[Ron Wood]

Thanks Wes, your points are well taken and I agree the paranoia is repulsive.

I do not deny the frame has been welded, I guess I just think the welding may have only involved the coil spring modification. An old model frame with a stock lug requires much more fabricaton than just grafting on the lower 2/3 of the frame. Multiple weld sites would be apparent, particularly in the area of the stock lug. If the addition of the stock lug to an old model frame was done so skillfully as to be difficult to detect, why was the upper portion so "botched"?

As to the front strap protrusion beyond the grip, I think that is more the fault of the fit of the replacement grip than the frame. The frame at that point is almost paper thin and it would be difficult to flatten it that much and not cut through it.

I think I will still wait and see a while longer.