Would you restore Dad's old rifle?

Have you considered sleeving the barrel. Maybe a used stock that can be refinished. You will still have his original stock and with the sleeving you will still have the look of the original but in a shootable gun.
 
I have a bunch of milsurp, a couple of them would benefit greatly from a refinish, but I refuse to keep them original and to keep there potential currant and future value.

But in your case I would definitely refurbish it. I would keep the stock , refinish it and change the barrel. You could even make it a project with your son, that would've made your dad proud!
 
Much like Grandfather's Axe . . . two new heads and 12 handles but it is still Grandfather's Axe.

Returning it to pristine condition will not deteriorate the family tradition.
 
I would definitely give the barrel a good cleaning before entertaining any ideas of re-barreling. Very few hunting rifles get enough rounds through them to be shot out. Use a good, strong copper-removing solvent or foaming bore cleaner. Let it soak and re-apply until patches stop coming out blue.

The stock has already been refinished, so there is no harm in cleaning it up. Strip the old finish off and give it a nice oil finish. Don't sand it, so as to preserve the "character" of the stock.
 
Lots of great advice.
I'm up with the find the reason it's not grouping and cure the cause.
If the barrel is the fault, I'd search high and low for a used barrel to
swap out.
The stock I would remove the old finish and oil it up as mentioned above.
Leave the nooks, crannies and bumps alone.
 
JMHO mind you but once you "refurbish" an "heirloom" it loses something in preserving the memory of its past history.
A good cleaning & if not satisfactory a very light refinish if it really bothers your senses. Your further ahead to buy yourself
a more "shootable" rifle and keep this one just for the memories as is. --- John
 
What would your father want?
The answer to that question is what I would do, you are the only one that can answer that. My father would want it to look like new. My father in law has already told me, don't change a thing. I refinished my grandfathers rifle as I know he would have done the same. It will be getting a new barrel one day as he shot the original out.
 
You guys are about as split on this as I am. I like the "hunt for a factory replacement and a very light redo of the existing stock. That way, no new blue or anything crazy. I will at least get it borescoped to see what's going on before changing anything. Pretty sure it's shot out though. We shot pretty much every weekend for years, I helped reload countless rounds for that thing. It was a very accurate rifle, now it shoots about 2". I just checked and there is a little bit of room to chase the landes before needing to single shoot.
 
Retire it as is and save it for the memories.

"That's dad's old rifle. Boy, if it could talk..."
 
My vote is fix it up and hunt as often as you can with it.

Years ago my grandfather gave my dad a made in the spring of 1958 Husqvarna rechambered to 270 Wby from 270 Win.

My dad hunted with it for years I used it to shoot my first deer/moose etc then grandfather demanded it back and gave us 4 other rifles that I hunted with for 20+ years.

Then one day a year or so before my grandfather died he gave it back to me.

It now sits in a new McMillan Sako Hunter stock that is cerakoted OD green the barreled action is cerakoted satin black it has new scope rings and bases and a new Leupold VX2 4-12X40mm LR reticle scope mounted.

It looks like new and still shoots fantastic I will hunt it hard and put it thru its paces with its new modern set of clothes on.

Kool thing is everytime I take it out of the safe I think of my grandfather it has even got my now 81 year old dad interested in getting out camping/hunting with me again.

My son will get it back to hunt with it when he comes home from university.

So don't wait just fix that rifle up and get it out hunting...
 
For me...I won't except poor accuracy from a bolt gun. My father was the same but he played with factory rifles until he found a shooter. My accuracy OCD is really only satisfied by custom barrels these days, with the exception of my new go to, everything rifle which is a very accurate Kimber montana. I hope my son knows to rebarrel that sucker at the drop of a hat! Maybe I should just have a new barrel ready for him just in case :rolleyes:
 
A friend of mine acquired his fathers M99 .300 Savage after he died. He had the rifle reblued (it was still shooting fine) and refinished the stock himself. It ended up probably looking better than when his father purchased it. My friend shows real pride when ever he takes the gun out to show off. The question posed by the OP can only be answered by himself. Hopefully he knows what is important to him.

Jim
 
Push feed Featherweight's are not that rare of a firearm. It's always a tough question to leave allow or refinish. The fact that you say the stock was re-done at some point makes the answer, to me, simple. As posted by others clean the barrel well and see if you can get it shooting reasonable hunting groups first. If it's shot out, and doubt it is, you should be able to find a factory barrel which will cut your costs of replacement. Then I'd turn it into a DIY project, do as much as you can yourself. Wouldn't get carried away, just a nice clean rifle with some history still showing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom