Thanks for the responses guys. At this point any money I will put into it will be to make it fire well, anything else would just be a bonus. I may price out reattaching a bayonet but I doubt just any gunsmith would do it well. I'd be nervous about taking it to someone who I didn't know would do it right. I don't intend on selling it at all, but I do want to keep the thing in good shape and restore it as best I can afford.

As far as the bayonet goes, I was reading on the Mosin that it fires best with the bayonet extended due to "barrel harmonics"--I believe it pulls to the right iirc, as the bayonet folds down on the right side. Have you all noticed something similar with these guns that didn't lose their bayonet? Or would that not be as important considering that the Carcano's bayonet folds under? I'm just curious how much reattaching the bayonet could change how this fires.

Do you all have any recommendation for the cleaning/care of the wood, or do you feel I even need to bother? The AX doesn't bother me at all, I just pretend it was on there before it came to the US, which may or not be true but we'll never know. Considering the weapon has probably only had 2-3 owners since it was brought over after the war, its a possibility, and I'm great at denial.