Too rare for the range?

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yenningcomity

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I kinda talked about this in the overpaying thread, but I wondered if anyone else has been in my boat. Basically speaking has anyone here owned a piece that they are too afraid to shoot due its rarity or value?

I got lucky and stumbled upon a mateba unica 6 back in january. It is an incredibly fun gun to shoot. It always attracts attention at the range and is a great conversation piece.

The downside though is it that there are no replacement parts available. There is almost no information available about it. If it develops an issue I have no idea who to send it to. It is a semi auto revolver so it isn't something I trust my local gunsmith with. If I decided I want to shoot it often I would need to find someone to make recoil springs for it.

Mine isn't perfect it has a few scratches from the PO, and I don't have the box or tools for it. Looking at gunbroker if it were in perfect shape with box/accessories it would probably be a 3500-5000 dollar piece at this point. As is less obviously, but still a pricey piece. That being said I keep thinking of trading it in for a Browning Superposed 2 or 3 barrel set OU which would be much less worrisome.
 
Most firearms, if properly cared for, will never break down, and you can usually put several thousand rounds through a gun before the recoil springs wear out if they've been properly tempered. Shoot it and enjoy it.
 
This is true, but revolvers go out of time.

Also while recoil springs wear down after a few thousand rounds I have no idea how many rounds were put through it before I bought it. It was obviously used before it came into my possession. There is no information on the spring rates. My only option would be to take the spring out now and get someone to duplicate it. I cannot even buy the 44 special spring for this piece and have no way of getting one made.
 
Nice piece. I usually cause a few chuckles and interest at the range when I pull out my Backup with the single action trigger. Nothing as exotic as a Mateba.
 
Yes I have one that is highly collectable in beautiful comdition and over 100 years old. Blue book tells me it's worth too much to take a chance on breaking something on it. I have plenty of other toys to fill my range time.
 
I have firearms I absolutely won't shoot. Bought them to collect and collectors items they will remain in the same condition I received them until I pass them onto the next generation whether by sale or gift.

I have plenty of guns to shoot.
 
I don't have anything I won't shoot, but several that I won't "shoot the piss out of" because of their value or rarity.
Beyond that I have some that I don't take to the range any more. Most of my firearms are a little off beat or unusual, or at the very least things you don't see everyday, also many of them are heavy hitters for the platform, and it always seems to draw attention. Sometimes I get dirty looks and back handed comments when the muzzle blast knocks stuff over on the neighboring bench, or even on occasion the one next to that. In that respect they are "too rare for the range". So I just bring the few "run of the mill" guns I have to the range, and no one gets upset or curious which is how I prefer it.
 
Is that the current going rate on Matebas? I should have picked up another one in .454 when I had a chance. I shoot my 8" .44 once a year or so and let anyone at the range take a spin. I've replaced the grip with a composite unit a couple years ago and keep the wood grip in storage with a couple spare parts while they were still available. The factory wood grip has an ear that tends to break under recoil, so if that hasn't happened to you yet, keep an eye on it. The rail mount also isn't worth a damn. It attaches with three screws but there is nothing keeping it from canting or twisting as it isn't indexed or dovetailed at the mounting interface. I've had an Aimpoint and Leupold on it and the mount will shift. I thought about machining a dowel pin system but that would obviously lower the value.Have fun with it. It's a great attention-getter!
 
As long as it is safe to shoot, nothing is too "rare" for the range.

Part of the joys of firearms ownership is shooting them, and sharing with friends.
 
I am usually the one saying their is no such thing as too rare for the range. But my wife has a 1917 Luger engraved with a German line unit for service and matching magazine serial numbers. I want to fire it just to say I have then make it a safe queen.
 
I have so many guns, that I figure if I go to the range three times a month for the rest of my life, I'll get to shoot each gun just 6 more times before I die.

I'm probably not going to shoot the .30 cal Luger again, so maybe I'll get to the rest 6.03 times.

Don't wast your time shooting that rare gun.
You need to spend your time getting more guns.
 
Legend has it that my father in law owns a gun inherited from his dad. His dad got it as payment for some carpentry work he did on a house that belonged to Al Capone. The gun, which I have never seen, probably wouldn't be worth more than a few hundred dollars, depending on the make and model, the the provenance of the gun puts it into a strong five figure dollar value. If my wife inherits the gun, rather than her brother, I would take it to the range and shoot it once, then lock it up somewhere safe. It would be the equivalent of a barbecue gun, something that is taken out and shown off a few times a year.

Be it a cheap pistol once owned by an infamous gangster, or an unltra rare factory gun, I would shoot it occasionally, but it would not be an EDC by any stretch.
 
I had a chance to handle a S&W Chief's Special 5-shot .38 previously owned by J. Edgar Hoover, and another Chief's, blued with nickeled cylinder, previously owned by Jack Webb. The new owner, a J-frame collector, said that he has collected long and hard, and paid good money for the Hoover gun. They never got shot, even by their original owners, although both of the guns were rather plain, with the Hoover gun having just "J Edgar Hoover" on the right sideplate, and no other engraving, etc (it was one of the first Chief Specials produced). Both had documentation, with the S&W being a gift from S&W, and the Webb gun a special order, documented by S&W. I guess there will always be guns that don't get shot, but I feel something is missing if a gun doesn't get used or shot, after all, that was it's intended use. Imagine owning a hammer that was previously owned by Harrison Ford (who was a pretty respectable carpenter before being an actor). I think I'd rather have a hammer that he USED, rather than one that he just owned. Same with a gun. Which leaves me to this point: if I have a rare, pretty, or interesting gun, I want to be the one who shoots it, who is known to shoot it. I think of it as a legacy; my family can either hand it down with the stories that go with it, or sell it. I hope my daughter keeps the guns that I use the most, because the ones that don't mean that much to me are just trading fodder, and those who keep them unfired are just curators.
 
I don't own a single firearm that I haven't fired at least 100 rounds through. Then again all of my arms are $600 or less with no real rarity among them.

I briefly had a Kampfpistole Model "Z" but never fired it...only because you can't buy rifled grenades without going to prison and they haven't been manufactured for 70 years.
 
There are a few guns I wouldn't shoot, but not many. The one that comes to mind is a friend's Gerat 03 - a prototype roller-locked G43 built as a testbed. It's already been fired out of battery once (at Mauser in 1944 or 45), and it cost his about $50,000 to buy. So no, I don't think that'll be going to the range.

Most anything else is fair game to me, and I wouldn't even think twice about shooting a Mateba. I don't start having qualms until we hit the mid 5-figure prices. :)

Some of the expensive stuff I shot includes a VG1-5, Farquhar-Hill, ZH-29, and EM-2 (and I videotaped them all).
 
You know the guns are rare if I don't recognize the names.

Good grief Ian, I need friends like you have. :)
 
It's all about building relationships. :)

The VG1-5 is a last ditch German Volkssturm rifle (sorta delayed gas blowback in 8x33K). The Farquhar-Hill is a drum-fed British .303 semauto used briefly by the WWI RAF before they started mounting machine guns in planes. The ZH-29 is a Czech 8mm semiauto rifle that was too expensive to be a commercial success. The EM-2 was a British bullpup designed in the late 40s/early 50s that narrowly lost out to the FAL. And the Mars was the Desert Eagle of 1900 - rotating bolt, way too big to be practical, and a huge cartridge (220gr .45 caliber @ 1200fps).
:evil:
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(What I really want to shoot is something like the gun over my right shoulder in that photo...)
 

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I'm not a collector, and all my firearms have a specific role.

But, if I inherited such a gun as yours, I'd shoot it very little. I mean, if parts aren't available, it would suck if something broke.

But then again, what's the point of a gun you never shoot?
 
Wow, a Mateba Unica 6. Very cool. That is a heavy target gun. Well cared for you should never break any parts. Even if you did, in this day of the Internet I am sure you could find or have the part made. Enjoy it.

On the other hand I really don't know if I would shoot a $500K Purdey or H&H if I owned such a gem...
 
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