I need to learn a lot about a few things (Winchesters).
The book learning part is the easy part. Only experience gained by handling LOTS of guns will enable you to spot bad guns and there's plenty of them out there...and it takes time to gain that experience along with a good mentor...
The best advice I can give a new collector who wishes to put together a portfolio of original, collectible guns is to only deal with trusted sources. Ignorance, impatience and greed have cost people a lot of $...
Go ahead and restore that 71. It has no collector potential and never will....use it and enjoy it for what it is...
