Winchester Commemoratives are designed as a reproduction of historically famous Winchester rifles manufactured in the United States by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. They are generally of very excellent quality and often embellished with fine, strong woods and have silver, nickel, or gold plating. Obviously, these rifles are manufactured to be instant collectibles and to be pleasing to the eye, not for general use as firearms. Although many commemorative models are available in market, only some of them have achieved collector status, although a true Winchester Commemorative collector tries to get all of them.
Basically a factory commemorative issue is a gun that is manufactured, marketed and sold through the authorities of a specific trademark. There are many special and limited editions in the market which were made by Winchester but were not marketed or retailed by the Winchester. These specialty guns present a unique challenge to collectors as they are usually even harder to find the regularly released commemoratives.
The casing and packaging of these commemoratives firearms should be attractive, so that people would love it. Also these should be absolutely new and unfired. If these are not kept properly or any kind of use takes place, the class will decrease and the value as well. Many of the Winchester Commemoratives are available in some type of wood representation case and the rifles are case or in packaging with graphics styled to the particular theme of the collectible. Many homeowners just keep their commemoratives in their boxes and plastic bags for years.
But if there is moisture where they are kept, the antiques can be damaged by corrosion or oxidation. Periodic inspection should be performed on a regular basis to make sure that no damage occurs. As even light "freckling" created from touching the metal surfaces makes a commemorative looks less stylish, so special care is always needed to keep it classy. A fired gun with perfect wear or a gun without its original packaging can lose its value up to 50% of its normal value.
To learn more about Winchester Commemoratives, check out the book 'Winchester Commemoratives' by Tom Trolard. Go here to download a free page and learn more:
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