[ EPU Foyer ] [ Lab and Grill ] [ Bonus Theater!! ] [ Rhetorical Questions ] [ CSRANTronix ] [ GNDN ] [ Subterranean Vault ] [ Discussion Forum ] [ Gun of the Week ]

Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

Subject: "GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
Printer-friendly copy    
Conferences Gun of the Week Topic #84
Reading Topic #84, reply 10
Mercutio
Member since May-26-13
942 posts
Aug-25-17, 03:19 PM (EDT)
Click to EMail Mercutio Click to send private message to Mercutio Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
10. "RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk"
In response to message #8
 
   >Still, if you can, and it's safe, why not? I've seen people object,
>"Why ruin it?" but unless you're dealing with some kind of
>super-elaborate presentation piece with a really fragile embellished
>finish or something, I don't think that really holds up. It's what
>they're for.

It depends a little bit on a persons perspective of "ruin" and what they're there to see and gain enjoyment from.

There seem to be a lot of folks who don't want to see a reproduction, or a re-creation; they want to see the thing as it was when it wasn't an antique or an object of historical significance, but was just a thing.

To them, actually <em>using</em> it, while it may not impact them, personally, it will eventually have an impact down the road. Parts wear out and need replacing, stuff needs to be serviced in a way that's actually often kind of destructive. And that really seems to annoy them, because they don't want to see, say, a 1955 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with an engine and a body that has reproduced, non-factory-original parts that were machined in the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, oughts, and today in it; they want to see the thing in as close to minty fresh condition with all-original parts and finish as humanly possible.

It's about authenticity for them, I think. Like, if they know it isn't "authentic" that diminishes their enjoyment and their perception of the things value.

To an extent, I sympathize. For me, it's going to very much be on a case-by-case basis. The general rule of thumb I have is, if the thing is just a thing, and there are plenty other extant examples of the thing, go nuts. But if the thing is important for reasons other than just being a thing, or there are very few things left, do not use the thing; make a repro and use that.

... that was really confusing. Maybe examples?

I was in Washington DC a few weeks ago, for Otakon. And because this is what you do when you're in DC, I stopped into the various Smithsonians. In the Air and Space Museum, they have a genuine Lilienthal Glider, something Otto Lilienthal actually built with his own two hands and used to fly. That thing? Should not really be flown. Ever. It's still maintained in a functional state but it probably should not actually ever be used, because it's an actually irreplaceable historical artifact that literally cannot be re-created because, you know, the esteemed Herr Lilienthal has been dead for a very long time.

The thing is important for reasons other than just being a thing.

Or, because this is nominally about guns here... there are many hundreds of still-extant examples of Deringer single-shot pistols made in the mid-19th century by Henry Deringer of Philadelphia, who pioneered the form and whose slightly-misspelled name ("derringer") became a generic term. If you have one, there's no reason you shouldn't sometimes use it assuming you can do so safely; they're rare, but there's still plenty of them. Go ahead and load and fire one if you can get the proper components and do so safely.

You know what shouldn't be used? The specific Deringer that John Wilkes Booth used to kill Lincoln. That... that should probably be purely preserved and never actually, you know, fired again.

And once the original ones that aren't important because they killed a president start wearing out, you should probably preserve a few of those as well. At that point, get some repros made and use them instead.

-Merc
Keep Rat


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
 GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk [View All] Gryphonadmin Aug-22-17 TOP
   RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk ebony14 Aug-22-17 1
      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-22-17 2
      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Peter Eng Aug-22-17 3
   RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk JFerio Aug-23-17 4
      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-23-17 5
          RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk zwol Aug-24-17 6
              RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-24-17 9
                  RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk MuninsFire Aug-25-17 12
                  RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk SneakyPete Aug-28-17 16
          RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk JFerio Aug-24-17 7
              RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-24-17 8
                 RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Mercutio Aug-25-17 10
                      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-25-17 11
                      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk JFerio Aug-26-17 15
                  RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk CdrMike Aug-25-17 13
                      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-25-17 14
                          RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk CdrMike Aug-29-17 17
                              RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-29-17 18
                                  RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk CdrMike Aug-29-17 19
                                      RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-29-17 20
                                          RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk ejheckathorn Aug-29-17 21
                                              RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk Gryphonadmin Aug-29-17 23
                                          RE: GotW 53: Ruger Super Blackhawk CdrMike Aug-29-17 22


Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

[ YUM ] [ BIG ] [ ??!? ] [ RANT ] [ GNDN ] [ STORE ] [ FORUM ] GOTW ] [ VAULT ]

version 3.3 © 2001
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Benjamin D. Hutchins
E P U (Colour)