Argentino M1879 Rolling Block. Is it worth restoring?

[Claven2]

One item of interest is in centuries gone by, troops did not have abrasives available to them and instead used to "bone" their stocks and "burnish" their barrels before being reviewed by an officer. Burnishing in this context was the use of brick dust or hearth ash mixed with spit rubbed into the metalwork with the tip of the cleaning rod. This effectively was like using abrasive polish on the metal to strike it bright and smooth. This is why old muskets rarely have sharply detailed proof stamps left on the barrels

The boning, on the other hand was done usually with an animal bone, often a rib bone. It was drawn along the wood, with the grain, to smooth it out and compress the wood fibres into a more tightly grained surface. This coupled with linseed or flaxseed oil is what gave us those wonderfully smooth finishes on old pre-1900 gun stocks.