T99 Long Rifle. Worth Restoring?
How scarce are the long variants? Would an early? no series Nagoya(s/n 7800) with scrubbed mum and mismatched bolt even be worth the expense and effort to restore?
It needs wood, all band screws, rear sight slider assembly, a mag spring and follower(I may already have those) and cleaning rod. It's been neglected and is fairly well covered in rust all over. I've tried cleaning it off but it's to the point where the surfaces are mildly pitted so I'm thinking of having it bead blasted and blued if I get that far. Bore is good except the last 3/4'' which is also severely rusted but I could counter bore that little bit I reckon. So far the correct stock and hand guard have proven to be all but impossible to find. However I've located one with some metal up for auction but it may go for more than I want to shell out. It's been sanded but that's no big problem really, considering the metal will need refinishing to get rid of the rust.
What I'll end up with if I manage to complete this project is a refinished mixmaster with no collector value but at least I'd have a representative example that I can shoot with no worries. What ya'll think? Restore it or make a hunting rifle out of it?