Is it better to delete old blog content and 410 it?

Hey guys I need to clean up content on my work`s blog but I`m torn. Is it better to delete old blog content and 410 it (if it`s completely irrelevant and can`t be updated) or 301 redirect to your blog`s homepage or something? (I`m wondering if you`re penalised for 410s and Google treats them like 404s...)