I understand to some, a sleeved gun is to be looked at as a lesser valued gun. But most guns being sleeved, are scrap metal without it, or just a part gun. I have a couple sleeved guns and they are well worth what I paid for them. What is the point of having every gun you own so thin that every shot is a roll of the dice? Some complain that the sleeved barrel changes the weight and balance too much, but I would like to point out they are mostly ultra light because they have been honed and filed to rebrown to an inch of their life. If a sleeved gun gains 10 ounces total, it might be replacing 6 -8 ounces lost to gun care over the century of use. I bet a new set of barrels would weigh the same as a sleeved set but at 20-30 time the cost. And since I can shoot heavy guns well, it matters little to me if a gun is 6 pounds 6 ounces or 7 pounds 2 ounces. I'll take the 7/2 with perfect barrels every time.
The guns I am looking at are still technically in proof, but with barrels that are very marginally safe at best. In proof, is not a guarantee of safety., reasonable caution still needs to be used and I do not like shooting a Black Powder Proofed gun, with dents and .016 wall thickness even if it is in proof. The only reason to consider these guns are their rarity. Also they represent uncommon features, or designs which are unusual and almost impossible to find. If I were in the UK, I might be able to find better examples but I am not. So if I want one for my collection then I have to decide if it is reasonable to roll the dice on one of these guns. To that point I am trying to figure out current sleeving cost. With Covid and retiring gunsmiths this might not even an option or a affordable one in any event.
I spent almost a decade looking for a crossover double, for a left handed shooter, using the right eye. A very uncommon thing. If left handed shooters are 5% of the population, how many of them suffered a injury that required them to shoot a crossover stock and had the means and interest to do so? I have found several hundred right shoulder, left eye guns, but only one left shoulder, right eye gun. The one I bought was a humble box lock, in need of a bit of tidying up as they say. Now it is done and I just came across a second one, that is in slightly better condition but at almost ten times the cost. So I am glad I bought the first because or I would most like be buying the second and paying a lot more money. I am still looking for a swept double for a left handed central vision shooter. Again to date all the one I have found are right shoulder, swept stocks. But I will find one someday. I'll buy the project guns, if there is a reasonable pathway to get them completed. Otherwise all I would be doing is buying an expensive tomato stake.
