Buy the rifle not the story!!!!!

[Seaspriter]

It is unfortunate there isn't a site where honest restorers could publish what was done to bring a gun back to how it was when originally built. A serial number/model and pictures of the gun or whatever would be shown.

I'm with you on this. My personal solution, in lieu of a website, is to do a full documentation of "before" and "after," then print it out, roll it up like a scroll, and put it in the buttplate hole for posterity.

I recall a post from Roger Payne about a month ago where he cited a sniper rifle he owned that had changed hands and was being sold at a gun show, with new matching numbers stamped on where none existed before. In the near future this will be indistinguishable from an authentic gun. Guess there's no way to avoid a fake, except by purchasing a grungy gun that no one has monkeyed with. I've found this a good way to ensure a semblance of authenticity. Of my dozen Enfields, the average price has been between $300-325 USD, most of them never been touched since imported into the US years ago. Got some real gems that way.