So I picked up this PPCo scope from a fellow board member a couple of years ago in hopes of finding a mount... a search which still goes on. So after reading the thread provided by ValleySniper on disassembling it (thanks so much by the way) I started thinking about restoring it since it is already pretty well compromised and I wanted to address some of the lingering rust spots. I just wanted to get peoples thoughts before doing anything and I also have a bunch of questions about it and if I did decide to restore it.

For starters, any ideas why there are three solder spots on the rear objective housing ring? Not sure why those are there or what was going on prior to soldering.

Obviously the ring that normally goes on the tube right in front of the rear objective housing has been removed as you can see the markings where it once was.

I'm also curious about the holes on the bottom side of the scope which are slightly offset and not directly on the bottom.

So if I was to restore it here is a punch list of things I would need to figure out:
1) Was the tube blued or painted. I suspect salt blued by the looks of what little finish is left.
2) The objective and ocular housing and saddle look to all be a semi-gloss black paint. Anyone know a good paint choice. I'm thinking a semi-gloss engine paint that has ceramic added for durability.
3) How should I go about filling the holes in the tube? I don't have any welding tools so I'm hoping there is some other way or material that will also be ok if the tube needs to be re-blued.
4) I need to get the missing ring for in front of the rear objective housing made up. I wish I had a lathe as it looks pretty easy but not having any machining equipment that will take a bit of figuring. I also need to find out the thickness of that ring. I can tell the width from the markings that are still on the tube. I assume that ring was silver soldered onto the tube.

Aside from the cosmetics, the functionality of the scope seems fine and the optics are pretty clear and crisp. Everything seems to work properly and if I take it apart I'm sure a good lens cleaning will help even more.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.
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