Well Ed here is the flip side. What if I bought the gun and had it lettered only to find out my factory original gun came with a 26" barrel? How did they grow to 28"? When you place 75% premium on price, based on factory original gun with high condition, which the seller was doing, you better be selling the real thing. And that seller knew he was not. It was fraud plain and simple. But I still have the photos, both before and after saved just in case. I have seen this dealer mention only once or twice on this board and he has never advertised on this site. So he has no connection to this board.
Was the gun worth the price? A gun is always worth what the buyer is willing to pay, as long as he is getting what he paid for. This gun should have been sold as a nice "reconditioned" gun not a closet queen. Listed that way and sold of the same amount and I would have no problem with it at all. I know now who did the work and I am sure it was done well. So well that most here would never pickup on the job. If not for the fact I had owned the gun I would have not picked up on it but I had and I did. The dealer hung up when I questioned him about it.
To give the devil his due, you do describe work you have had done on your stock, even if others here so not like what or how it was done. To the best of my knowledge you do not try to pass off upgrades or reconditioned guns as high condition factory originals.
So Santa Clause aside, I do not think a fraud or theft by deception is something I would have liked. Think about how mad the buyer would be if we crossed paths and I told him and showed him he got screwed. Showed him the before and the after pictures. For that reason I will not let out the serial number of that gun or name the dealer. And I suspect that no claim could be made after this long but there I could be wrong. Sometimes statues of limitations start after the fraud is discovered in some locations. Still I have not intention of raining on someones parade. Let him enjoy his gun.
