Quote:

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...complaining about a 2nd hand gun not having X or Y feature is pointless.

If you want those features, order a new bespoke gun
or find a 2nd hand gun that has them.

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I guess this is where there is something of a division between the higher price echelon buyers and the more "normal" buyers/collectors like myself.
Most of the guns I have bought have something "wrong" with them. Either refinished (which if done in period does not bother me at all), rebarreled (which is perhaps unfortunate but again if done in period and for a good reason is OK), repairs to the wood or restock (guns don't get restocked for the hell of it so it is what it is), restored etc.
Depending on the price, I can accept any of these things. After all, they can't all be as new and a little wear here and there is comforting when taking them out anyway. Call it character if you will.
Now, if I WERE buying an H&H Royal, new or used, I probably would like to have all of the "bells and whistles" just because that is what fits in my mind's eye of what a Royal is and as Normann says it doesn't hurt in resale.
I suspect, right or wrong, that most buyers of the high grade Hollands, Purdeys, Rigbys, Westleys, etc. are under no pressure to buy a gun and can wait for the "right" one to come up for sale. Right in either condition or provenance. Whereas the middle level buyer has to deal with striking while the iron is hot and his finances and tastes come into line. That is, IMO, why so many of these high priced guns languish on the market.

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He who lives in the past is doomed to enjoy it.

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