Blackhawk Restyle

Sharps40 · May 21, 2014

As concerns ease of application of the rusting agent, nooks and crannies are best left to English Muffins.

But, 12 hours into the process and this is a glorious first bloom of lovely, amazing red rust...!

Another 5 AM dollop of acidic sauce (the fourth in a 12 hour period) and let the process work for another 12 and I'll boil this Ol Gal about 5 PM tonight for the first of several times.

Sharps40 · May 21, 2014

I O-Fish-Alley Poununcikate Three Skrew BlackHawks easy to rust ... rust blue that is. Purple be dayumed, yer hot tankin it wrong if ya can't get it to rust into black I'll bet!
First boil...durn rusty!

For whats touted as a super strong gun, sure is a lotta holes in the frame. Like swiss cheese wif all them pins and screws and such....I do another its goin flat top and vaquero taper on the top strap....heck, even the top strap has three holes in it out back just for the rear sight. Get out the hot air gun and dry it good so's it don't spot and ya won't have to strip it and start over.

This is where ya get that sinkin "Tis Ruinated" feeling....sure is ugly....but it won't be by the weekend...!

That there ugly bloom of oxides is a promise of Glory unnerneath. On the paper and handled finger print free.

First swipes with 0000 steel wool....much deeper black than expected and deeper black than the camera shows. Dayum nice first bloom. I predict this here Ruger is gonna rust to beauty quicker than I thought. But I can already see, hard to card, lots of corners and the holes eat the steel wool. This one's gonna take a few extra pads of wool and lotsa paper towels ta handle it wif.

All carded and awaitin the second pass with rustin sauce. Real purty, I like it. Gonna be a nice satiny deep grey black when all done. Got tomorrow off so, acceleratin the finish time cause I'm sure I can rust and blue up to 2 or 3 times per day in this heat and humidity.

Sharps40 · May 21, 2014

Hit it with the sauce for the third time tonight.....not feelin up to another boil an carding so,.....let er rust....we'll catch er in the AM.

Sharps40 · May 22, 2014

Very nice results this morning. The steel is well blackened, the look is velvety deep grey black and I am more than pleased with the results so far. Much less smut on the steel after boiling this morning and in carding I note the finish is clear and unspotted. The barreled action is up on the stand and coated with a nearly dry application of Pikingtons at 65F and 60% humidity. I will be applying 1 or 2 additional wipes of sauce over the next 6 hours or so. Lunch or shortly after should see an opportunity to again boil the action further building the finish. At this rate, I need to get busy cleaning the guts in preparation for final assembly. The project appears to be tracking somewhat ahead of schedule.

Sharps40 · May 22, 2014

I think its almost done. Smut was much less and the color still very even and the grain even finer. Once more and I'll see what it looks like about 5 or 6 PM after another boil and carding. But, experience tells me this Ol Gal has about as much color as she'll take and further work will likely not result in better color. That being the case, after dinner tonight may be cleaning and oiling all the parts for morning assembly.

In any event, I couldn't be happier with the look of the finish on the frame and barrel.

Sharps40 · May 22, 2014

This is the first revolver I've rust blued. Its a difficult job. More so than most rifles. Hard to hold, hard to coat, hard to card and hard to get into every space. But it turned out pretty good. This and next post are the pics of all the parts blued. A few dings and pits in the metal, one light spot I think I can darken but over all, very very nice and I'm quit pleased. The finish holds up very well on rifles but holsters are hard, durn hard on finish...including stainless. Time will tell but if this one winds up a safe queen I'll be upset....I think it would make a very fine every day companion breaking brush in the woods or working around the farm.

But here are the parts....all coated in Rig and Hoppes and resting one final night before assembly. Tomorrow morning should see it assembled and dry fired....maybe live fired too!!!

Good color match.

Good color match up front too.

From above, a tiny patch of pale finish near the barrel frame junction...perhaps some oils wicked out of the threads.....anyhow, I'll try a touch up in the AM to blend it. If not...no worries, it'll fit in with some of the pimples and pits acquired since this one came along in the 60s. Incidently, cleaned the bore, it looks great inside. Its a very strong bore for its age and pretty darn smooth. As I saw earlier in the build, it shoots very well.

The other side....the small pits on the recoil shield are not too noticeable, no more so than they were originally. There are a couple more on the cylinder, front of the frame and a slight mark on the barrel. All acquired fairly over the years and not out of place or unexpected on a working gun.

A quick look out back. Still some more tooth brush work to do inside to get the recesses a bit cleaner and I need to work on the screw and pin holes with q tips in the morning to clean em out.

Remember this part? It was a while back....

Sharps40 · May 22, 2014

Just nudging some of the major parts closer together for a look it over kinda shot.....not bad. Black and brass and a semi flat gate and pretty nice grip that came out of that rick of maple fire wood...it even fits okay.

And over to the other side.....

Last ones...some of the frame and barrel with less glare.....

From above....

Left side....

Quartering away, best take yer shot now!

Sharps40 · May 23, 2014

Lets go over pimples and dimples first. I've never accomplished perfection on my own even with a perfect starting platform. This one came to me with a great condition bore and reasonably tight cylinder fit and it already had the Ruger transfer bar conversion. So the game was on. The gun had a few marks and I've included a cosmetic flaw or two of my own.....seems I always do. But the overall package is more than decent and I like it a lot. I'm not a fan of safe queening any gun and so, a few minor imperfections are like the first scratch in the bed of a new truck....glad to have it, now I can stop worrying and get busy and use it!

A spot or two of light pitting of the cylinder came with the gun, more than I'd prefer to polish out and I seem to have added a spot or two to the rust blue in close proximity to the pitting. Don't know what happened....the process was clean, clean and the spots are darker....typically a spot is a bit lighter. I dunno, but I'll go with it.

At the top of the frame, I don't think these are pits....given a mark on the barrel top I suspect these are boink marks from rough handling or perhaps a drop onto a rough surface....maybe someone was twirlin it rather inexpertly!

Back here on the recoil shield, some light pitting, close to the edge and hard to buff out without changing the shape of the edge, I left it go. Maybe long time in a holster or maybe just a long time layin on foam on this side. (A bead blast finish would have hidden all of the marks but it'd sure be a flat finish and a bit greyer than black due to being a bit rougher finish.) Also, here not that I missed a spot on the grip frame polish, where the vertical section of the frame and grip frame meet....after the test fire, I think I'll dismount the grip and buff that last lil file mark outta there.

Unfortunately, I didn't catch this when I purchased the grip frame. It comes fitted and polished.....on this side, the polishing slightly undercut the vertical tab and there is a slight gap between wood and brass. Had I caught this up front, I'd have returned the grip frame for an exchange. I'll have to check more carefully should I ever to another like this.

Here's what appears to be the other boink mark on the top of the barrel.

Sharps40 · May 23, 2014

Couple of posts here with the final photo tour. Off to the range this afternoon! I'll report back on the results with a varity of 38 Special and 357 Magnum.