Older target rifle - restoration question

[jmaurer]

I have a Remington model 37 Rangemaster w/ Redfield sights. Stock is in good shape - some small handling marks. Metal is pretty good with a few very small rust spots. Appears to have been poorly re-bedded, maybe with epoxy. Bore looks good to my untrained eyes.

So it appears to be a nice example, a shooter for sure, not a museum piece. My question is, what's considered kosher in terms of restoration? My guess is that at minimum it could benefit from being professionally re-bedded. Is it better to keep stock and bluing as-is from the standpoint of it's value as a historic example?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
Jeff

[pdeal]

From what I have seen, the value of a target rifle pretty much follows its usefullness to target shooters. I would not hesitate to refinish the stock, put a little cold blue on it, fix the bedding, anything it needs. In my fooling with older guns I tend to avoid drilling and tapping or cutting on things. These guns had simple stocks with basic finish. It is easy to refinish and make it look nice while original looking.

[dlb]

http://www.remington.com/library/histor ... del_37.asp

Generally it's a bad idea to attempt any restoration on a collectible firearm.