First time in this thread in a long time. I need to sperg slightly but I do have something relevant to the topic.
My dad died a little over a year ago. He was a good guy and I miss him terribly, but we were very different people. One of the few things we had in common was guns, even though he was more into them than I was. Since he died I've barely touched any guns. Anyway, he left me some guns. Nothing mindblowing, but a few cool ones like a relatively early 870 Wingmaster. I thought I had found them all, but we were going through some of his old stuff and I found a couple interesting items. A Ruger Mk I, and an S&W 19. Both appear to be mid 70s. They have a few condition issues, like some light rust and a lot of general finish wear. Oh, and also being completely disassembled.
I think he probably took them apart himself. He was a machinist in a previous life and did a lot of his own gun work unless it was extremely specialized. Bluing might fit that. I remember he mentioned once that he was a few guns he wanted to get refinished and I think these might be the ones. I THINK everything is there, and I believe I could probably reassemble the Smith if I put my mind to it. Less sure about the Ruger. I guess I could pay to have it done, but I'm thinking about finishing (hurr) what my dad started. Reassemble them as-is just to make sure I can, test them, take them back apart, get them refinished, then put them back together and have a couple pretty nice old guns.