Good choice!
If you want to leave it as-is, you might give some thought to just cleaning up the damaged area. Pull out or re-set the splintered wood at the edges and in the cracks, then put a little glue in the cracks and clamp them back together, so the damage is "done," but doesn't look like it's still in the process of happening (if that makes sense).
Old damage, minimized, is one thing. Fresh damage that hasn't been touched or attended to in any way is another.
For the damaged wood itself, where pieces are missing, you can mix some turpentine with something to give it a little color, and wipe the raw wood where it's splintered, to make the scars less severe.
Then the whole damaged area just becomes part of the bench's history, rather than recent history.
Using it for a gun cleaning and working station, is an awesome idea. I've got an old, huge oak office desk my dad refinished decades ago, and it has a few scars on it that were minimized. I've also got an old wood box with three drawers, and a hinged lid with a deep storage area, and the lid itself is an inch tall, so there's a drop-down compartment in it.
A hand-written note on a piece of paper in the lid, addressed to my great-great aunt Gertrude, dated 1956 said it was "Grandfather John Holmes gilder's box, and of the compartment in the lid: "this section held gold leaf and other drawers were the tools of the trade." Gertrude ("aunt Doe-doe") died in the 1980s, at 92 years old. So she was already in her 60s in 1956, when she got her grandfather's box... so I'm guessing that puts it around 1870s-1890s, probably.
My dad used the box in our basement for his model railroad tools, and he kinda chewed up the finish on it. LOTS of bright scars where he went through the stain. (he only had it for about 15 years or so, so I'm kinda irritated he didn't take better care of it while he was its steward).
I wiped down all the fresh scars, and now it looks like a nice antique box again.
It sits on the big oak desk, and I use the desk for hobbies in my living room, and the box has all my gun cleaning supplies in it.
I love vintage and hand-me-down things, but they've got to be functional, too. They can't just be taking up floor space. If they're not ideal, the history makes up the difference.
You'll REALLY enjoy setting up that bench to hold your gun supplies, and you'll enjoy working at it on quiet nights.
-Brad
