What happens to the price of a classic rifle when it is re-barreled or other work is done? I have a 1939 Winchester 52 heavy barrel match rifle that I bought with a couple of areas of deep pitting on exterior of barrel (about 1-2 square inches total)?

Also dreading the day a pair of pre-1960 Sako 579's start loosing accuracy. We shoot about 500 rounds through each one every year with these .243 Winchesters. They're that fun!

When you loose the original factory barrel markings do you loose a lot? Does it help to save the original barrels? Should I take them off now, saving whats left in life to have them replaced like a stock if my Family ever has to sell them?

Thanks,

Minkman

Generally, if it is a rifle that has heavy use then re-barreling will increase its usefulness and value as a shooting arm. A truly "collectible" rifle will diminish in value the more it is used and, therefore, should neither be used nor altered. For, example, the owner of a pristine pre-war Winchester Model 70 in a rare caliber may consider it "collectible" and would probably not want to shoot it. But one must distinguish between "desirable" and "collectible". Often people consider firearms they have as being collectible when they really are not.

If you do re-barrel a rifle and you are concerned about the alteration, consider sending it back to the manufacturer. Many will replace a worn barrel and it may well increase the desirability of your firearm.

The most value you will ever get out of a rifle is to wear it out.
As you note shooting is fun. If you don't shoot them you will not have much fun with them.

Thanks Guys, I can't help being a user, but I can really appreciate the "desirable" vs. "collectible". Desirable it is.

I always ask myself what would THEY have done if XXX had happened?

That is what would the original owner have done, at the time, and when the maker or factory still carried spare parts in inventory?

Would they have:

1) Had a local repair done? Say a bad dent in a stock or worse maybe a chip or gouge in a stock?

2) Carried on using it with the "defect"?

3) Got the factory to fit a new replacement part?

4) Got a local gunsmith to attend to it?

The answer is usually in there somewhere! If it's 3) then assuming that YOU and NOW can get such a part...go ahead!

quote:

What happens to the price of a classic rifle when it is re-barreled or other work is done? I have a 1939 Winchester 52 heavy barrel match rifle that I bought with a couple of areas of deep pitting on exterior of barrel (about 1-2 square inches total)?

Also dreading the day a pair of pre-1960 Sako 579's start loosing accuracy. We shoot about 500 rounds through each one every year with these .243 Winchesters. They're that fun!

When you loose the original factory barrel markings do you loose a lot? Does it help to save the original barrels? Should I take them off now, saving whats left in life to have them replaced like a stock if my Family ever has to sell them?

If the rifle in question is a Win 52 rimfire, don't do anything to it. As long as the bore interior is excellent, the rifle will shoot and shoot well. Bud's of mine have Win 52A's, b's, and C's, and I would not monkey with removing the barrel until I shot the thing and found what it is capable of shooting.

The value of older Match 22's is primarly based on how close it is to original, and does it still shoot. Alterations from original remove a lot of value, but, even if it has a little rust here and there, if it still shoots, there will be more people who want an all original than something with a modern replacement barrel. There are few all original vintage match 22’s around because if the owner shot more than a couple of matches, like busy beavers, they began to chew on the wood, inlet a different handstop, add an adjustable buttplate, and in the changing of this or that, the originality of the rifle disappeared. Altered vintage rifles are worth the price of the action, maybe a bit more, but not a whole bunch more. When I see vintage actions on the line, nothing is original because everything else was tossed out, and the current owner got the action for a lower price than an Anschutz M54. It can be very hard to find parts for these old actions and that is reflected in the price of an altered rifle.

There are a few vintage barrel makers which the presence of will actually increase, or at least, not decrease the value of a vintage 22 LR match rifle.


You shoot 500 rounds a year through a 243, the barrel is not long for the world. I remember talking to one of the better Camp Perry shooters, he was replacing 243 barrels every 800 rounds, you might be able to go longer, but I doubt you will be hitting anything near point of impact with 2000 rounds. The 243 is a barrel eater.

I have no idea as to the value of an early 60's SAKO, but if you keep on shooting it, expect to rebarrel it, and then, it will no longer be a collectable, it will be a shooter.

Taking the barrel off, I knew one shooter who did that on a factory 308 Win M70 target rifle. If I know that shooter, it was because the barrel stunk. He did put it back on and restored everything to factory configuration, but I was not interested in a rifle which is no longer competitive in XTC. Barrel removal is fraught with future risk, the barrel is more valuble attached to its original receiver, if you rebarrel, the receiver face may be slightly crushed changing headspace if you try to screw the original back one.