I started researching about 3-4 years ago maybe 5 because I had a Winchester that I'd owned for decades and wondered about it. After working with a very knowledgeable person, it turns out that it is in original configuration including a AU recoil plate. Turns out to be a known mirror image Winchester in the CC data base a few numbers away. If this carbine had fallen into the hands of the part swappers, they would have tossed the Underwood part, removed the type 3 sight and type 4 Win trigger housing, because some duck told them they didn't belong. Goodbye original carbine. The very part that they discard is what makes the case. I think of these obsessed people like children; they like it, they own it therefore it is OK. While they destroy history, ruin perfect carbines and make fools of themselves when they put them up for evaluation. It would be like all of a sudden nobody trusts anything about carbines anymore. I have watched this same crap with cartouches on Garands, it became laughable to watch fools argue over something they knew nothing about. Sad part is like you say, when these dopes get tired of this game, their legacy gets sold to other poor suckers. When the benchmark is original carbines, building ersatz originals defeats the purpose.
