[MusgraveMan]

Ugly wood is ugly wood.... I took the stock of off a Glenfield (Marlin) with wood so ugly you'd be embarrassed to burn it in the fireplace and didn't hesitate to replace it with something else. Believe me I didn't think for one second what the collector market might care! I like taking it out in the field a lot more and it has accounted for a few deer. To each his own.

Good thinking by Mike. Much is often made of "collectors' value" and often it really refers to how it appeals (looks) to the owner or new buyer.

Every shooting gun must be made to look as if it has been looked after, is it not? And should we not all look after our guns to keep them looking good for our children who will inherit them? It seems that some folks think a hunting piece can be abused and neglected but the majority of hunters I know have their 40+ year old hunting pieces they are proud of to be admired.

This 8lb 4 ounces with 3-9 Nikon scoped and five cartridges in the magazine BRNO ZKK 601 .308W has 49 years of hard hunting behind it. At this moment it, with its 150 gr Peregrine VRG-4s is on its way for a gemsbok hunt in the Karoo and will be carried for miles and miles, and more than likely rested over a rock for a prone shot of 200-300 yards. If all goes well it will be one bullet, one gemsbok - dead 20 yards from where it had taken the Peregrine. There is not one ugly blemish on it, it is a 1/2 MOA shooter, not bedded, not free floated and a pleasure to look at.