Does this modification help or hurt value?

[tark]

Or guns that were involved in an historical event.

In the Rock Island Arsenal Museum we have a trapdoor carbine that has been authenticated as having been recovered from the Little Bighorn battlefield. It was an Indian weapon that was doubtless discarded for a better weapon.

It looks like it was dragged behind a truck on a gravel road...and then attacked by a three angry beavers and a colony of termites. It would be graded NRA "poor." It is by far the ugliest gun we have on display.

And it Would rival our un-altered and never fired1903 serial # 1 as the most valuable gun in the room...simply because of where it was found.

I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Here is the Little Bighorn gun. Sorry the picture quality isn't better but that #@%*&@# Museum lighting makes for lots of reflections. The Indian who had it probably discarded it for a weapon in better condition, taken from a fallen soldier.

 

[Show Me]

Ya , mine has side mount scope and receiver sight holes with screws. I consider that old school Ted Williams 100 cool.

 

[35 Whelen]

I searched GunBroker for 1953 production 1894 Winchester 30-30's and got several results. All but one of them had holds for a receiver sight and the holes were plugged. I'd bet a months pay that the holes on the rifle in question were drilled at the factory.

35W

 

[WestKentucky]

Depends on the guns use. If it’s going to be a tool that gets used then I would prefer the gun with the Lyman peep. If it’s a wall decoration I would think it to be a no-value change. As a collectible it would hurt the value slightly, but at the same time there's a market for period correct customs.

Just like cars. The 1995 Chevy Silverado z71 was quite a popular rig in its day. As a farm/work truck it probably will do better with wider wheels and aggressive tires. As a grocery and 2x4 getter who really cares about the wheels and tires. As a collectible those trucks with low miles and factory setup sell way higher than they should. And the fastest selling truck of them all is a mild custom that is what all the midlife crisis dads wanted when they turned 16.