Leave it alone. The gun has character as-is. but won't when its re-blued. Those guns aren't bad about rust anyway if cared for properly.
JR
If it had been cared for properly, this post wouldn't exist.
Best,
Ted
You can wear almost all the blue off of a properly cared for Model 12 in 50, 60, 70 years or so.
JR
My 80 year old Remington model 17 retains perhaps 90% of it's original blue, and was my only repeater for most of a decade. Like the 60 year old Browning A5 my Father bought new, just the sharp edges show loss, and the finish will be servicable for a long time to come. Both have been used very hard, but, not much recently. I was 17 when I got the model 17, and it had been used hard before that. The difference between it, and my first year model 12 was that the 17 was stored indoors and was owned by a few people who understood the concept of keeping a gun clean, and the usefulness of a wipe down with an oily rag.
Bless those folks.
The model 12 was stored in a chicken barn from at least prior to WWII. We know Uncle Rolly owned the farm prior to then, and the gun (and, chickens) came with the place. He farmed until perhaps 1975, and the place was sporadically lived on, or vacant, until 1995, when he died. I got the gun because nobody else wanted it. The toe was broken off the stock, and the long term, damp storage gave the gun an even coating of red rust. Which, "grew back" perhaps a day or two after it was wiped off. Just as sure as the sun rises, nickel steel does rust, given the right circumstances.
I assure you, nobody would have looked at it and pronounced it full of "character". With use, the frosty appearance of the inside of the barrel gave way to an passable bore. But, sometimes, a gun will need service to it's blue.
Not every gun. But, some of them.
I see the same thing with the car guys, out there waxing their "original paint" car that has had the sun burn just about everything except the primer off the thing. Eventually, all finishes need maintenance. For every closet queen gun there are hundreds that have most of their blue and are just fine, and dozens like mine that do work, but, will look a lot better doing it with freshening up.
Best,
Ted
