This was a grade 1, Dave was very helpful in selecting what I wanted. He was in no rush to get it out the door and took all the time to describe what he had and gave very accurate descriptions of what he would send. Seems his basic MO is if a stock does not have any cracks or missing hunks of wood it is a 1, all else is a 2. He was upfront on the surface and finish and took the time to describe every #1 he had that fit my general requirements. He openly stated he did not know the source country of the stocks and that he had been told by previous customers that they were likely Romanian. I got the impression that he would send a pic if I had asked, but I didn't want to risk loosing this one.
Thanks for the advise on waiting for the hand guard wood. That is what I planned, but it is nice to know you guys are that willing to share and help. The only bayonet I've found so far was at a gun show and it was a Chinese knock off. An oval with "MADE IN CHINA" was cast into it near the shank. Almost went for it but that plus it looked like the blade was a cheep casting, I'd rather do without than to use a knock off.