Well Larry, I thought you were ignoring my posts. Actually, I knew that you read them regularly, but pretended to ignore them.
I see your reading comprehension hasn't improved a bit over the last year or so. Nowhere in my last post did I suggest that the stock and forearm were original and made by Rivolier. But I'd bet that when this gun left their factory, it had a stock and forearm. Very early in this thread, I said this gun was either a lightly used closet queen or had been refinished. A couple posts later, I agreed it had likely been restocked. In the past, (not in this particular thread)I have noted several times that old wood finish typically shrinks into the pores, and lack of that is a strong indicator that a gun has been refinished. Most wood finishes tend to oxidize and become darker with time too. Before I found any images of original RPF guns, I did not know how their stocks were shaped and checkered, so I admit that I thought it was possible this one had been stripped and refinished, and that the original wood may have been re-profiled.
Pretty safe bet, Keith, that the gun had a stock and forend when it left the factory. Once completed, its next destination would have been either to the buyer or to some other gunshop that sold their guns. But that's not saying the stock and forend were necessarily made by Rivolier. I think we've all agreed that even large makers sometimes use outworkers. Given that there was never a shortage of outworkers in St. Etienne--evidenced by the relatively large number of French guns that don't have ANY maker's name--that's quite possible. But, having looked at this gun on Cabela's website and having spoken with the guys at the Gun Library in Rogers before this thread ever appeared, it was clear to me that we're not talking about the original wood. The wood does not look the way it does because it's a "closet queen". It looks the way it does because it's a custom job. And, as best I can tell without having it in hand and looking at it, I'd say a pretty darned good custom job.
And no, I hardly ever read your posts. In this case, from comments made by others, it seemed that it was one of those rare instances when you were actually contributing something of substance. Bravo! Every now and then, you stumble down the right path.
Last edited by L. Brown; 03/23/17 12:23 PM.
