Restoring barrel w/light pitting & rust -- 1939 Ithaca 12g Western Long Gun

Tldr;How do I clean up this barrel as my grandfather's 80th b-day present?


My grandfather's 80th birthday is in 2 weeks, and he has owned this gun since he was a teenager. I know this is a little late to get done in the time frame. But I saw this gun today for the first time in roughly 15-18 years, and it's condition saddened me. I had no idea it was in this kind of shape. My grandfather keeps such good care of stuff normally that I'm a little confused by it.

The last time I saw it, my grandfather fired both barrels at once without giving an inch, at 65 years old. Tough old cookie. My cousin fired one barrel a few years ago when he was 20ish, and it spun him around in a circle. Sucker kicks like a mule.

It has kind of a neat/sad story. My understanding is the family pooled their money and bought the gun used as a birthday present for his cousin who was fighting in WW2. However, he didn't make it back, and since he had no brothers, and my pop was the closest male in the family in age, they gave it to him.

Also, my grandfather has had dementia for several years, but it has recently been confirmed as Alzheimer's, and it's progressing fairly rapidly. My grandmother has to dress him some days. I'm just happy he remembers his 6 month old great-grandson he has been bothering me for since I was 9. But I would like to do this as maybe the last gift he receives while still mostly cognizant.

All of that brings us to the gun itself. How would I go about doing a mild restoration on the barrel? The stock looks great, but as you can see everything else is a tad rough. If it would harm the value I don't want to do it. While this gun will never leave the family, and I will never shoot it because of my bad shoulder. I would still like it to stay in shooting shape, and for it to retain as much value as possible. The light rust you see on the barrel is also on the inside of the barrel and on the pin facing. But it's not as badly pitted on the inside as the outside. The gun also has a strange smell to it, kinda like acid and kinda like gun powder, moisture maybe?. Not sure if that helps or nor.


















Edit: Does anyone know anything about Ithaca mark I need? Wondering if the dog was a custom mark that the family had put of the gun, or if it's standard for the model.

Also, the western long gun model, did that mean it came with a full choke from the factory?