If you had a historic combat rifle that was in good shape except for its bluing (poorly applied in the first place as the Reich crumbled), would you have it re-blued? Or should the rifle be left alone and just kept oiled?
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If you had a historic combat rifle that was in good shape except for its bluing (poorly applied in the first place as the Reich
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I would reblue it. Of course I am partial to keeping my rifles and rarely consider resale value. I had a German mauser reblued back in the 80's because I would clean it at night and when the sun came up over my hill country stand it would have a light coat of rust. I constantly wanted to take it apart and clean it in the stand.
It took me a while to find a good gunsmith that would do it. It also was pretty pricey, but it was worth it because the rifle looks great. I would not recommend trying to reblue it yourself with one of those kits.
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Don't reblue it. It will ruin the collectors value of it. Whether you plan on selling it or not it will eventually pass to someone else, they'll appreciate the worn well used rifle more than a reblue job that won't improve the looks that much anyway.
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I wouldn't reblue it unless I was having other work done on it. One of my Mausers had the original 29.1 inch barrel, which never seemed "natural to me, so I had it shortened - the barrel was cut to 24 inches and recrowned. Of course, the front sight had to be replaced, so I chose one I preferred and, as long as I was addressing other priorities, had the piece reblued. I'm not concerned about collector value; it shoots very well in my hands and it has earned its keep.
Briefly, if it bothers you or negatively affects your shooting satisfaction or pride of ownership, then reblue it. If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Christian please note that I refered only to my personal old military rifles which happen to exclude any valued at more than a couple hundred. Anyone offering a grand for a mint Arasaki since I need the cash for my RBL 20? Also please bear in mind that a good bluing job might cost as much as the rifle's value. Even if I had a mint Mississippi rifle I still would not rework it.
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