I think an unnatural number of the English guns of about 75 yrs old or older, sold by dealers in the U.S., show near 100% colors and often blueing as well. The English either don't touch the frames with hands, guncases, or cleaning cloths in the guns life or they are re-done.
Chuck,
With the climate in England there is an awful lot of rust on everything, poor storage etc......nothing much survives that climate .....most of the guns you speak of are refurbished/spruced up for the market place, but there are a lot of beaters out there too.....I think England invented the word mold.
Remember the before and after pictures from Tony Treadwell and others.
Their cars fare even worse, rust from bumper to bumper generally if they are driven and not plastic.
