I am not usually a big fan of stock carving. I do appreciate the workmanship when it is well executed, but to me, it usually looks tacky and gaudy. But, overall, this gun is pretty attractive and the workmanship is top notch. When carving is present, I much prefer it to be used along with checkering so that the two complement each other nicely. This gun is that case exactly.
It does look to me like the wood may possibly be original to the gun and the original checkering was just added to and embellished with the carving. And the additional engraving was added to the barrel.
The fitment of the pad may just be due to climate change and wood shrinking up some. It could be corrected easily if desired, or even better, get that white-line thing off of it and put a more appropriate pad on it.
Nice find.
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B. Dudley
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