I once removed a repair on a old muzzle loader which was a very intensive but sound enough repair, removing it destroyed the character of the gun. I ended up restocking it; however the wood it was wearing was not in keeping with the time period. Its now waiting till i find a plain piece of english walnut which will be more in keeping with the time period and style of gun.
Removing period repairs or even heavily refinishing a gun is a difficult thing as for many of us our appreciation of old guns comes with the knowledge that they are old and a few battle scars are honest confirmation of this. At the same time we appreciate beauty and its there for required that work is done to old guns to keep them not only functional but beautiful.
My opinion to you would be to do whatever you want to the gun striking a balance between preserving its originality and getting the most enjoyment out of the piece. In the same way; quality modern repair work is as cool and fascinating as the old stuff and so if you can afford to have quality word carried out that's pretty cool in my opinion.
I don't like it when a guns history is destroyed for purely financial gain, but if its a gun your going to use and love and enjoy do with it what makes you happy and makes you appreciate it.
