Do you have regrets about buying a "display only" firearm?

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Don't really have any display only guns. Looked at a few Winchester Model 1894 commemoratives that were unfired, new in the box but couldn't see any practical use to them besides the obvious and that would have brought their value down substantially. Did find a nice used one at a gun show (Winchester Model 1894 Canadian Centennial), for $300 but found any even nicer LNIB Rossi Model 1892 that I wanted more!
 
I have never had an interest in display guns everyone I bought was too shoot Plus most commemorative guns sell for high dollar. I think they are nice to look at and if you have the money and the space to display them There was a time that one could display his guns but no more with the high rate of crime
 
In both cases, I would look into having a good gunsmith re-line the barrels. It's not terribly expensive. I bought a Stevens Favorite in Tulsa, because I've always wanted one. You could hardly see through the barrel, because so many black powder shorts had been fired through it since 1894. I had it re-lined for around $100, and now it has a brand new chamber and rifling and shoots fine.

I did look into relining the barrel about 10 years ago. I decided that I have enough .22 rifles that it wasn't worth it (to me) for a 100 year old gun.
 
I have never had any interest in display or commemorative firearms. I have bought a couple of reasonably rare unfired guns that I subsequently couldn't bring myself to shoot because I knew they would have significant value to a real collector. One example: picked up a NIB 5.5-inch Ruger Old Army a few years ago. I was familiar with the ROA from shooting my 7.5-inch workhorses. The high-polished fixed-sight 5.5 was just so pretty I thought I should have one. Although I fondled it on occasion, I could never bring myself to shoot it. Sold it after a few years for more than three times what I paid for it. But when I bought it, I wasn't looking for a "display" or "collector" piece. No regrets when I sold it. I still have my shooters.
 
Almost bought a S&W Victory model on Arms list that had been run over by a Sherman tank for $100. The kid selling it had photos of his great grandad with the gun and the tank crew standing next to the tank in Normandy.
It was such a cool story and provenance, I would have gladly bought it for display, but I convinced him it should stay in his family. He took the ad down.
I hope he kept it.
 
I have one for display only even though I didn’t buy it for that purpose. I finally found my “birth year” gun online, a S&W Victory model. It was not easy finding a birth year gun when I was born three months after Pearl Harbor. Well, the seller misrepresented the condition on a no return listing. It is acceptably good cosmetically, but mechanically, it is unsafe to be fired. So, yes I have a display only that I regret buying.
 
Yes

I traded for a Trapdoor Springfield. It looked to be in great shape. However, when I got home I couldn't see any rifling. I slugged the bore and there is very very very little rifling left.
Making it, for me, a wall hanger. Yeah, I could fire it; but why ? I am only interested in shooting if I can hit something with it. Just making noise doesn't do anything for me.

So, yes, I regret ever getting it.

I have bought a fair number of guns over the years and I am fairly sure I have fired them all to some degree. Some of them, I will probably never fire again just because firing them doesn't interest me very much. But, the fact that I could fire them (everything works) matters to me.

That barrel can probably be relined if you stick to low power black powder rounds. Pretty affordable.
http://texas-mac.com/Relining_a_Springfield_Trapdoor_Rifle_Barrel.html
 
I have three of these types of guns, and all came to me from my Dad. I live in the city so so won't display them (kept in a safe) but they are sorta wallhanger-esque in my mind.

One is a Winchester 1894 "Golden Spike" that my Dad was given years ago by someone who owed him a couple hundred bucks. It's been shot, hunted with, nicked up, it has sling swivels mounted and a Williams peep has been installed. It's practically worthless as a collectible, yet it's gaudy enough to look really dumb in the field. This lemon I think may become cerakoted, restocked and cut down to a handy 16" trapper length since it means nothing to me, collector value is nil and the gold accents are silly.

The others are pristine, unfired Ducks Unlimited dinner guns; a Beretta 303 12 gauge and a Rem 870 20 gauge. They are perfectly functional and would be great additions to my shotgun quiver, but I don't want to shoot them and ruin any value they have. I don't like using decorated guns when hunting, yet I don't know if they are worth anything if I sell them.

Oh well, I still have a bit of room left in the Cannon wide body, so they will sit in the dark until I can figure out what to do.

Stay safe!
 
I've got a 99+% C-96 broomhandle that was apparently never fired after proof testing. Outside it is clean and pristine, inside, gooped with brown grease. (cosmoline?) With matching stock. It is the only gun I own that I don't shoot. I have a shooter broomhandle for that purpose. I don't normally buy guns to just look at them, but I got a bargain on this one.
 
I currently have a mint on box "display only" pretty rare S&W 4056. Only 1100 ever made. I'm planning on selling it. I just cant justify keeping a collectible that will devalue from use.
 
No, because I've never bought one, at least that i didn't restore to firing condition. I do regret having to remove the firing pin from my Grandpa's old H&R 16 ga. single, because it has become unsafe to fire. I might replace the hammer and trigger in the future, but for now it's a wallhanger.

My son stopped by, and now wants the 16 ga. So I have to rebuild it, I guess. Those things are a PITA to do, too.
 
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All of my firearms leave the barn for hunting or range time. Even the Browning BLR White Gold Medallion which looks like a piece of art. IMHO
 
Don't have any, I shoot everything. But for what these seem to sell for on gunbroker, I'd have no qualms shooting it. But one man's shooter is another man's collectible, so I guess the next question is what price tag you are looking at. On gunbroker actual completed auctions run anywhere from $465 to $600, with just one each at those prices, most go right around $500 with the bulk in the$475-$550 range.
 
I don't regret it at all. While many of the guns I own I bought to shoot, compete or hunt with, others I bought because I admired their design, their history, their looks or simply because I wanted an example of the model to study and learn about. Some I shoot, some I have shot but will never actually use or shoot regularly and others I've never shot and probably never will or can't. If you enjoy learning about guns of all types as I do there is a limit to what you can learn from a book. I have a large firearms library but you can learn much more if you actually have one.

If you enjoy simply having a Golden Spike or other commemorative or a classic gun hanging on your wall, just as a piece of "artwork" or "decoration", I say go for it and enjoy it.
 
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Years ago, I bought one of the Colt IPSC commemorative pistols. I took care of it, but shot it just as I did my regular production guns........
 
I have a low serial number 1903 Springfield that I bought for $250. I've often wondered if I wasted my money, but I do like having the thing displayed in my Man Cave. For the money, I guess I'm okay with it being a wall hanger. I knew what it was when I bought it. Had I paid the going price for 03 Springfields and then found out it was considered unsafe to shoot, then I would have been disappointed.
 
H. Leman, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, half stock, 38 cal percussion rifle that could be shot but which I bought for the historical value. A Belgian percussion double that I hunted with until I scoped the bore and found severe erosion in the breech end of the barrels. Looks nice with the Leman.
 
The only wall hangers I own are hand-me-downs. Mortimer percussion shotgun circa 1860 that belonged to my great grandfather, my dad played with it when he was a kid. Probably hasn't been fired in a hundred years, as it was a wall hanger back in the 30's when dad played with it. The other safe queen is a Winchester Centennial 66, still in brand new condition. Mom bought it as a gift for Dad, she put it on layaway at the the local sporting goods store (Hap's in Eureka, CA). It took her quite a while to pay it off as $125 was a lot of money to us in the mid sixties. The look on Dad's face when she gave it him was priceless.

I didn't actually pay for these guns, so no regrets. But that Centennial is really tempting.....

All the rest of my guns are shooters, even the antiques. I'm an accumulator who likes to shoot. :)
 
I haven’t bought any non-firing “dummy guns”. But I do own a Marlin 1892 .22lr that’s essentially a wall-hanger. My dad bought it at a yard sale in his younger days to match his 39a. When I became interested in guns in my teens I realized the 1892 tumbled bullets instead of spinning them. Turns out pretty much all of the rifling is gone, and there’s likely some damage to the crown as well. Dad wasn’t a gun person and I doubt he ever inspected the bore, even after purchasing it.

Ever consider getting it lined and breathing some life back into it?
 
I have a low serial number 1903 Springfield that I bought for $250. I've often wondered if I wasted my money, but I do like having the thing displayed in my Man Cave. For the money, I guess I'm okay with it being a wall hanger. I knew what it was when I bought it. Had I paid the going price for 03 Springfields and then found out it was considered unsafe to shoot, then I would have been disappointed.
I shoot my 1911 production low number Springer with low-powered handloads, pushing a 150gr fmj boat tail at about 1800fps with slow burning IMR 4320. Using the 550YD battle sight (leaf folded down), it shoots more or less POA at 100yd. I figure if it was gonna blow, it would have done it by now, but I don't blame you for not shooting it- these rifles are a joy to just look at and play with too. ;)
 
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A few months ago I had the choice between two pristine M1903s - a low-number Springfield and a last-model Remington. Both looked unissued, price was about the same.
I went with the 1942 Remington, of course.
I may wind up with some wall-hangers, but I'm not seeking them out.
 
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Back in 86 or so I bought a 1903a3 by Remington for 50 bucks. At the time I thought it would make a nice wall hanger or emergency use rifle at elk camp. It came with a Boyd's sporter stock and the original military stock and hardware with clear and proper markings.

I had no idea it would be worth so much today. I sold the sporter stock for 3 or 4 times what I paid for the rifle.

So no. No regrets there.
 
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