Dumb Question but why is the slide of this old gun reddish brown? I don't think it is rust since it is the whole slide that is affected, but not too sure.
>>65220595Those are poo stains, get some steel wool, soap and hot water and scrub that bad boy down until its the original silver color wll steel naturally is
>>65220597I mean I know the Beretta 1934 killed Gandhi, but it is not from India
>>65220595its rust, just give it some oil & a good scrub with a nylon brushif it doesn't go away, don't worry about it
>>65220595anodizing comes in different colors.its fine and normal
>>65220597>>65220608>>65220612FUCK GIMME 1 ANSWER! I am stupid!
>>65220597>steel wool, soap and hot water and scrubI always recommend muriatic acid from the pool supply store. It works very well.
>>65220618anon, i literally said its rustthe other anon is right too, since anodizing is a form of controlled oxidization (rusting)
>>65220618>FUCK GIMME 1 ANSWERGo to your pool supply store.
>>65220625Dude you telling me that my entire slide rusted. tf
>>65220595Sometimes bluing just kind of does that as it ages
>>65220634yeah, its made of metal, what did you expect?like i said, just give it a coat of oil and scrub it with a nylon brush
>>65220624I never have it on hand while i always have steel wool and soap, but if you happen to have muriatic acid or sulfuric acid on hand those are obviously better
>>65220618They're playing a joke.Bluing is a form of controlled rusting.So by removing your blue, you'd be removing the "rust".
>>65220643Used CLP and nylon. Didn't fix it >>65220650>>65220624>>65220650I thought you had to dilute the shit out of muriatic acid to let it be useable on steel? Besides it has already been through a simple green hd (the purple shit that is good on steel) bath in an ultrasonic cleaner.
>>65220666>Didn't fix itthen don't worry about it, mr satan
>>65220658Ah that makes sense. What even causes the coloring though? Tin composition?
>>65220640ngl that kinda looks cool
>>65220686>What even causes the coloring though?the air contains a chemical called "oxygen"
>>65220686I've heard a variety of explanation why some bluing goes off shade as it ages.From a fuckup in the initial process, to something in the steel's hardness or composition, to UV exposure.Likely it's often a combination of factors.Happens more often to some manufacturers more than others. You see it on old rugers a lot but they aren't alone
>>65220753You also see something similar happen to anodized aluminum though I'm not sure if that's age related or just the dye used during the process fucking up from day one.Either way, harmless really
>>65220595 Its an imperfect hot blue job, either with silica content from the steel itself, an anti rust coating that was improperly removed, or it just did that. Don't worry about it, may be even desirable if it was a factory defect instead of a refinishing mistake.
>>65220801I feel like it's not even the first time I've seen a reddish old pre-Bruniton Beretta
>>65220808Idk, people keep going tard strength for stupid colored ceracokte, but plenty of modern gunsmiths Don't own a steam box, or understand how to Properly rust blue.
>>65220595It's the way that the slide was blued. Instead of a blue color, it can turn out a more plum color instead, depending on how its done. It should still be protective, and it looks good by itself, but I don't know if it's better, worse, or equal to normal bluing.>>65220634That's how blued finishes were made, a controlled and measured sort of rusting which is then refined. It works as a protective layer, and can look quite good.Used to be done on many military and commercial weapons, but these days it mainly remains in the commercial sector, because it simply isn't as good or cost effective as other finishes, but it looks nice and classic, so people want that, thus you still see cheaper and simpler bluing done a fair bit, with smaller scale production of nicer kinds.There's also firebluing, which can look really quite pretty if you get it done evenly, though it's not as strong as proper salt bluing.>>65220689I agree, it has character.
>>65220695I hate that shit! I'm moving to Antarctica, at least they have a hole in it.
>>65220771Purple haze, bro! Lamo,dude!
>>65220753Beautiful.>>65220771I recall having seen a rather purplish looking old A2 upper somewhere once.>>65220808I think I've actually seen at least half a dozen Beretta 1934 pistols with plum slides like these before. Compare to how the bolt-carrier on old SVT-40 rifles can be plum as well sometimes.Here's a WW2 era PPK that's plum.
>>65220686>What even causes the coloring though?>I'm a doctor, not a metalurist!
Oh hey, I found a very nice picture of one that I really like, an old Ruger Blackhawk, and it's got a nicely reddish plum. Also a plausible sounding explanation.https://www.rugerforum.com/threads/plum-coloration-a-discussion.127768/>There are six reasons for guns to turn "plum". First is the temperature of the bluing salts, which must be maintained at exactly 292 deg F. If the temperature is lower, bluing won't take properly. If the temperature is just a few degrees too high, parts will turn plum. Second is the concentration of the salts. Because water boils off, the salts tend to get too concentrated so bluing tanks must be equipped with a water replenishment system to keep the salts to water ratio at 10:1 (10 parts water for one part salts by weight). >If the mixture gets too concentrated, parts will turn plum. Next is "time in the tank". If parts are left in the bluing tank too long, they will turn plum (1/2 hour is normal). Bluing salts do "wear out" so they must be replaced fairly often. When salts start aging, gun parts turn plum. Last is the alloy. Some alloys require special additives to the bluing salts or the parts will turn plum no matter how well you maintain the tanks. In most cases, parts will turn plum right out of the bluing tank. When alloys are the cause, it may take several years for the plum color to show up. I can't fault Ruger for alloy issues during the first few years of production but after that, there's no excuse. Several years ago, it was common to see a brand new Ruger SA with plum parts ... so the alloy was not their only problem. I think Ruger was "guilty" of several of the above issues but they are doing much better now (same alloys).
Also had a picture of a particularly red one.>Back when I had my shop, I had a very nice bluing tank setup. I blued hundreds of guns but always had problems with Ruger SA cylinders, loading gates, sometimes frames, but never barrels turning plum ..... despite my best efforts to maintain temperature and a proper mix ratio. I also had problems with Winchester '94 receivers and any other gun with cast parts. One day I called Brownell's (I used their Oxynate #7 salts) and asked if there was anything I could do to prevent "plum". The answer was a resounding "yes .... buy an additive called Oxynate "S" and your problems will go away." >I did just that and my first "test gun" was my own Ruger Liberty Blackhawk. It had a very plum loading gate and cylinder plus the cylinder frame showed some plum too. Besides, I carried this gun while deer hunting so it had considerable holster burn on the barrel. Guess what? When I took the parts out of the tank, they were blacker than a whore's heart. I still have the Liberty and it is still black with no signs of plum and that bluing job was done 30 years ago. For a handgun sized bluing tank (2 gallons), it takes about two ounces of Oxynate "S", which is now about $2/oz. I don't know how this stuff works but it indeed it does work on Rugers, Winchesters, and any other cast gun parts.
A pair of Spanish Star Model B pistols (think a simplified/tweaked 1911 shrunk slightly for 9mm Parabellum). They have stark plum extractors.
>>65220595Your gun's okay.Surface treatment of steel can have various colors depending on the process and chemicals used and the composition of steel. You can have phosphate finnish that's usually dull gray or greenish gray, you can have browned surfaces like the safety lever on your Beretta, you can have bluing that's any color from ink blue to violet brown to jet black, you can have yellow "straw bluing", nitride finishes etc.IIRC steels with certain amount of silicone in the alloy tend to get reddish brown or violet color in bluing process.In other words, your gun is normal. It is only rusted in such way that bluing is controlled surface oxidation, i.e. forming of rust in a broad sense, and conversion of that rust into more stable and prettier looking iron oxides.Anons that actually can into metallurgy can now deconstruct my post and point out everything I was wrong at.
Are there any actual drawbacks to this kind of plum/reddish bluing, or is it just aesthetics alone?I think it looks good, I wouldn't want to have it refinished.
Bluing can turn purple over time. My best guess is that eventually the bluing oxide wears out and other more natural reddish brown oxides begin to show through.
>>65221469No.
>>65221469every time you pull it out women will say its "twilight mauve" or some retarded name they've made up for colors that don't existi'm colorblind though, so it just looks like grey to me
>>65221500Ruger should offer their revolvers with deliberate plum finishes.>>65221602Only one color tap, huh? Sounds like it sucks, I know a bunch of artists who have two (out of the normal three), and they mostly get by fine, but just one seems limiting.
>>65221602Can you at least see really good in the dark?I've got great color vision but I'm blind as a bat in low light.
>>65221638>>65221745it just looks totally grey to me is all, i can see the safety's red perfectly fine thoughi do have good night vision however, but thats a different genetic thing i think
A Mk.I Desert Eagle would look nice in plum.
>>65220961I have a Sears store brand Savage 29A that I bought purely because it turned plumb like that.>>65222134I think I've seen an image where someone had one like that.
>>65222171The Savage in the other picture is past plum and more a vivid grape red. The one in your picture is plain orange, which I wasn't expecting to look good, but it actually kinda does.
With classic bluing, reddish or blonde woods are pretty fitting for grips, but what woods would go best with these plum shades? Trying to stain some grips a blue color?
This is now a thread for old blued (or plum) steel revolvers and automatics.
>>65220686Slight silicate imbalance in a hot bluing bath
>>65220640The hammer on my 1989 Sig has a brownish tone now, seems common with the early P Series controls. >>65220689Ngl, thought the same. >>65220898>characterThat’s one reason I love old PD trades.
>>65222171Watermark kinda obscures it but LSB sold one like that a while ago.>>65222279I really like it. Both the upper receiver and trigger assembly are orange. I think this is because they are cast steel whereas the barrel obviously isn't, and they must have blued both with the same solution which didn't work as well on the different types of steel. It takes a very long time for this bright color to come out as well.
>>65222171>you used to be able to buy guns at the hardware store and have anti tank rifles shipped to your front porchHow far we've fallen.
>>65223306My Grandparent's town hardware store sold Kyle Shitinpants his Ar-15, Honestly they can get bent peddling 16 inch barreled auto ordnance semi auto Thompson clones, .500S&W revolvers, and whatever meme gun they have in stock.I scalped basically 5k small rifle primers during the pandemic and have yet to use them. Ladysmith, Wisconsin Ace Hardware.
>>65223889You'd have done better in his shoes? He was a kid put in a kill or be killed situation, and really did pretty fucking exemplary under his circumstances.
>>65220595Slide uses a different metal, this is a common beretta 1934 thing. If you try to strip the slide and re-blue it, you risk turning it into a coppery/orange-red color fyi
>>65220595When it's evenly spread like that, when I see it it's usually the result of someone cleaning it with a bronze brush and not getting all the residue off before they sealed it in with a coat of oil. Rust rarely oxidizes evenly that way. Like others have said in here, douche it off a few times with a good cleaning oil and scrub with nylon and cotton. It'll come out.
My Dan Wesson 15 does this. I think it looks sick. Found it at a gun show and bought it up because it looked unique. Shoots like a dream too, great trigger.
>>65226000Dan Wessons are such nice guns. Wish they still made revolvers.
