That's easy, Bob. People love old stuff. Old cars, old guns, old buildings, old homes, old furniture, old watches, old tools, you name it. People love old stuff and they love the rich, natural patina that only comes with age and honest use. However, it's a double edged sword. That old stuff is old. It's expensive, collectible and often fragile. You can suck it up and pay thousands for a rare collectible. A decent blackpowder Colt may cost you $5000. I don't even know where you'd go to find an original F.E. Meanea gun rig but they don't grow on trees. You'll be taking your chances with literally thousands of dollars worth of rare collectibles that could fail at any moment. Or you could just concede that you'll have to get a new gun and a new rig and let them age naturally, which if you want it to look like a blackpowder relic and you don't live on a horse every day, will never happen in your lifetime. Or you can contact someone like the late Chuck Burrows and have him make you an aged rig that looks the part, is made exactly how you want it, fits you and your gun and costs a fraction of an original.
I like my new leather but it just doesn't scratch the same itch. Because these days everything is slathered in resolene, it is also not going to age like the old stuff did. This El Paso rig will never look like the WRTC rigs below. My oldest EPS rig is over 20yrs old and looks more like this.....
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...than this. The EPS rig above also came off a store rack with a bunch just like it. The WRTC work below is all one of a kind. Without the aging, the appeal would be totally different.
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Same for guns. These $500 Uberti's have 99% of the appeal of an original Colt relic at a 10th the cost and none of the internal wear or risk of ruining a 150yr old historical artifact.
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