I believe the $700 for a decent put-together may now be on the low side by about $100. I have seen a few sell off the EE in the last few months with chest and accessories for around the $1000-1100 range. Not sure I would pay $1300 for a put-together yet though.

I have a factory one which was put in preservation in 48, and appears to be unfired. Matching numbers, matching chest, tag still on the end of the chest, and all the EIS with the rifle. Even a typewritten copy of the checklist enclosed. I doubt I would part with it for $2K.....it would be a long time before I found another.

Run of the mill Cno4s have been starting to catch up to the Cno7s, so the Cno7s are due for a climb soon.

As mentioned in the article on this site, the put-togethers frequently suffer from poor quality control on assembly. If you put a 6" ruler across the face of the folded down rear sight, and also place a ruler across the knoxform (or even better remove the front sight blade and place a short straight edge there) you will usually spot the major problem with the basement specials....the barrels are out of index. It doesn't take much more than a little knowledge and a decent barrel vise and action wrench to get it right, yet still the vast majority get it wrong. Then they compound the problem by adding a serial number that is either out of the proper range for the year of production, or else all together out of whack with Cno7 serial numbers.

Better to pay the couple hundred extra for an original if you can find one. None around? Pay full price for a put-together and the originals will start coming out of the woodwork. At least that seems to be the story of my life.
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