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There was recently a thread posted where a plethora of people wrote their opinions and voiced concerns about condition, availability, and price these days.
In all that was written, only one person brought up the real issue about this discussion. Actual condition of the parts.
This member was CNelson when he wrote:
"..anyone else who reparks, I think that re-parking is cosmetic in nature and does not increase the value of the item, nor does it increase the condition of the item from "used" to "excellent as new". Regardless of the appearance the item still has a round count on it, there is still wear and tear on the wearing surfaces, round count is most likely indertiminable due to the nature of the item being a take-off or just by its second hand nature. To me the act of re-parking an item and "upgrading" it's condition is subverting and unscrupulous. In certain circumstances it can be downright dangerous."
Not to re-visit or open old wounds but this needs to be talked about and discussed like grown-ups. Without others asking for it to be closed or shut down. Without personal attacks or mods deleting it. This is important to all.
So few people actually know what they think they know about these parts or the history behind the individual parts. When this issue was brought up several months ago I believe it was Geeck that wrote, with the disappearance or lack of available G.I. parts, park tanks have been running overtime or around the clock, all over America. He nailed it with this statement.
Randy at Treeline and Mike at Windy City are perfect examples of this. They bought hundreds of kits and reparked them, sold them at profit, and now everyone post threads, look at my N.O.S. rifle, or kit, or parts. This is ridiculous and ludicrous and goes back to what CNelson wrote. They are not NOS, never were, and never will be again.
In order for this issue to be discussed intelligently, it requires some actual thought before writing. Many of you have opened actual NOS parts and know what they look like but few out there will ever do it again, and if I wanted to I could fool every one of you.
I have hundreds of NOS wrappers that retain the white residue inside, for all kinds of parts. I could refinish parts and put them back in the packaging and sell them as NOS and nobody would have a clue as to their actual condition under that parkerizing.
I could make up an excuse for opening them that I wanted to make sure it was the right part, or to check the condition so it would be described properly and without rust, or to make sure the package didn't have a hole in it and cause degradation to the parts, or it was stored in a humid climate, or I could not make out the NSN number on the package and had to make sure, or it got submerged and I had to de-water it to save it. Starting to get the point here ?
Somebody would buy it a pay a premium for it. They would be proud to get it too. Would I do this ? No. Could I do this ? or could anyone else ? Yes. Have they already ? Yes. Would others buy them and brag about their good fortune here or try to resell at profit ? Yes. What does all this mean ? Nothing.
The only thing that means anything is the truth. The truth is that if the Marines in Nam during combat and the wide eyed young recruits at boot camp, couldn't tear them up during basic training, they can't be torn up.
You can get a damaged trigger housing spline or op rod tab that needs refurbished, or get a bolt face with minor etching from primer leakage, or a worn extractor bearing and weakened springs throughout and a worn extractor claw. But for the most part these rifles are indestructable and the price should reflect that as compared to poodle shooters.
I only see one solution to this latest problem here and conflicting opinions of members about condition and price. Hawk was a lot of things here, some thought he was great, some not so great, but one thing he was is a thinker. He was always thinking about ways to make things better or make things happen. Not always right and often exactly right. Maybe we should take a page from his book of memoirs on this issue ?
If the owner and staff instituted an auction site here for members only, for GI parts only? People that wanted to bid on things they needed or were searching for specifically could bid, people that weren't interested could ignore. It wouldn't affect the PX prices in any way either. That is the beauty of ignoring. You ignore something or someone and they go away. You can't find that very special part you have been searching for the last four years, go to auction here. Juss sayin.
There are no problems, only solutions.
In all that was written, only one person brought up the real issue about this discussion. Actual condition of the parts.
This member was CNelson when he wrote:
"..anyone else who reparks, I think that re-parking is cosmetic in nature and does not increase the value of the item, nor does it increase the condition of the item from "used" to "excellent as new". Regardless of the appearance the item still has a round count on it, there is still wear and tear on the wearing surfaces, round count is most likely indertiminable due to the nature of the item being a take-off or just by its second hand nature. To me the act of re-parking an item and "upgrading" it's condition is subverting and unscrupulous. In certain circumstances it can be downright dangerous."
Not to re-visit or open old wounds but this needs to be talked about and discussed like grown-ups. Without others asking for it to be closed or shut down. Without personal attacks or mods deleting it. This is important to all.
So few people actually know what they think they know about these parts or the history behind the individual parts. When this issue was brought up several months ago I believe it was Geeck that wrote, with the disappearance or lack of available G.I. parts, park tanks have been running overtime or around the clock, all over America. He nailed it with this statement.
Randy at Treeline and Mike at Windy City are perfect examples of this. They bought hundreds of kits and reparked them, sold them at profit, and now everyone post threads, look at my N.O.S. rifle, or kit, or parts. This is ridiculous and ludicrous and goes back to what CNelson wrote. They are not NOS, never were, and never will be again.
In order for this issue to be discussed intelligently, it requires some actual thought before writing. Many of you have opened actual NOS parts and know what they look like but few out there will ever do it again, and if I wanted to I could fool every one of you.
I have hundreds of NOS wrappers that retain the white residue inside, for all kinds of parts. I could refinish parts and put them back in the packaging and sell them as NOS and nobody would have a clue as to their actual condition under that parkerizing.
I could make up an excuse for opening them that I wanted to make sure it was the right part, or to check the condition so it would be described properly and without rust, or to make sure the package didn't have a hole in it and cause degradation to the parts, or it was stored in a humid climate, or I could not make out the NSN number on the package and had to make sure, or it got submerged and I had to de-water it to save it. Starting to get the point here ?
Somebody would buy it a pay a premium for it. They would be proud to get it too. Would I do this ? No. Could I do this ? or could anyone else ? Yes. Have they already ? Yes. Would others buy them and brag about their good fortune here or try to resell at profit ? Yes. What does all this mean ? Nothing.
The only thing that means anything is the truth. The truth is that if the Marines in Nam during combat and the wide eyed young recruits at boot camp, couldn't tear them up during basic training, they can't be torn up.
You can get a damaged trigger housing spline or op rod tab that needs refurbished, or get a bolt face with minor etching from primer leakage, or a worn extractor bearing and weakened springs throughout and a worn extractor claw. But for the most part these rifles are indestructable and the price should reflect that as compared to poodle shooters.
I only see one solution to this latest problem here and conflicting opinions of members about condition and price. Hawk was a lot of things here, some thought he was great, some not so great, but one thing he was is a thinker. He was always thinking about ways to make things better or make things happen. Not always right and often exactly right. Maybe we should take a page from his book of memoirs on this issue ?
If the owner and staff instituted an auction site here for members only, for GI parts only? People that wanted to bid on things they needed or were searching for specifically could bid, people that weren't interested could ignore. It wouldn't affect the PX prices in any way either. That is the beauty of ignoring. You ignore something or someone and they go away. You can't find that very special part you have been searching for the last four years, go to auction here. Juss sayin.
There are no problems, only solutions.