Chuck,
I don't know if that was done or not.
Miller,
The ivory inlay was indeed in place in #31088 that I saw. I remember the photo you are talking about where it appeared to be missing. Perhaps it was replaced after the photo was made, but I think that was BWII.
GregSY,
I don't know the procedure to analyze the bluing, perhaps it was just a visual determination by someone more expert in these matters than most of us. You could call Jim Julia and ask him.
Evidently the grandfather either couldn't remember the name of the person who sold it to him or he never knew. Either way, the grandson did not know. Perhaps it wasn't too important to him who the man was that sold him a broken gun with two people's names on the barrels that he had never heard of.
I don't presume to be able to answer your last question. All I have reported is information I have learned in the last few months since I examined the gun in Oct. '09. It all came from either the owner or Jim Julia, or both. Who knows why a man would have a gun restocked by other than the factory? Ever had someone tell you they could do a great job on something and then you were disappointed in the results? I have. Or, if and when Nash had this done had he begun falling on hard times? It has been reported that in his later years he had to sell off most of his guns out of need. Anyone's guess to answer that question is as good as, or better than, mine.
