The horror the horror (apologies to snayperskaya)

[spikedueller]

A sad example of how to destroy a rare historical artifact, even though it's been sporterised, the "ears" for the stripper clips are still there giving it that highly distinctive look.

To make matters worse they've deactivated it this year and still stating it's a section 1 firearm

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/auct ... 7d00d87d0f

[snayperskaya]

Oh dear

It is surprising how many of these rifles appear on dealers websites in Finland, most often sporterised and in larger calibres like 9.3x53r and used as moose guns.

[poll007]

Very sad to see- I imagine it would be worth a lot more had it not been deactivated-even sporterised.

I've done some searching on finish site and nearly given up on finding one that isn't a sporter.

Though depending on post brexit/covid import rules i might look at doing a holiday and trying to bring back one of the sporters that is in 7.62 still (7.62x53r as they seem to mostly be over there)

[kennyc]

Very sad to see- I imagine it would be worth a lot more had it not been deactivated-even sporterised.

I've done some searching on finish site and nearly given up on finding one that isn't a sporter.

Though depending on post brexit/covid import rules i might look at doing a holiday and trying to bring back one of the sporters that is in 7.62 still (7.62x53r as they seem to mostly be over there)

the sad fact is that traditionaly deacts bring a higher price than live firearms, sometime 2-3x the price !

[PeterN]

Deactivation has ruined too many fine firearms. I have never understood why anyone would pay good money for a firearm that is damaged beyond repair. If you want to hang one on a wall to look at, you may as well look at a photo and save the firearm from ruin. It is possible to collect intact firearms on a FAC if you really want to. I was once talking to a dealer who had a really nice rare variation of a Long Lee Enfield for sale. He was contacted by a buyer who went through all the details, it was something he really wanted and a price was agreed. The buyer then asked what the extra cost would be to have it deactivated for him. The dealer gave him a piece of his mind and the potential buyer was most put out that he would not deactivate it for him. The rifle remained intact.
Regards
Peter.

[450 Martini]

I do agree too many fine firearms have been lost to deactivation. But to be Devil's Advocate they do have a place in film work where they will be handled by actors who might have no previous experience of handling firearms. It's just not possible to supervise 100+ live firearms on a busy film set.
This picture is from the 2018 production of Journey's End. Most of the filming was done with mostly deactivated firearms with a few live rifles, pistols and machine guns used in certain scenes. For this scene working on my own i issued 120 SMLEs, a Lewis Gun and 6 Webley revolvers.