Cadet:
Virtually all of this relates to the ethos of the gun and our reverence for its past. This is highly personal... and subjective. Of course, an original Best pair in their original case with all accessories would be worth "more" to a refined collector/shooter. How much more? That's hard to say. I've owned at least three guns and one pair in this category. And I negotiated each deal as a "package" that held more appeal to me than the guns would alone. Others may not care. Especially dealers. Their motive is profit. Ours is romance.
And in a sense, they know what many other "scrap dealers" know: That you can get more total profit from the disparate parts of a unit than you can from the whole. That goes for guns, cars, and a host of other collectible items.
Thus, Mr. Jurewicz has it right. There is no calculation. Save for that of your passion.
Best, Kensal
