Dated mine to be a 1974 year of manufacture. My 7 yo decided he want to redo it with me so we got a good start this weekend.
He also said it needed to stay blued and wood for now so the scratched and lightly pitted brown patina metal got buffed with some entry cloth and 3 coats of cold blue applied. Still has some visible flaws but I didn’t plan to make it look new.
All new factory springs and screws on order from numrich.
The thick factory finish was stripped and the stock is currently drying from its second coat of spar varnish allowed to soak in and wiped dry to seal the wood. 2 more seal coats and we will star tru oil hell until the foreman (7yo) says it’s done.
If nothing else it will be a fun project with my boy and I won’t be into it for more then $80 all in. Pretty sure the boy will claim it as his when it’s all complete but so be it.
