Gun restoration and preservation are two different (but related) parts of a gunsmith’s job. In this post, we’ll take a closer look at these two important tasks for any gunsmith with some help from SDI Grad Alex Christianson.
What is Gun Preservation?
Back when I worked on a commercial farm, we had a saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That was definitely true of plants, and it’s equally as true with firearms. If you preserve a gun properly in the first place, you won’t need to worry about restoring it.
In firearms, preservation involves stopping damage from happening to a gun. Alex gives the example of surface rust on a gun. While you could put time and money into repairing a gun, it may not be worth it. Instead, you just want to stop the gun from deteriorating any further.
This is your friendly reminder to go to your safe and grab that one gun you rarely shoot and give it a nice, relaxing Ballistol bath!
What is Gun Restoration?
If a gun gets neglected for too long, a critical component of it may break. In that case, it’s time to restore it. In this example, Alex looks at a Henry .22 Golden Boy. The gun has suffered extensive damage. The finish is mostly gone, it’ll need to be repolished, and the stock is delaminating.
In this case, the customer is going to need to pay for a bunch of work to be done to the gun. However, once it’s done, the gun will retain a significant portion of its value.
Learn More About Restoring and Preserving at SDI
Do you have one firearm in particular that you want to protect forever? Or, maybe you have a family heirloom that needs some serious work. Regardless of whether you need to learn more about restoring or preserving guns, SDI can help. To learn more about the programs they offer, click here.
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