I think that's the same with everything. I swapped a friend an Savage over/under 20 Ga for a brought home Garand that the guy had gunsmith sporterize after WWII. He didn;t want it anymore because all he ever got when he went to the range was, "Blasphemy! A ruined Garand". I told him I wouldn't worry about what everyone else thinks. I got the rifle to the range and it shot better than any Garand I ever owned or shot. When I think more about it there was some guy that went to Europe to fight for his country. He carried that rifle for 2-3 years or more, slept with it, ate with it and it kept him alive. He brought it home and had it made into a deer rifle he thought so much of it.Who am I to question some war hero actions?
When I was a kid you could go to any gunshop and have your pick of the barrel with Lee Enfields for $20. The first thing we did was cut up the stock to make it into a light weight deer hunting rifle. Now there are Mosin Nagant collectors? Who in Gawds name wants one of those POS's? LOL!
Here's a couple of pics of that rifle:
Bob