It depends on your expectations.
If you want a trusty shooting companion, buy the gun. If you want bragging rights and appreciation, buy the name.
A case in point is a Belgian guild gun in my cabinet that was brought to this country as a WW II souvenir. It is wonderfully finished, inside and out. I bought it cheap because, as I honestly told the owner, it had no name, no cache. It serves well and draws admiring comments. but someday I will sell it for a relative song and it will be someone else's bargain.
