A customer asked me to 'deactivate' his grandfather's old shotgun

He brought in a well used Winchester Model 12, made in 1928, and just wanted it made safe for display. He said, 'I don't want anyone to ever be able to fire it again.' It got me thinking about how the job has shifted over the years. I remember when the goal was always to bring a gun back to working order, to preserve its function above all else. Now, I get more requests like this, where the history and the memory are the only things left to save. I explained we could pin the firing pin and weld the chamber, but it felt a bit like a small loss. The trade used to be about keeping things alive, and now part of it is about making sure they stay dead, but in a respectful way. Has anyone else had to do more of this kind of permanent 'retirement' work lately?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_adams18d ago

Man, that's a weird feeling, right? Like you're a gun doctor but sometimes they ask you to pull the plug. I had a guy bring in his dad's old service pistol and wanted the barrel filled with epoxy. It's a total shift from the old 'fix it at all costs' mindset. Now we're the ones putting the final nail in the coffin, but I guess it's better than it ending up in a landfill.

troystone18d ago

That "final nail in the coffin" feeling vera_adams mentioned is real. It's a different kind of care, but still important work.