The problem with that AAH Parker is not so much that it has an ADDED pad (which is atrocious considering you-know-what was cut off) but that it also has a bunch of ugly spacers. A $45K gun should have its head held up a little higher than that.
What the owner did 100 years ago is not so much the issue as what the current owner thinks a modern buyer should swallow without a grimace. In the world of rare guns, they tend to fall into two categories - those that had stupid shit done to them and those that didn't. The AAH unfortunately fits into the latter category whether we like it or not.
If I were selling that gun, maybe I'd still ask $45K - but I'd at least show some humility and be reticent over the stock's condition.
