just bought a 1924 250-3000, numbers matching great shape, fed ex dropped it and damaged the stock, a piece broke off. the broker made it right, said send it back or Ill knock 250 off the price. after sending it off for repair it appears this rifle was broke in the same pot sometime in the past. it appears you could see he dried glued from the previous repair. also someone put a sling on it and then filled the holes and re varnished the stock. its a shame that gun owners hide stuff to make more money, i dont blame the broker they are the middle man. how ever the seller may or may not have known what they are selling, however if they did then shame on them. still got a clean bore mechanically sound numbers matching gun for a decent price thanks to the broker

Even dealers who should know better misrepresent, over-grade, on occasion.

When Bearrr264 and I were in grad school we drove from Boston to China, ME, to see an "all original" Winchester 54 in 250-3000. When we got there, the rifle was significantly modified, lots of extra holes, recoil pad, etc. When Dave asked them about their claim of "all original" they said that it was in the original configuration that they received it in. The only good thing about that trip was eating lobsters at Captain Newick's in Dover, NH.

been there, I want to bitch slap several times

WW?

They seem pretty proud of stuff as a whole, but occasionally a deal appears. I don't think I'd buy anything other than rat/shooters from them just because thier prices go from zero to bananas really quickly.

I will say, they shipped me a rifle one time before the check even cleared, which I don't think has ever happened to me with a dealer before or since. 🤔

Is it gun owners actually hiding stuff from some future owner, or is it simply a gun that needed a repair, and we all know some repairs have to be performed meticulously to be effective - and not all work out that way. I fail to see where things that may have happened decades ago, were all done to take advantage of you with today's transaction. Good that you were given the opportunity to inspect and I anticipate returning the product was one option, and you were provided with another option - that sounds fair. It's easy when everything goes right. It's how people stand up when things start to come off the rails that makes a difference.

This happened in 1985/86, before on-line sales became the norm. Wildwood was calling themselves Taylor's of China, ME, back then. Wildwood/Taylor's is a firm NO GO for me, as I don't need the aggravation that goes along with them. I bought from and sold to Kittery Trading Post a lot before I moved to Omaha in 1990. KTP is my favorite dealer in ME, a strong #2 would be Howell's in Gray.

I've only bought a couple things from them online 3-5-ish years ago. Their prices have gotten a bit salty for me since then.