Thanks folks,
I'm going to continue to play devil's advocate here. I'm still not entirely convinced. John, I'm going to PM you the dealer's name & what I paid -you are welcome to share this with the others who have chimed in - or anyone can ask me for the info.
I've posted some more pics - pro & Con. The first three show wear on the receiver/slide area. This is that plum color we are so familiar with. Note the shininess/wear at the top of the frame where there should (?) be some toggle slap. The front strap is difficult to photograph, but it shows the wear at the bottom and the beginnings of a spot of rust freckling in the wear area. The rest of the front strap is almost going to plum and has (seen under a powerful Optivisor) just the beginnings of some freckling. The forth photo is per Ron's request.
Okay, that was the positive -now for the question mark/debatable stuff. The lack of a definitive toggle slap mark has me concerned. There is discoloration and minimal wear. I tried to slip a piece of paper under with out using the extra slack (pulling the toggle back) and could not get the paper to fit. However, comparing to other DWMs, the curve down is different because that end is ground off to take the traditional lanyard loop off.
Now the possible negatives. The bore is pitted, but the groves are there and strong. All I can say is that I have ruined a barrel with military corrosive (decades ago). Next, the screws holding the grips look older - then again, they are in the most prominent wear area of this piece and the grips themselves (matching) are in very nice shape except for the wear near the screws and front strap. Last, and this worries me the most - the front sight has more wear than the barrel and where it mounts, there appears to be some corrosion marks which may or may not be blued over - hard to tell. There is one more curiosity - two proof marks on the front of the sight mount. The left look like an arrow pointing NE and the one to the right looks like a circle with a bar on the bottom.
Ed, I use a Canon Digital Rebel with Canonâ??s EF 50mm Macro. Itâ??s the best lens in its class. Thanks for the compliments on the photos â?? actually, if I spent more time on backdrop, lighting & shooting aperture priority on a tripod, I could have done better.
Bob
BTW Iâ??ve been having internet access problems, so I may be erratic in getting back.