Very nice gun Bob. That would be a pleasure to own and shoot. That up grade to me is a honest upgrade not anything done to deceive. Its one of those guns that the owner decided to make it into what he wanted and did not spare the expense to do it right. Plus he made sure none after him could try to make it into something dishonest.
When buying m, I look at sellers on a sliding scale. 1 Strictly honest and well informed, 2 honest but not well informed, 3 pretend to not notice or know things but still overall honest, 4 notice but try to down play or hide things and then the lowest level, 5 those who know but lie and make every effort to deceive.
I dont fool with 4s and 5s. Dont reward bad behavior or you will just get more of it. A lot of people are 3s. Basically honest sellers, who will miss things that the buyer finds. Like a tiny crack on a stock or a area of bluing that was touched up long ago. Some sellers are 2s just because they have no real clue what they are selling. Perhaps the were given the gun years ago and never used it. Perhaps they looked it up on line and found wrong information about it. Those you can deal with and share information with so they learn what they have and its approximate value. And we all love dealing with the number 1. Honest, well informed sellers who let the gun speak for its self. They are rare inde d sometimes.
The gun that started this is being sold by a 3 I think. Ive dealt with him before. To me its an upgrade, 99% certain. Done years ago, decades ago Im betting. So not done to deceive by him or even the last owner. Im not going to pay top dollar (8-10K) for it. I would pay a premium (4-6K) based on high refinished condition on a upgraded shooter. Thats all this gun can be in my mind. I doubt you could do the upgrade for less that low end of my buying price. Restock, engrave, refinish might even be more than the asking price. Ive never known a person who paid for an upgrade to claim later he made money on the deal. Upgrades become a labor of love or a money pit.
