The GS is asking $2000, too high for even an unissued 03a3. That is why I am trying to obtain opinions of the members of this board to determine a reasonable value to make a counteroffer.
It is a small GS and I have known the owner for many years. I truly believe that both he and the seller believe they have an unissued firearm as neither really knows the original history of it. To them, it is a rare and valuable rifle. To me, I am treating it as a possible investment opportunity. (I already have two 1903's as shooters.)
I have other military arms besides the 1903's that can be easily identified as rebuilds / modified. This one is stumping me. Upon close inspection by me, the pieces do not look like they have been refinished. The parts that should be marked with an "R" are correctly marked, the lettering is crisp which leads me to believe it was not refinished, the stamps on the stock appear to be correct, the screws are not marked/damaged and the surfaces are not worn. It just "looks" so good. However, as noted above, it has a couple of anomalies that are unusual, but based upon my limited research thus far, are in the remote realm of possibility.
If I had the rifle and disassembled it to investigate further, I might be able to assure myself of its actual condition, but unless I purchase it, that option is not available.
I would greatly appreciate any advice that could be offered to find the "smoking gun" attribute on this rifle to determine its true condition. I thought this might be the parked front band and the lack of a barrel date but even those are possible from my research.
If it would help, I could go back and attempt to get some better pictures with better lighting conditions, though that might be in a couple of weeks.