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This is a current thread at Shotgun World. A farmer in the UK posted about an engraved Browning A-5 he bought some years back. It turns out it is the gun Felix Funken (one of FN’s most famous engravers) did for the 1930 World’s Fair in Liege Belgium.

The sad thing about that shotgun is that someone cleaned it. . . and maybe over cleaned it. The engraving is blurry now because it looks as if it has been buffed or wire wheeled by someone who had no clue what to do when they took the finish off. Edges that should be crisp are curved off. . . what a crying shame! AAAARRRGGGHHHH!

Many years ago, a fellow came into my gun shop with a cased Winchester HighWall three barrel set he'd just inherited from his grandfather. He wanted it re-blued. He told me it some light spots of a little rust and he'd saved some money by taking off the bluing for us on two of the barrels. He opened the case to show me what he meant on the last barrel he had not yet done. . . That barrel had 98% original bright blue left with a tiny, tiny bit of red rust that would have come off with some tender care and oil. The other two barrels were now WHITE and scratched beyond belief, because he'd used an emory buffing wheel on them. All the markings on them had been buffed out. He'd taken a set worth approxmately $15,000 and made it worth $1500 (the value of one least rare caliber Highwall). ARRRGGGGHHH!

My "WORST amateur with a gun mod story" of all time was the kid who had just graduated from high school and was trying to raise money for college tuition. He stopped in to ask if we bought curios. I asked what he had.

He said he'd inherited a rifle from his Uncle and had made it into a floor lamp in his high school craft shop and he thought some gun guy might like to buy it for his gun room. I asked what kind of rifle was it was. He said he wasn't any too sure, but it was "like one of those old ones like you saw in the western movies. . . you know, with a lever." He said his Mom didn't like it and he might as well sell it for college money. I told him to bring it in and I would look at it and tell if I could offer him anything on it.

The next day he and his Mom came in and hauled this gun/lamp out of the back seat of their car and brought it in. I could see BEAUTIFUL BURL WALNUT pistol grip stock with checkering on what appeared to be a pristine 1873 Winchester with octagon barrel. Oh, my god. . . He set it up. . . and could see it was ruined as a gun. It had, wonderful color case hardening, probably 95% original bluing left. . . gorgeous gun. . . and he had tapped the end of the octagon barrel to insert the threaded brass of an electrical fitting for a candelabra three lamp light and a harp for a standard floor lamp. The whole thing was screwed through the stock to a somewhat crudely made and finished base of turned walnut with a brass column. The cord was threaded down the barrel and came out through the top of the flat of the chamber where he had drilled a hole.

I was already sick at the desecration of a super fine special order 1873 Winchester rifle as I picked the lamp/gun up and sat it on the counter so I could look at it better and I got even more sick to my stomach when I saw what was engraved on the top of the barrel just in from of the breech. You could clearly see on the top of the barrel the words, in flowing script, "One of (. . .) Thousand", interrupted with a hole right through the second "one" where that damned electrical cord came through!!!

I had to calm myself down before I could say anything.

"I don't know how to tell you this," I said, "Look, I'm going to be honest with both of you. I could offer you $1000 for this lamp. . ."

The kid said "WOW!"

"That's great!" the Mom said.

"Hold on!" I went on. "I said I could. I am going to advise you not to take it!"

"What?!" said the kid.

"Why?" asked an obviously shocked Mom.

"First of all, I'm not sure I want this in my shop. It will make a lot of gun people very angry and upset. Secondly, I am I certain I can place a fair price on it for you or really evaluate what it's worth in this condition. Thirdly, I could take it and try to sell it as is. . . but that's when people would be upset and angry. I won't do that. Frankly, I am upset and angry right now that your High School Shop teacher let you do this to this gun without checking before you did it. In fact, kid, I am VERY, very angry. "

"Why?" the Mom asked. "It's just a gun that my son made into a lamp some gun nut might like. I don't like it but he thinks it's cool and I can appreciate how you gun people don't like . . . "

"Ma'am," I said. "That's not what this is. That Shop teacher let your son take this gun he inherited— a gun which was a very rare and extremely valuable antique collector's firearm— and ruin it without checking what it was or what it was worth. He should never have allowed it. That teacher failed your son and you. Had he not let your son turn it into a lamp, and essentially destroy most of its collector's value, it would possibly have been worth as much as $25,000 to $30,000, maybe more! It could have paid for the bulk of your son's college education."

"Oh, no!" Mom's eyes got big and she looked sick.

The kid looked thunderstruck. "My uncle said he was going to leave me something to pay for my college, but then he just left me this gun. . . "

Mom was tearing up. "What's it worth now?"

"I will give you the $1000 I mentioned, right now, if you want it, but I doubt I could get $2000 for it retail." I explained. "I won't try to sell it that way."

I went on to explain: "I will try to have it restored as closely as possible back to original, but it will never get back its original, untouched value. A good antique gun restorer can seal up the drilled holes, shorten the barrel, remount the front sight, refinish just the damaged areas to match using the original finish formulas, recut the chamber, re-engrave the "one" where it was drilled out. . . but we have to document those repairs were done, and note that it would be unwise to ever shoot it again, not that I ever recommend shooting such a valuable gun. THEN it may sell at auction with everything being disclosed, for, maybe, $12,500 to $15,000. . . perhaps, if lucky a bit more, but not much more. It won't be original any more, and collectors put a lot of value on original condition."

"Oh."

"Now, that's what I would do if I bought this 'lamp' from you. I'd send it to the best restoration guy in the country and pay him to do it. Buy as I said, I'm advising you to not accept my $1000 offer. I suggest that, if you have some extra money, YOU do it. You've made enough mistakes with this gun already, don't make another one."

"How much do you think it would cost to do that?

"To do it right?" I said. "My guesstimate is probably between $2,000 and $3,000, maybe a bit more, but not too much more. The guy I am thinking about is up front and will document everything from start to finish with photos at every step, for any potential buyer. That will help increase the auction price later to prove that only the minimal repairs necessary for restoration were done and most of the gun is really still close to original as possible."

They thanked me and took their lamp home with them. . . a week later they called to ask for the restoration gunsmith's name (I cannot recall it now. . . he's long dead) and about a year later the rifle was sold at auction and brought (IIRC) something around $16,500 plus buyers premium.