Mike, I do enjoy the dialog and I am in no way taking your comments the wrong way.
My main point is that "factory original" condition is not the only legit baseline for original militaria, nor in many cases even the most desirable or valuable.

Some easy examples that come to mind are: camo painted German helmets, painted U.S.A.A.F A2 jackets, U.S. or German Ordnance level sniper rifles, SS conversion G-98 to 98k config. rifles, period upgrade Oberst tunics to General officer tunics (thousands done like this no doubt and this would play heck with Holters insignia stitch counts) and last U.S. AB jumpsuit pocket re-enfocement and camo painting on the cloth....ruins the factory condition of these items! These are but a grain of sand of the items modified, converted and upgraded at all all levels of the supply/maintenance system.

My other point is that factory condition mint collectors are not neccessarily more selective, more "purists" are more anything that those who seek out items that show overhaul and modification post factory release.

I will conceed that most U.S. rebuilds encountered will be post WWII (03s may offer the largest exception to this as many were re-built before and during WWII and not touched again...or even re-issued) and that fact does affect thier value as pure WWII as issued arms.

Read the section in the Ernie Pyle book "Brave Men" about his tenure with the Normandy small arms repair unit. I read this when I about 12 years old and it "changed my life" in regards to how a would later feel about re-furbed items. I would pay 4 times the amount for a proven "Ernie Pyle" Normandy rebuild (no way to ever prove it however!) than I would a mint unissued Garand from say 1942.