Old Presentation Boxes, What to do?

[chickasaw_hunter]

As some of you know I've been helping dispose of an estate with a lot of S&W's. A few of them have the wooden presentation boxes. All are from the late 70's and early 80's and the interior of all of them is crumbling. I opened one the other day that was still in the shipping box, the presentation box was still in it's plastic bag and had never been used. I touched the blue liner and it just crumbled under just a gentle touch. What I've elected to do is nothing, since some of the pistols may have collectable value. But what should an owner do who wants to use these great old boxes. I was visiting a friend in Texas last month and we were discussing these old boxes and he showed me one he had. He had relined it with some very nice velet and I had to conceal my horror to see a Sig Sauer neatly fitted into the S&W box! Somewhere in the back of my mind I think I'd read that someone sells a replacement liner. Of course it doesn't look like making one yourself might not be too difficult, although you may not get the smooth liner effect of that old foam liner material, of course it's clearly apparent it has no durability. So what are some of the options, besides my do nothing option, for these great old boxes. Does Smith still ship any current production pistols with them and are they still using that foam liner stuff? CH

[jimg11]

There are a number of guys that can do a beautiful job of repairing these old presentation cases including Hammerdown.

[Hunter]

I would think that if they are desirable boxes, they should be professionally restored to get the most money out of them, That being said, you can restore the flocking yourself. They sell kits.

[chickasaw_hunter]

How does that affect the collector's value or does it matter?

i want to know myself

[Doc44]

The covering of the liners in presentation cases that were used from 1969 to 1974 and 1979 to 1985(from 1983-1985 the case was a special order accessory) deteriorated quickly and all I have seen require replacement. If the case is recovered in a professional manner, the value is probably increased as the case cannot be used until the liners are recovered. Joe Cebull (email at pt-toes@accnorwalk.com) is the best at restoring these cases. I would contact him for any work you want done and I know you will be very satisfied with the result.

Bill

[bgrafsr]

I concur with Doc44 about Joe Cebull's work. The last I know he charged around $35.00 to re-do the linings. If there is any of the plastic liner still there, broken or not preserve it, as he will use the liner to help with his restoration & re-flocking.

[chickasaw_hunter]

Ok, fortunatly the crumbling lining does't harm the finish of the pistol. It just turns into a blue crumbling dust, that you have to get out of the pistol. What I'm doing now is removing the pistols from the box and leaving the box as is and putting the pistol in a rug or another box. But I think the boxes should be re-lined with a durable material. I'll let the new owners choose to do that or not, but in the event I buy one with a box I will have it re-lined, and there won't be any Sigs going into it.

[AzTenX]

The covering of the liners in presentation cases that were used from 1969 to 1974 and 1979 to 1985(from 1983-1985 the case was a special order accessory) deteriorated quickly and all I have seen require replacement. If the case is recovered in a professional manner, the value is probably increased as the case cannot be used until the liners are recovered. Joe Cebull (email at pt-toes@accnorwalk.com) is the best at restoring these cases. I would contact him for any work you want done and I know you will be very satisfied with the result.

Bill

No doubt about it - Joe is the man when it comes to display case restorations!

[chickasaw_hunter]

I'd love to see some pictures of restored boxes both homegrown and professional jobs. Here's one I had out for photo's. It was still in the brown shipping box it came from the factory in and had never had the pistol in it. As I was trying to set it up for the photo it slipped, I grabbed it and you can see my fingerprints near the edge of the top lid. That stuff just turned into a blue dust.