I bought the gun today, brought it bome and used an oil rag and wiped off the rust and swabed out the barrels and this is what I found.
The good:
1. It is an H grade
2. all the numbers match 57424, on the receiver, both barrels and fore arm.
3. the fluid barrel also has a second set of numbers which appear etched not stamped like the 57242 The eched numbers are 65804 and the last number appears stamped?
4. The barrels shine as bright as a new gun- even the damascus
5. The stock and forearm have no cracks
6. the lock up is very tight
7. the tang appears to have a point and is not rounded. If this was restocked it was a Very good job. He has owned the gun since 1951 and he said it was not restocked.
The bad:
1. there is more pitting on the outside of the barrels than I thought- it was hard to see through the red rust
2. There is two small dents in the right fluid barrel, one of which can be seen when looking down the barrel- it is very small
3. The forearm is dark- oil soaked?
4. I spent more $ than I wanted too- Just because he is 84 yrs old, he is no dummy. I went to buy two guns and left with one.
ANy ideas on a value??
