Heh. It seems that every time I sit down and tell myself, "I really should write that book" it's not too much later that I find someone has already written it. Bolt Action Military Rifles of the World, by Stuart Mowbray and Joe Puleo just junked a book idea I had. The link is to the cheapest place on the web I've found the book - and, yeah, it's a local
This is a fun but serious book on military rifle collecting, accessible to the novice and useful for the expert. It's written from the perspective of collectors - but not the kind of collector who is looking for a "pristine" exemplar of a military bangstick. These are my kind of collectors - which is not surprising since they publish Man At Arms magazine. I was talking with Joe Puleo, co-author with Stuart Mowbray, and we were talking collecting and he said "I love it when a guy asks me "What condition is the bore in?" And I answer, "I don't know, I never checked." That's a guy who collects to get the history as much as the gun, which makes us kindred spirits. Nothing wrong with the guys who want a perfect, "made, stored, and never issued until surplused gun" that just isn't me. I want serviceable that was used in service. I'm more about the history of the weapons and the warrior that used it than I am the shot group at 200 meters. Joe quoted Stuart as saying something along the lines of "I don't understand a guy who wants a historical gun, but wants one with no actual history."
This is a book very much along the lines of what I would have written - with the exception they had access to some of the better collections in the world and really good photographers, and Stuart Mowbray's historical photo collection... The book has sumptuous - yes, I said sumptuous - photography, and a simple, neat, but entertaining text, that gets to the heart of the matter and has good tidbits of trivia about the guns that collectors old and new will find useful. Add to that is is full of fun period photos like our Swiss soldiers up there. And lest you wonder just how serious these guys are about their collecting - click here to see the dedication to the book A lot of us probably have that t-shirt.
If you're already a collector, or a wanna-be collector, or can't collect but like guns, especially old soldiers like the ones that grace these pages and fill the Arsenal of Argghhh! - this book is worth the price. And they have others. Many, many others, not a few of which sit on the shelves of the Arsenal Gun Library. If you'd like to see the whole catalog, visit Man At Arms Books.
Dammit John, the wife already complains about how many books I have...
I will admit that one of the coolest discoveries I had was disassembling the 'shooter grade' 1942 Sako M39 (bought from Empire) to discover dirt and even a few fir needles in the grease under the stock.
I left the dirt and the needles where they were. Rifle shoots just fine with 'em where they are.
However, even though I may be known for NOT having any overabundance of caution...I don't think I'd want to be "horsing around" with multiple bayonet-equipped rifles. It just seems like "step one" of the process leading to announcements like this.
But on a more practical note - you're checking for hidden rust, dry rot, cracks, etc.
Especially on weapons that show signs of not having been stored all that well over their lives, such as guns from some South American and African sources - or that shipload of Brit stuff that came in from Nepal.
And it's not moving them that's the issue...it's the space they occupy when unpacked.
Besides - PB&E reflects professional career requirements, not specific duty requirements. Specific duties can factor in, as in my case when the gun collection moved into the PB&E category when I was assigned as a military history instructor and used the collection in class.
Unless the regulation has changed (certainly a possibility in the last ten years) military history books were essentially presumptive.
Space? Heh. Bookshelves in the garage. Or basement. There are three stacks on the right, three on the left. 4.5 of those stacks, plus the guns and ordnance, shipped as PB&E. I've told that story before.