I guess you do what you feel is right with your rifle. I like the restorations that Michael has discussed here - he has the work done by the best people in the country, and the rifle is restored to its former glory. I think that's entirely appropriate. More often than not, factory made rifles have no historical value. Handmade rifles are documents of a mix of cultures and carry more metaphysical weight. One Springfield sporter is no more important to society than another, unless it belonged to a famous person, so why not rebore and chamber it to a caliber you can shoot, if the original bore is shot out? The fact that a great Hoffman or G&H makes my hands shake is no indication of any sanctity as a historical document that should not be tampered with.
I remember a famous gunsmith from Colonial Williamsburg say that he had photos of most of the important Kentucky longrifles found in the past several years, in their as-found condition, since he was often present in the early stages of them being brought to light. Needless to say, their present condition is significantly...ahem..."improved". They disappear into collections and go from restoration to restoration, getting freshened up along the way until they look great. And the price rises accordingly. Often they reappear many years later at a price 10 or 20 times the orginal price with no mention or discussion of any restoration. He thought it would be wicked fun to publish photos of those rifles as they originally were, thus exposing the campaigns of restoration (often re-creation) that no current owner will admit to.
