To blue or not to blue a Winchester 69

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My grandfather passed away a couple years ago and I was fortunate enough to receive his Winchester 69, it is easily the most accurate rifle I own and can still put 3 rounds in the same hole despite 1937 mfr date and a ton of wear and tear. I got it in pretty bad condition but with some clp and a brush I was able to get most of the rust off the bolt and barrel the inside looks clean but I want another’a opinion on weather to blue it or keep it in its “relic” condition.
 

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Bronze wool and oil on the exterior. Leave it as it is. It is only original once.

I have reblued only one gun in my 80 years and that was a family piece that was very poorly taken care of. I polished all the externals and reblued it. That one was severely rusted, yours is simple surface stuff.
 
What do you like?

I like the old patina, so I'd leave it as is. But it isn't my gun.

If you like blue - then get it blued. Hell, spray paint it if you want - it's your gun. I'm pretty sure you're not planning on selling it, so other's opinions don't matter.
 
I think it depends...

There are alot of votes to leave it alone and they make sense. Also some really good advice for minimal cleanup. The wear looks pretty honest. But this advice may not be what you're looking for.

It seems pretty easy to spend more than the rifle resale value having it gone over, but maybe the personal value is far greater. If you go over it, you might as well really go over it. You probably won't be happy with the result if you just get it refinished, some other component will be the new let down. The stock looks like it could use a good bath at a minimum and potentially some sanding & refinishing. I'm guessing something in the action could use love - it looks old. Perhaps you could even find a period correct optic - the scope in the pics look potentially newer than the rifle? So if you go in this direction it might be worthwhile to do something like Turnbull and have it returned better than the new? Maybe you could do a more reasonable version with a local gunsmith and some prsonal elbow work into the stock? A furniture finish shine could look really cool! My dad took this approach back in the day with an old Savage 22 (pre-owned at the time) and it really does put a smile on my face every time I see it.

So what would make you happy? Which version of it puts a bigger smile on your face when see it or handle it? At the end of the day, it would be really sad if some part of you is disappointed every you time you see it because it isn't refinished. However, it is even sadder if you long for the original condition after getting the work done.

Anthony
 
Watch mark Novak on you tube. He has a few videos on conserving blued finishes. You can steam the metal and then card it back to blue.I did it on an 1873 of mine and had great results
 
I decided I’m not gonna blue it, too easy to mess up and it still works so there no reason to mess with it. Thank you for your opinions.
The only thing I would do is stabilize the rust.
There are lots of methods???
I have a old ruger 22lr thats a bit more “rusted” than yours. Its going to get the boiling/steam method at some point
 
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