Well, I spent some time tearing the '73 down to the bare frame and assessing the damage. The bottom line is that I have a good, sound action...and that's about it. I was hoping to be able to reline the barrel, but it is too over-buffed to salvage. The action is good, as are the internals. New wood is on the way. So thus far, these are the parts I need to start scraping into a pile:
-Buttstock and fore-end (Ordered. Will be here before Christmas)
-Barrel
-Mag tube
-Mag tube plug
-Mag tube bearing ring (maybe...the jury is still out on this one)
-Mag tube bearing pin
-Dust cover and spring
-Mainspring tension screw
-Lever safety spring
-Buttplate w/trapdoor (Unless I can weld up and repair the current buttplate)
After I get done fitting the new wood, I will start polishing the action and action parts, getting them ready for remarking and color case hardening. While they are off getting color cased, I will polish and nitre blue the screws, pins, and loading gate. I think installing the new barrel will be towards the end of the rebuild.
I have to admit that I am really drawn to having the action charcoal blued instead of color cased. The problem there being that color casing takes about a 350 grit polish, whereas the charcoal blue takes a very high polish of over 1000 grit. I can do a hand polish that high, but I don't know if the action is in good enough shape to support it. Once I get to the 300-grit level, I'll make a judgement call as to whether I will take it any further. Call it a decision point....