Think about it this way..... If you can buy the gun for the $500 and under range; spend another $1000 to $1500 on it, you will have one heck of a nice field gun for far less than the cost of a comparable new gun. Will you ever realize your investment when you sell it? Maybe, if you keep it for a very long time, but most likely not.
I am about to do the same thing with an Ithaca Flues to include having the barrels blued and the receiver re cased. Some say I am nuts (well maybe I am) but I will have a very nice, light weight 16ga field gun that I will use vs one that sits in the safe collecting age. But, I am not doing it as an investment I am doing it for the want of using it!
