To restore or not

[barbarossa]

I recently purchased a 1937 small bore mauser ES 350 B 22 and while the overall condtion of the rifle is very good the barrel has numerous pits and some bluing loss on it from being stored in the rifle case.Because of the heavy profile of the barrel I could clean up the pits no problem and have it reblued .The bore is perfect and the stock is in great shape even still having the mauser imprint on it.my question is should I restore this piece or just leave it as is warts and all.

Ps I attended a gunsmith course at the Colorado school of trades years ago and hand polished many a barrel so redoing the metal wouldn t be a problem

[crs]

You might try shooting it before you decide.

[Pete44ru]

.

Do it ! ! .

.

[Rusty]

Unless it won't function I'd leave it as is.

[Tycer]

Warts are coming back in fashion.

[claybob86]

Picture?

[barbarossa]

Here s a pic of one of the spots.I m leaning towards refinishing the barrel mainly because I will never sell it .I had one of these mauser 350s before when I was at gunsmithing school that I found at a pawn shop in Lakewood ,Colorado.The gun was missing the rear and front sight and someone removed the mauser logo on the butt stock and cut a diamond shape in it and filled it with plastic wood to make it look like a poor mans insert.One of the instructors at the school had a correct rear sight for it that he sold me and a made a new front sight insert. I re shaped the butt to remove the diamond and refinished the gun.Unfortunately I sold that gun years later and have regretted it ever since.This gun will be its replacement and is in much better shape with a very nice stock with mauser logo and a numbered to the gun rear sight etc
Also I am planning on shooting it for a while so if do refinish it will be sometime around March as a late winter project

[claybob86]

Yeah, with the pits gone and a high quality polish and blue, that would be a fine thing!

[gamekeeper]

Yeah, with the pits gone and a high quality polish and blue, that would be a fine thing!

As an ex barrel filer in the gun trade I have to agree..

[marlinman93]

Since you have the knowledge and skills to refinish the barrel, I'd certainly do so. I wouldn't refinish anything else, unless it needs it, but the barrel obviously needs to be brought back to a higher level.

[barbarossa]

Yeah I ve decided to rhand polish and reblue it as the stock is in such nice shape it would a shame not to.The trigger guard etc are in great shape as well so it will just be the action and the barrel that gets a nice makeover

[claybob86]

Looking forward to seeing the results!

[jd45]

If it were me & I had the capability, I'd make her sparkle like a diamond! I say go for it!!! jd45

[1894c]

RE-DO... re-finish... :)

[DocRock]

In favor of refinish. I'm in the middle of a Savage 99 salvage and the barrel on yours looks a much easier polish and blue. Congrats on a great find and good luck.

[JB]

Leave it as is. Future collectors will thank you.

[marlinman93]

Leave it as is. Future collectors will thank you.

In the future collectors will like rust pits? I'm glad I'm too old and wont live to see that!

[claybob86]

Leave it as is. Future collectors will thank you.

Never mind the collectors. It's YOUR gun, not theirs!

[DocRock]

I just finished mine. Not sure it will ever be of interest to a collector, but it's certainly better than it was!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=75564

[stretch]

Based on what you've said, I'd refinish it.

Let's see some pics when it's done!

-Stretch

[barbarossa]

It s going to be a winter project for those cold indoor days.I m actually looking forward to doing it, as I stated I'm not going to touch the stock or anything else just the barreled action.It will make areal neat gun to take to the monthly Turkey shoots at the club(If it's too accurate they ll probably ban me from using it

[JB]

Leave it as is. Future collectors will thank you.

In the future collectors will like rust pits? I'm glad I'm too old and wont live to see that!

They'll like rust pits far more than a refinished guns. At least any military or training rifle collectors I know. He can saw the barrel off and paint it gold if he wants, but he asked for opinions.