Recently acquired a 1972'ish M41.
The man I purchased the gun from was the original owner.
He had the original blue logo box.
The box is in very poor bad condition. Crushed and torn away on the corners.
I know to keep the box.

My question is this: Is it a bad idea to carefully wrap the box in clear wrapping tape to strengthen the corners and protect the box from further damage/deterioration? It would only wrap the corners of the top and bottom sections.

Leave as is?

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N frameitis :-)

Leave it like it is!
Or it could wind up looking like this one-

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

DO NOT use any tape. You can repair separated seams/corners with craft glue (Elmers) and some simple tools.

This is my box repair kit:



Apply a small amount of glue to each edge of the seam. Position the separated edges together, place a corner brace on the inside and clamp it in place. Let it set-up for a day before removing the clamps and braces. If necessary you can put a large rubber band around the outside of the box to pull the edges together.

This type of repair is reversible and causes no additional damage. I've saved more than a few boxes with this technique and the repair is barely noticeable.

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"I also cook."

We face the same conundrum on finding a gun with some bluing loss...Should we "help" it along with a cold blue treatment, or preserve it as it is?......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

This box is in such bad shape I doubt the corners can even be glued back together. It’s smushed.
I’ll piddle around with it when I get the time.

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N frameitis :-)

If the box cannot be used why is it important?

Is it because everything that comes from Smith and Wesson is collectable?

I found a old S&W box in my dad's garage. Someone had already taped the corners of it. I've kept it for years, kinda hard to throw it out.

I find it quite relaxing and rewarding to help an old box along with glue and clamps. You are not going to use it for shipping and it looks neat on the shelf of the shop. And yes Virginia, old S&W stuff is collectable to a lot of us. Heck, I saw a guy at a show who collected and fixed cereal boxes.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

If it's pretty much smashed beyond repair, you can try to put it into a picture frame type thing, maybe plexiglass on both sides to show all the writing.

I still have the original box and papers for my model 27-2 nickel 6”. The LGS where I got it new in 1973 put his price tag with the business name and $175 written in. Somehow 2 of the box corners broke. I will give your repair technique a try.

My interest in S&Ws covers Hand Ejectors from 1899 to the end of the pinned barrel era. It was also around this time that the 2 piece box went away. The two piece boxes were a nice touch while the one piece folding cover box looks cheap.

But with all respect shouldn't you use this??

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Still Running Against the Wind

In Lee's honor?

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Even older, even crankier....