My personal philosophy with my guns is to (1) leave guns with honest wear alone (2) repair and/or restore guns that have issues which affect their cosmetic and/or functional value. Those are subjective determinations for me to make on my own guns. How far to go (repair parts or full restoration) is also subjective. Once the decision to repair or restore is made, it should be done right and a gunsmith that specializes in the gun to be restored should be used.
We all like original guns, but as the first poster said, most are not all original. Also, there are some incredible gunsmiths out there that do great work which has value in and of itself. The fact a gun was restored by Del Grego, Bachelder or Oscar Gaddy would get my attention if I was considering a purchase. You need only surf this forum to see some incredible work.
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