I have never sent a Winchester off to be refinished, but have seen work done by Nu-line, Simmons, and Wright's. All do nice work. I had a high-polish Simmons 42, and thought it attractive.
Ted's comment about original finish loss with well-worn guns is a good one and, I presume, a comment on the quirky collector mindset. Even so, the market is what it is. I'm ambivalent about the attrition of a gun possessing collector appeal: hate to see another one go, but the unaltered guns become more valuable.
I somewhat disagree with the argument that a fresh blue necessarily augments protection. Up here we see scads of old Winchesters during hunting season that have been worn down - sometimes deliberately - to bare metal all over. A consistent finding is the worn areas are no more inclined to develop frank rust spots than the areas where we find remaining blue. Something to be said for natural oxidation, perhaps.
I think most low-budget hot re-blue jobs look simply awful, often ending up plum and/or as reflective as a Weatherby. Good way to lose a soldered rib, too, though the round bbl should be OK.
Sam
Last edited by Samuel_Hoggson; 06/20/13 05:40 PM.
