Collecting Antique Pistols: The complete guide for enthusiasts and collectors

A practical guide to collecting antique firearms with a method rather than on instinct. The book starts with how to read a piece: maker's marks and proof marks, serial numbers and what they actually tell you, proof testing, and how a barrel and a stock are dated. It explains the difference between ignition systems — matchlock, wheellock, flintlock, percussion — because that is the first thing that places a gun in time and in price. It teaches how to spot reassembled pieces, replaced barrels, engraving added in recent decades, and reproductions sold as originals, which in this field are the rule rather than the exception. It covers what genuinely forms value: condition versus over-cleaning, original patina, completeness of accessories, rarity of the model and documented provenance. One chapter is devoted to what catalogues skip: the law on antique firearms, the pre-1890 threshold, when registration is required and when it is not, and what changes for sale and transport. A closing section works through concrete cases, the mistakes that recur most often, and an action plan for building a coherent collection.

© 2026 PublishDrive (E-bog): 6610001361983

Oversættere: AI

Udgivelsesdato

E-bog: 4. september 2026