Restore, refurbish, or leave alone?

Hey, I'm new to this forum and hope to gain guidance as well as participate in discussions. I just begain purchasing a Model 99 .300 Savage sn 434xxx (layaway). It appears to be all original with the exception of a missing rear sight and the addition of scope mounts and a possibly a vintage Weaver scope. There is some surface rust and maybe 50% of the bluing. The coloring from the case hardened lever is still present. I know it's one of the most common 99s made but my question is would it be best to reblue the receiver, barrel and butt plate or clean off the rust and leave it as is? I could do the rebluing in a gunsmithing class given at a local jr. College while I work on another project. Thanks for your help in advance. David

If you have access to a hot blue tank I'd reblue it, by the sounds of it right now it doesn't have much condition left anyways so a reblue won't hurt it's value.

+1!!!

A nice rust blue would do wonders.

I agree. What about the wood. I redid a 99 a few years ago and it's really nice.