[email protected] said
The rifle is definitely a “user” that I plan to shoot and hunt with for years to come. Its heritage is filled with many hunts and I get the most enjoyment out of it when sitting in the deer woods with it on my lap.

If you really mean that, then restoring it to its original configuration–a laudable objective, in itself–seems rather impractical.  You didn’t identify the scope that’s on it now, but a period correct scope would greatly enhance “shooting and hunting with it for years to come,” at no greater cost than replacing the 48.  For all practical purposes, “period correct” means a Lyman Alaskan, which are plentiful & used to be cheap, before the sniper crazies started buying them up to build fake sniper rifles; in spite of that, I think they can still be had for under $300 with rings.