The less one has to rely on someone else, the less that will go wrong more than once.
Indeed!
Back then, I was considering the purchase of a mould to cast .380" balls, but I pretty much have retired from my casting operation.
PLUS, as I wrote, I was merely keeping the gun for a friend, who had gotten mad at the gun and told me to "get that POS out of my sight! I tried several times in a couple years following that tirade of his, to give the gun back to him, but he would have nothing of it. Even 'tho he said it was mine (several times) I decided to never part with it.
Fast forward about 6 years (since the last time I attempted to give it back) to last week. (Nov.) Out of the blue he calls me up and asks me if I still have the gun. (Of course!) He has totally forgotten what went on 10 years ago, and the reason WHY, (It has been "defarbed" and antiqued to LOOK like a real antique, and he - not being a savvy BP repro shopper - paid $300 for it as an AUTHENTIC gun back in the late 70s or 1980s! He was seriously pi$$ed when I identified the gun as an authentic Italian used gun worth (10 yrs. ago) maybe $50-$75. He was SO mad, he told me what he did - so now you know the rest of the story.
When he gets the time for us to meet, I'm going to return the gun, of course, and take him to shoot it since he has never fired a BP C&B gun, and since I have the correctly sized .380" balls that fit in the 're-bored to match' cylinder for his gun. In spite of me losing a nice gun it will be fun. He might even sell it to me, 'tho I'll not pay $300 for it! Besides, I shoot 44s.