Stan has hit the nail on the head. Most dealers, even the big names, just don't know a real gun from a fake. But they don't care. Why do dealers buy bad guns? Because they know they can sell them for the big bucks. Always buy the gun, not the dealer's reputation. I have bought some wonderful guns from crooked dealers. The "Man from Pennsylvania" sold hundreds of faked up guns, but some collectors have bought great guns from him also. He is an example of a real high level crook, because he had the guns faked up and sold them as originals. However, we don't know if he knew the difference when on a shopping trip. Again, he didn't care.

If they know or not, is besides the point. Many put the gun out there for what it is and let the buyer decide. When it boils down to it, how can they absolutely guarantee that a gun is completely original when they just came into possession of it after a 100 year or more life?

Its like a Persian rug takes 3 lifetimes to interpret casecolors