Constable Giles Posted February 7, 2011 Posted February 7, 2011 The new vaquero grip frames (blued models) appear to be made of aluminum. My oldest of the pair has the bluing (or anodized?) finish worn off pretty bad. Anyone know what it takes to get these back to the original color? Process? Cost? DIY? Quote
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted February 7, 2011 Posted February 7, 2011 The new vaquero grip frames (blued models) appear to be made of aluminum. My oldest of the pair has the bluing (or anodized?) finish worn off pretty bad. Anyone know what it takes to get these back to the original color? Process? Cost? DIY? My new vaq's are steel frames; color finish would be blued. Check your frames with a magnet. Might be one stuck on your refrigerator door. If frames are steel, then they can be cold blued with (my favorite) Brownell's Oxpho Blue. Others may work as well, but I have been through many other cold blues that work less well. This is $25 for the liquid and very DIY possible, with a good color match if done according to instructions. A full hot blue could be done, but the hot bluing I've had done on old vaquero frames did not take well, which is common to Ruger cast steel parts - kinda plum color and not very deep at that. If the frames are aluminum (which I doubt), then they can be re-anodized (probably best sent back to Ruger for that, definitely not DIY, Ruger may still do this for free or moderate cost) or painted with DuraCoat or other modern gun paint ($25 for the paint, $50 for an air brush, $100 up for a compressor, if you want it nice - can be DIY but a local gunsmith probably can do it cheaper). good luck, GJ Quote
Constable Giles Posted February 7, 2011 Author Posted February 7, 2011 My new vaq's are steel frames; color finish would be blued. Check your frames with a magnet. Might be one stuck on your refrigerator door. If frames are steel, then they can be cold blued with (my favorite) Brownell's Oxpho Blue. Others may work as well, but I have been through many other cold blues that work less well. This is $25 for the liquid and very DIY possible, with a good color match if done according to instructions. A full hot blue could be done, but the hot bluing I've had done on old vaquero frames did not take well, which is common to Ruger cast steel parts - kinda plum color and not very deep at that. If the frames are aluminum (which I doubt), then they can be re-anodized (probably best sent back to Ruger for that, definitely not DIY, Ruger may still do this for free or moderate cost) or painted with DuraCoat or other modern gun paint ($25 for the paint, $50 for an air brush, $100 up for a compressor, if you want it nice - can be DIY but a local gunsmith probably can do it cheaper). good luck, GJ Garrison Joe: You are correct, indeed. Tried the simple magnet test (duh!!!) and confirmed. Will give the Brownell's product a try. Thanks! Quote
Captain Woodrow Cahill, SASS # 54363 Posted February 7, 2011 Posted February 7, 2011 Howdy Constable - you'll be pretty happy with the results with the Oxpho. I reblued a Sharps and it turned out a nice deep blue/black. Probably the best cold blue product on the market. Quote
Tucson Jim Posted February 9, 2011 Posted February 9, 2011 (edited) When your NewVaq grip frame looks like this, it's a point of pride: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4258670614_6340197613_b.jpg Took me six years to get it lookin' like that. I've had other gun folk snicker at me for carrying an SA, and then they take a closer look at that grip frame and...they don't snicker no more . Re-blue? Are you kiddin? As an aside, that gun is emphatically not SASS legal . It's a pure "street creature" daily CCW rig. http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440073 Edited February 9, 2011 by Tucson Jim Quote
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