Well I stopped at my local gun shop looking for a summer project. The goal was to find a rifle to strip down literally to bare wood and shiny metal then refinish the wood and reblue it. Well as a Colt man( dont hit the monitor and yell at me yet) I was not aware of what a Model 8 was until I got home. This one SN 55xx had maybe 20% blueing, a need for the wood to be cleaned but not necessarily stripped and sanded if it hurts the value and decades of grime under the forestock. So now the question- clean it and keep it as is then go back and get the Model 14 also a 35Rem caliber and use that as the project or go ahead and refinish this one as there is not a lot of value in it in the first place other than the fun of having and shooting a Model 8.
thanx
flanman
Now what
Re: Now what
A four digit number with 20% blueing is one to not be messed with. Nothing wrong with a good cleaning, but do not 'refinish' the metal. Small cracks in the wood can be repaired carefully without affecting the wood finish and will make it more valuable as well as more useful. Any rust on the metal can be removed carefully with 0000 steel wool. Clean it, shoot it and enjoy it.
Re: Now what
Thank you for the follow-up. I will be getting an aperature sight early next week and will only be disassembling and cleaning with a little shooting as I have learned that you are correct four digit SN in working condition is not a project rifle as a Model 8 but a collector piece( not nec greatest value but worth keeping and not devaluing) flanman 