This post about de-cluttering one's photographic gear resonated, especially since I'm in the process of paring down a couple decades' accumulation of old military rifles for very similar reasons. I don't shoot them and, in fact, I don't really have them stored in the sort of accessible fashion that allows me to really get them out and appreciate them, so I reckon it's time to get them back out into the marketplace and let them find homes where they will be loved appropriately.
In general, however, I don't really have a problem drawing a distinction between "using" guns and "collecting" guns. The former tend to need to justify their keep and I have minimal attachment to them as objects, while the latter don't have to be objectively useful to be appreciated. I give you exhibit A:
They don't even load .32 Rimfire anymore, but that's okay. All this gun needs to do to justify its existence is sit there and look pretty. Further, since it's over a hundred and fifty years old, I reckon it's probably already done plenty of shooting. With a durable artifact like this, I'm just a temporary custodian, holding on to it for the next person.
I still haven't put a roll of film through the IIIb, either, although I fully intend to. I'd like to do at least some shooting with a Barnack Leica, if only to say I have.
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