourself unwittingly. I do invite debate on this single issue and urge omission of the usual debate about the rightness or wrongness of altering original finish. Thanks all for contributing. Best wishes. Dave PS: Of course, anyone with military service would probably realize that to injure me you would have to put your comments on a sheet of paper, drive to California, roll the paper in a tight tube and jam it in my right eye. (written with a smile) Last Edited By: MasterChief 08/17/09 09:06 PM. Edited 1 times.
eb in oregon		#10	[-]
Posts: 984 (08/23/09 10:14 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	What up, Master Chief? Long time no see. eb "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." Benjamin Franklin, July 4 1776
rno172		#11	[-]
Posts: 8 (09/16/09 11:49 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts Report Post	Way I look at it, I'm rescuing precious antiques for the next generation of our family from the clutches of clueless collage students and the forces of "Bubba." But then again I'm not going to be teaching my 13 year old nephew how to shoot with my 1916 origional condition sweed.........He's getting a Turk Mauser first.