The only Club that has a requirement to be AS ISSUED or USGI is the Cast Bullet Association. Their reasoning is that new production (Criterion, Douglas etc.) are made to much higher tolerances than the issue and government replacement barrels were. In CMPicon the Criterion is perfectly legal. Value is a relative thing. The number of old military rifles is pretty much fixed if not going down. Maybe there are 0.1% that were sporters and "Bubba" adjusted that are being restored. That however begins to use up the also limited supply of original spare parts. Guns as investments are good and like all things financial, timing is everything. I don't see any real reason to think prices are going to crash. If there is a big push to eliminate some or all guns in the USAicon, who knows what will happen with prices. My M1903a3 is in the refurbished sporter category. It shoots fine, but the scope mount holes pretty much sent it down to second tier status. You will probably get more than you paid for it regardless of its provenance. Just some will make more than others. Hope you get what you want.

Dave
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