I fixed the forend screws with original screws.  I will buy a period correct rear sight.

The inner magazine will have to get a new assembly.  This is by far the most rare and hardest part to get.  Call it what you may but it will be a lot better than it was. 

martin rabeno said
Interesting discussions to say the least and all god points made.
So, as I make it out. Repairs and restorations, not fakes, are acceptable as long as there is full disclose to prevent thievery down the road. As long as it is done skillfully and correctly. Right ? Of course a restored firearm is not everyone's cup of tea and naturally worth a fraction of an unrestored one
  

Martin-

I'm not sure you're asking this question of the right people. The purist collector will not be interested in the results of even the best quality restoration, if he can detect it. Many times he considers himself the temporary custodian of the guns he loves. The folks paying the big bucks for high condition firearms don't seem to be quite as picky, as long as it looks like it should. This category of collector may very well lurk here but probably doesn't post much if at all. He makes his preference known at the auctions. In my observation there are an abundance of less discriminating collectors, knowingly or unknowingly, at all price levels of collectible Winchesters. As there are fewer unmolested examples every day the future of this hobby will have to recognize the value of the non-original specimen. The high condition, original specimen will always be ultimate prize but many disappear into private collections for decades at a time. 

I think the answer to your question is the same as to the collector who has a nice specimen that needs a bit of oil on the stock, a few screw slots straightened up, a sight repaired or replaced with the correct model or an abused specimen needing a complete restoration with new wood, new barrel, new stampings and new finish; your gun, your money, your call. 

Quite frankly, if this isn't a hypothetical question I'm looking forward to seeing the before and after pics. I love a good project!

Mike

New copies of these screws are of course readily available. But I was hoping to find some vintage screws (early 1900s manufacture, certainly before the switchover to Model 94). I've found a few offered on eBay, but they're in awful condition, with badly mangled slots.

Would anyone have any suggestions as to where I might find vintage screws in reasonably good condition? Or should I just remove some of the bluing on the heads of the modern screws to match the current condition of the tang?

Personally, I’d rather see an abused wreck of a good Winchester restored rather than parted out and, in one small instance, have done just that.

Anthony said,

I really think that an abused 1 of 1000, receiver that is a rarity in itself, or an example that was worn past recognition, which in all reality is hard to imagine, should be restored properly, but not misrepresented! It can be done properly, without trying to make it into something it wasn't. Putting it back to it's originality, instead of leaving it by the wayside and not doing anything with it, would be disastrous. IMO! 

Especially if a talented person had the means, the talent, and the upstanding, wherewithal to do so! It wouldn't have to be admonished into something more than what it could be or should have been, but what it was, originally, and documented as refurbished, with as many original and existing parts that could be acquired, to do so! 

If I had the talent, and the means, and was able to acquire a receiver, from an original 1 of 1000 rifle, meaning that other original parts from a certain rifle weren't included with the receiver, I would absolutely try to put it back to it's originality, with as many original parts that I could acquire from the proper resources, and even if I had to talk to let's say a reputable company like Turnbull Restoration, I would do that, for the correct Deluxe, "XXX", wood! IMHO!

Tony

martin rabeno said
Interesting discussions to say the least and all god points made.
So, as I make it out. Repairs and restorations, not fakes, are acceptable as long as there is full disclose to prevent thievery down the road. As long as it is done skillfully and correctly. Right ? Of course a restored firearm is not everyone's cup of tea and naturally worth a fraction of an unrestored one
  

As long as there is provable full disclosure, I see nothing ethically wrong (or, for the artisans involved, hazardous) with a restoration and the market will decide what the piece is worth. 

Personally, I'd rather see an abused wreck of a good Winchester restored rather than parted out and, in one small instance, have done just that. 

I suppose there could be an issue in the case of a truly unique arm - say, the pistol used by Burr to kill Alexander Hamilton in their duel. If it existed in 30% condition and had absolute provenance, anything beyond wiping it down to preserve it from further deterioration would be wrong. 

What somebody wants to do with a rusted piece of steel that was once part of a valuable and rare, but not unique, gun does not bump my revulsion meter.

Building a gun around it and palming it off as real and original is a felony and should get the perp a good stretch of "porridge and mailbags", as the coppers at Scotland Yard liked to put it. 

Tim

So, as I make it out. Repairs and restorations, not fakes, are acceptable as long as there is full disclose to prevent thievery down the road. As long as it is done skillfully and correctly. Right ? Of course a restored firearm is not everyone's cup of tea and naturally worth a fraction of an unrestored one

Some owners don't deserve their rides. 

Until recently (or maybe even currently?) some folks actually raced Cobras in vintage races. I suppose that would be like taking a One of One Thousand on a two-week African safari. 

Mike

Disclosure separates the sheep from the goats. 

Proof of his or her sincere attempt to achieve permanent, irreversible disclosure is important to the artisan. 

For everybody else, the woods are deep and dark and full of tigers.

TXGunNut said
 I have been made aware of a number of serialized Shelby Cobra frames awhile back that reportedly sat in a field for a few decades before someone decided to build a few of them. They were supposedly titled as a vehicle matching the serial number on the frame even though they were built decades later in a shop near here. I have seen the finished products a few times, they bring a price that boggles the mind. 
Mike
  

One of our WACA members restores Shelby Cobras.

Another blurb on this. Last year I had a chance to buy an 86 SRC in 45-90. Sure everyone knows by now that 86's are my undoing. I had to pass because it was restored. It was a nicely done resto and sold for short money. I didn't chase it, not because it was a restored rifle, just that it was way to clean for what it was and when it was made. But somebody bought it and it will turn up again but I think it with have gone thru the "aging process" And at that point it will be a little harder to tell if it live or is it Memorex. And it will sell for a good deal more. I suppose I could have done the same thing but my moral compass has a little steadier arrow in it. 

If there's a demand (and deep pockets) someone will supply the product. 

Mike