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I have had a number of guns conventionally refinished over the past few years, gradually salvaging guns with smoke and water damage.
Most don't look original but they sure look better than they did after the fire.
Dollar value went from good to nothing to medium-low. But I have the use of them.
"Serious collector" is something subject to definition.
I think Saxon Pig meant the kind of collector who studies his field and pays for originality in the best available condition. I remember when the nice Colts, Winchesters, and Lugers had retreated into museums and big collections, leaving the serious student of moderate means with guns advertised as having "10% original finish in protected areas."
That process is well under way in other areas, giving us the $2000 army surplus 1911 and the discovery of low production variants of the Mosin Nagant. One big difference is that the buyers are not as serious students as they used to be and there are some egregious fakes being sold.
But there are also people buying guns who want them to be unusual or scarce and to look nice as well, even if that means "restoration." The intellectual collectors look down their noses at such people and the gunsmiths they do business with, but they are paying serious money which is just as good as the students', good enough to support Mr Turnbull, several other high end restorers, and a bunch of shops of moderate to dismal ability.
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