I oike functional shooters, and if the finish is a bit worn, well I'll fix it at times, but I'm not about to spend thousands of dollars on a gun that I want to hunt hard with just so it looks original.
The majority of my guns would not have their value increased by a full restoration, bit certainly do with proper repair to make them shooters again.
That being said, my treasured Westley Richards is getting the complete going through next year for my 60th birthday.
it's not going back to England however, I have a good friend that is going to do it for me.
The fact that it was at one time rebarreled ( and the barrels cut as well) with W. Richards barrels does not make it any less valuable in my eyes, it fits perfectly and I have killed more birds with it using black powder loads than any other gun I own.
Davide
