Bizarre finish on a LE T

[Patrick Chadwick]

I would be worried by the obvious serrated imprints of vice jaws on the wood. That does not look very professional.

Then there is the question: why would it have been refinished?
And if it was an arsenal-level job, wouldn't the rifles have been stripped right down to components parts - i.e. with the scope mounting brackets also removed? The screws on the rear mount look as if they were bead-blasted without being removed.

So take a very, very close look indeed (one cannot tell from the couple of photos) in all corners: are there traces of a previous finish that was not removed because the rifle was not completely stripped down?

One obvious reason for a refinish would have been degeneration of the original black "suncorite" coating. Look for traces of that.

Furthermore, I see no traces of the usual factory markings on the side of the receiver. If they have been obliterated, then it was probably a Bubba job.