Barrel Liners

[MI2600]

Can anyone comment on whether or not a rifle barrel liner affects the value of an antique rifle? I recently purchased an 1892 Winchester from GB and upon delivery I found the barrel was relined. I know this isn't a bzillion dollar rifle but I have mixed thoughts. On one hand it is an improvement, on the other it isn't all original.

 

[lysanderxiii]

Any repair will affect the value of an antique . . .

 

[Jim Watson]

Collector minus, shooter level.
Either way, seller did not disclose a major modification.

MY 1892 had a checkered past. Originally a .38-40, it had been rebored to .44-40 which I knew in advance. Not a good job, accuracy was poor even for an iron sighted lever action. So I had it relined to .44-40 because I already had dies, brass, bullets... and a .44 SAA. Dollar value is undoubtedly less but it served me well at CAS.

 

[Riomouse911]

If it wasn’t disclosed, that was dirty pool on the sellers part. Especially if it was sold as all original or as a collectible piece.

If you bought it to shoot it, it’ll probably shoot much better than the bore that was relined. In a case like that I’d just shoot and enjoy it.

I have an old Remington rolling block .22 LR that needs to be relined, the original bore is about as smooth as a hand-dug mine shaft . Obviously we won’t ever know, but if your gun was as rough as mine is it probably wasn’t much of a shooter before it was altered.

Stay safe.

 

[MI2600]

The seller didn't disclose the liner. I should have asked! The rest of the rifle is good, of course with the normal small "oopsies" of a 100 year old rifle. With the way the prices are going I doubt if I'll lose money.

 

[tark]

Any repair will affect the value of an antique . . .

Quite right.

If the re-lined barrel wasn't mentioned in the original presentation then someone was unethical. You now have (hopefully) a nice shooter but the collectors will not be beating a path to your door.

 

[jmorris]

The short answer is yes.

Anything that makes it less like it was the second the manufacturing of it was completed, detracts from the collectors value. Perfect costs more, just about everywhere in life.

I would want to know, either way but there are a lot of people that sell firearms and don’t know anything about them, might not even know what a liner is.

Would I return it because it was not was stated? Depends am I buying it as a collectors item or a shooter? Would I put a liner in it if the original bore was done but I wanted a shooter? Did I pay premium for a perfect specimen or got a smoking deal even if it didn’t fire at all?

 

[Jim Watson]

Note: There are lining methods that do not show at muzzle and the breech end can be hidden. So you are left to study rifling plans and consider barrel wear vs action and finish wear.

There was an outfit selling reproduction Winchester barrels, correct to profile, bore, and markings.