Firing Range Wrecks, Tracked Armour, wheeled or otherwise

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

I suggest someone who is even able to get a range wreck off the range and into private hands where it will be saved is to be commended. Selling it for a profit seems like the normal way of doing business. Nobody is going to pay a premium BECAUSE it is a range wreck; the price will be what someone is willing to pay or it will remains unsold, and if there is not enough profit to offset the effort, perhaps lost.

This is of course assuming the wreck is legally acquired and the purchaser has clean title to it.

In my perfect world a lot of rare plinth vehicles would be acquired by organizations or people who would restore them to running condition.

[David Dunlop]

Bruce, that day may yet come.

It was not that many years back in the UK where people suddenly realized all the historic WW2 Fighters serving as gate guardians were rotting away and became concerned. A few enterprising companies developed brilliant fibreglass repros and most, if not all of the gate guardians were swapped out. Not sure if all the real planes were saved and restored.

May take a lot longer for armour and artillery to reach that point, but they might.


David

[tankbarrell]

Give us some examples Kevin.

[Ed Storey]

Here is an image taken in 1981 in the Petawawa Training Area. This Valentine had been used as a PIAT target. At least a decade later this vehicle was 'recovered' by DND, but nothing was ever done with it and I think it was subsequently scrapped or buried due to lack of interest/knowledge.

[Lynn Eades]

What are you angling at Kevin? As a participant in the "free market" are you now objecting to it?
I've yet to see or hear about you giving or selling something cheap for the "general benefit of the hobby" so to speak.
I don't understand the reasoning for your post. Is there something specific that has happened that you object to?

My general opinion is that: I hate everybody else making big profits, but I wish I could.

[kevin powles]

Adrian, I had a guy this week offer me a 6 pdr with cradle, cut off half way up the barrel, he said he got it off a firing range one Christmas Eve. He wanted £10,000 for it.

Lynn, regarding your comment about 'giving or selling something cheap' you don't know me and you live the other side of the world!.

[jack neville]

Kevin,

What if he had offered the gun to you for £500? Would you have bought it? If he is lucky enough to salvage it, by any means, good luck to him. it is a free market. Do you think anyone would pay £10,000?

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by kevin powles

Adrian, I had a guy this week offer me a 6 pdr with cradle, cut off half way up the barrel, he said he got it off a firing range one Christmas Eve. He wanted £10,000 for it.

Like Bruce said, did he legally acquire the wreck and does he have proof of ownership?

H.

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

I've yet to see or hear about you giving or selling something cheap for the "general benefit of the hobby" so to speak.

Kevin has been more than generous helping me out with hard to find items and, yes, even giving them away or selling them for well below their value.

While off topic, this may speak to another observation in this hobby. There are exchanges between like minded people (giveaways, trades, selling for "what I paid for it years ago") and also sales at outrageous prices to the market at large. I'm guilty of it, the logic being that a rare item I sell at the best possible price rolls revenue right back into an ongoing project. On the other hand a giveaway to a friend collector to help them out not only benefits the hobby but more often than not is returned in kind. I am way more inclined to give something away I know will find its way onto a viable restoration than to a stranger.

Having said that, if one was considering buying a derelict vehicle today with the intent of restoring it, and looked at the prices charged for parts, that might well dissuade the person from thinking about it in the first place. Or looking at it from the other side, if I didn't have the means to source parts at reasonable prices I couldn't afford being in this hobby.

[Robert Bergeron]

Gents, we live in an imperfect world inhabited by imperfect humans
, and i am the " perfect" example. I have made mistakes , some stupid and will continue altought less frequent because of experience. I strive having fun doing this hobby. Sometimes it is not fun because of the different objectives and goals and temperaments. So forgive and forget and move on to the next project is my method. And yes it is frustrating when enterprising individuals sell me stuff at a premium when their cost is nearly nothing especially when it comes from a Gov property range or Base . But then maybe i should of dared to ask myself . i have shot at hard targets on the ranges in Gagetown, Valcartier and Suffield for nearly 28 years now and it never crossed my mind to ask or try karting off with one ! This tread could just of been my Revelation ! thanks Kev . Bob