Thoughts on "restoring/repairng" vintage boxes?

[MixmodelA]

First off, I post this here because most of the boxes I have belonged to guns of this era. If I am wrong in my thinking, please move it and I will go away quietly.

I have a fairly large collection of vintage handgun boxes, mostly Smith & Wesson. Some of what I have, are in need of structural repair; ie corners, inside dividers, bulging and sagging etc. Some need a bit of label re attaching. While others have the outside layer peeling, especially the edges. I'm sure you know the ones I'm referring to. And the list could go one.
I am just looking for some thoughts. And, I will appreciate any suggestions/ideas you may have. Thanks! Mick

 

[Doc44]

Collectors have the covering and inserts of presentation cases restored routinely. I don't see anything wrong with restoring or repairing a box as long as it is represented correctly in a sale. It is easy to tell if a case has been restored, but maybe not so easy with a box.

I know a collector who did have several boxes restored and he did say the price of restoration was quite high.

Bill

 

[usm1rifle]

Unless they are gold 357 magnum boxes, I don't think it would be cost effective.

 

[Hondo44]

It's worth it based upon picking the right boxes that you have restored. As usm1rifle indicated in the post above, only boxes for rare models and very old models will have the potential value to justify and recover the restoration costs.

I would auction off the boxes and let the new owners decide if they want to restore or not. You'll likely realize higher sale amounts you get for the boxes as is, than you would restored box sale amounts less your out of pocket for restoring them. And if you pick the wrong box (with little demand) and get it restored, you could end up upside down on the sale amount or no sale at all.

 

[rubiranch]

Speaking of boxes......

What would be the correct boxes for a 6.5" 1959 M27 and a 6" 1960 M27?

Neither one of these have boxes.

 

[MixmodelA]

My first thought is Gold box for the 1959 and a Blue box with solid line for the 1960. But I have a Gold box serial number S 240770 Nickel finish and Blue with solid line serial number S 240596 bright blue finish. Both are for 3 1/2 inch Model 27. So you see, anything is possible with Smith & Wesson and I don't think they threw anything away. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mick

 

[rubiranch]

My first thought is Gold box for the 1959 and a Blue box with solid line for the 1960. But I have a Gold box serial number S 240770 Nickel finish and Blue with solid line serial number S 240596 bright blue finish. Both are for 3 1/2 inch Model 27. So you see, anything is possible with Smith & Wesson and I don't think they threw anything away. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mick

thanks - and yes it helps

 

[6string]

It's not beyond the skill level of most "handy" folks to do this sort of repair work.

The adhesives of choice for vintage paper based products are either hot hide glue (prepared fresh) or fish glue. Bottled liquid hide glue (such as Franklin's brand) involves a bit of a risk in that it uses additives like urea to control drying.
Using the hot hide glue takes a bit of a learning curve, but fish glue perhaps a bit less so. These were the two basic adhesives for such work before the advent of synthetic glues. They work well with paper and are less likely to cause problems with inks. It's also possible to reverse your work if needed. That is important from the "restoration ethics " guidelines as followed by museums, etc.

As usual, practice on scrap, test in a discreet area, etc.

 

[JSR III]

Since my latest area of interest is the Bekeart model or the .22/32 HFT as they are known, finding an original box for one of these guns from 1911 is very difficult. If you do find one, you could be looking at $1,000 for just the box since cardboard does not survive as well and wood and metal.

That being said, I have a .22/32 HFT box that is in rough shape and I have considered spending the big dollars to have it restored. The estimate that I received from the shop that does these repairs (and quite well I might say) was $400 sight unseen.

They can repair the box itself as well as reproduce labels that are missing or torn.

If you wish to have a representative sample of one of these rare boxes, this may be the only way for some folks. I haven't made the jump yet as I always seem to have another place for the $400+ to go.