Steven Fjestad made the remark in one of his recent bluebooks, on Parkers, I think, that the guns are not rare but the original condition is. Doug Manns' Fox upgrade pictured here is gorgeous, but I hope his starting point was a well worn specimen. Of course it is his money and his gun and he could use it for firewood and scrap metal if that is his wish. Any attrition of original collectible guns only makes the remaining stock more rare and valuable. One troublesome fact is even if an owner has the best of intentions to never misrepresent a refinish or upgrade as original, he has no control of what happens after it leaves his hands. I looked at a Sterlingworth a few days ago with silver receiver, plum barrels, very worn dark forend, and a like new butt with near new checkering. The dealer swore it was original and that it was common to have perfect checkering on the grip and mere traces on the forend. Same guy had a refinished Baker with the gaudiest cyanide colors you ever saw and pronounced it all original also. This happens all too often, and sometimes the deceit is not so obvious to even the more savvy buyer. If I was Dictator of the World these bastards would be in the Gulag, but I'm not, yet, so Caveat empetor, and please excuse my warm fuzzy tolerance.
