If you are going to refinish them, why not restore them to as close to their former glory as possible? It requires a bit of research, but it can be done. I'd leave the bluing alone on any but the worst case (and common variations) of milsurps. I will allow another member of the Russian Mosin Nagant Forum to state the case for preservation of not only Mosins, but all milsurps, for he did it far better than I can:
On the Mosin Forum, member FreeDumb posted;
"Well, I sure have learned about Bannerman conversions and the link that "Guest" provided certainly answered the "who is Bannerman?": the pioneer of army surplus. Up til now, I have been amazed at how many rifles are availabe to me at low prices, but upon reflecting on Bannerman and the incredible numbers of rifles that have been produced, I am now wondering where have all the rifles gone? Why aren't the importers advertising M91's? There were millions of them. I am beginning to see that preservation of old rifles is a here and now event. Mosins were safe while stored in Russian armories, but now they are hauled out and blown like dandelion fluff all over the world. Only the ones that fall into sympathetic hands will survive. All the rest will vanish.
This is a watershed posting for me. I bought three Mosins because Aztec was selling them cheap. Cheap connoted a throw-away rifle: trivial. I was truly shocked when postings about spiffing up a Mosin were attacked. I couldn't see anything wrong with trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I have done a LOT of reading since then. I follow the posts on this site and occasionally some others. I have gone over the cartouches on my stocks and traced where my rifles have been. I bought the Mosin-Nagant manual by Lapin and read what was expected of the previous owners of my rifles. The sentence that jolted me awake was: "If the rifle is exposed to droplets of chemical warfare gas during combat the shooter must, using his individual anti-gas packet, remove droplets of chemical warfare gas from the rifle parts which he touches while shooting, after which he is to continue to fight." Care of the rifle was paramount, fighting came second. I am starting to view my rifles as icons of an era. It is my DUTY to keep them clean. I read that when it is -20 degrees, use kerosene instead of oil and I think of those poor cold bastards hunkered down for months fighting off Germans, hunger and the cold and the most important thing was to keep their rifle clean and in good repair so that it will survive, longer than they will, to someday end up in the state of Illinois in the USA. It's a hell of a responsibility to inherit for $69.95. I was fooled by the price: the "you get what you pay for" mentality. I got a whole lot more than I paid for and I am just beginning to realize it."
Ask yourself this: Where are all the M1903's that were $200 ten-fifteen years ago? Swedes are already getting harder to find, German Mausers used to be under $100, no more. Yes, it's true Mosins are still a bargain, I just bought one today for $49. (1946 Izhevsk M44) About as common as Mosins come, yet you won't see me doing any more than cleaning off the cosmoline, (which I was doing when I saw this post) and keeping her well cleaned and oiled between outings.
Repairs and restoration done well, yes by all means, but please be mindful of the 'history you can hold in your hand', and be authentic in keeping it that way.
