To restore or not to restore..... That is the question...

[Stradawhovious]

I'd leave it as is and keep it up best I could.

All I have seen is photos, which you say don't do the rust justice, but still, it looks pretty bad ass from what I can see.

The full cleanup will make it nice, in one sense of the word, but I'd be afraid of it losing most of it's character in the process.

I have my Dad's old Remington Fieldmaster he had as a kid, which is in a similar condition. Looks great when well oiled up, but its a constant struggle against surface rust.

That old rifle has character, if you restore it it will never be the same. I had one just like it back in the late 60's.

John

I would leave that patina alone...

Makes it look gorgeous.

I don't disagree with any of these comments, and Thanks Mr. Gigantic Red Hat for your anecdote on your Dad's rifle. Is that the Pump .22 you had in Richfield?

My concern is that I want to keep it as a shooter, and make sure the damage already done doesn't get worse. I want to take it in the field without feeling guilty. I want my kids to be able to sit in a stand with it when they are 50 and not feel guilty about it. I know there isn't a whole lot of collector appeal to it, but it is a really badass rifle, and I would hate to have to resign it as a wallhanger because the elements go to it.

There is some good info in the post from Squib Joe, I'm sure I will just mostly leave it alone and try to keep on top of it. As it stands, right now, it functions flawlessly. I can assume it will stay that way if I keep up on it.

[EJSG19]

Yep same pump .22 you saw. Mine is sentimental and very much so. So my choice to restore or not has that additional weight. I want my kids to learn on the exact rifle their grandpa did. It needs a blue job, but I can't make myself do it so far.

[jspace]

I vote for keeping it the way it is, based on what I can see from the pictures, but doing whatever you can to keep it in serviceable condition. If that means doing some metal work, then go for it. I would keep the stock the way it is. It looks "distinguished"
The pictures could be lying to me though.

[rockcreek]

Generally I am a "leave it in its original state" kind of guy. This rifle however, is not original, and if it would serve you better refinished, go for it. You aren't going to greatly reduce its value. I wouldn't sand the stock, just steam out the dents, strip and refinish with BLO or Tru-oil. I would have the metal parts lightly polished and hot blued. It would make a classy shooter IMO.

[DanM]

Does cold blueing ever look good? Leave classy alone and just do what you can to keep rust under control.

[Stradawhovious]

Does cold blueing ever look good? Leave classy alone and just do what you can to keep rust under control.

The issue is that I'm not willing to spend more than the rifle is worth cleaning it up..........

Moot point however. In a previous post I said I had decided to just leave it alone, and try to keep on top of it. If it comes to the point where function or safety becomes an issue I will revisit this decision. Mostly because it's more work right now than it's worth due to the fact that it functions fine.

[Grandpa Rex]

Do the minimum now and shoot the heck out of it.

You can always restore later. You can't undo a restoration.

Stabilize it and decide in a couple of years.