This has been a very interesting journey. First of all, once again thanks to Hilbly for lending his views after inspecting the rifle. I have never proclaimed to have the expertise to make any solid judgments on this rifle. People better that I have seen it and come to their own conclusions.
What has been interesting, and I have had this same discussion with Hilbly in Lexington, is that one person looks at it and pronounces some features flawed or "bad". Another person looks at it and pronounces those same features as VERY GOOD. And the discussion goes on and on and round and round. Some feel it's a $500 rifle but others feel it is worth of more considerations than just blowing it off as a restocked rifle.
There was a gentleman in the antique display room who had several restocked firearms and a sign on them when something like this. "Firearms were tools that were use and frequently broken. Restocking them was a necessity to provide food and protection." Now that's not an exact quote but it set me to thinking. Of course we will encounter restocked firearms. Lives and fortunes depended on having a functional weapon. So maybe the pure character of an original firearm was lost but tell that to the frontier man trying to stay alive and feed his family. These firearms were put back into service and probably most often by owners who were less that masters but they still represent a part of history and still command some respect. Yes, maybe some more contemporary jackass screwed it up even more but look into the soul of the rifle and treat it with some degree of respect. AND for the record, Ms Molly has allowed me to access this post just this one time, just FYI.
Mr Molly
