Hello. I've seen several references to "rash" on blued revolvers, in particular on the backstrap, but haven't found info on what, if anything, can be done to fix it or diminish it. Can anything be done? Is there nice bluing under there or is the best you can hope for is to take the roughness out of it?

I'm asking because there's an otherwise nice Model 36 at a local pawn shop priced at $299, but there's this "rash" mostly on the back strap and somewhat on the underside of the trigger guard. If some kind of fix is possible, I'd strongly consider picking it up since otherwise the bluing on the rest of the gun is very nice.

Thanks for any info.

At $299, I’d jump on it anyway. Especially if the rest of the finish is in good shape and lockup and timing are good. Any idea how old it is? Does it have a letter prefix or a letter in the s/n, or is it all numerical?

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

IF you aren't particular (and not OCD, like me!) then you could buff it out and cold blue the spots. The trigger guard should be the easiest to do - as long as the gashes aren't too deep. I use (and feel free to laugh at this!) Revlon nail polish file sticks to do this on stainless. They're about six inches long by maybe a half-inch square. They have a total of six grits on one file - and they will polish away problems pretty fast on S&W stainless. Again, though - I haven't tried any really deep gouges. Then you could heat the trigger guard up (I use my wife's hair dryer) and I use Birchwood Casey cold blue. It'll likely never blend in correctly and fully - but it will look better. I also use 000 steel wool - with rubber gloves on - to help blend in the cold blue ... followed up (Quickly) with the same 000 with a few drops of CLP on it. Degrease again, heat up, cold blue, CLP on steel wool and repeat until you like it.

I now wish I had made note of that info, but didn't. I sort of anticipated going back for it (I was hitting a few different shops) but something stopped me last minute.

The tag showed it as a 36-2 if that tells you anything (but I didn't confirm that). Weren't those produced circa 1988?

After polishing the sweat corroded area, of all the bluing solutions out there, I've had the best luck matching with OxPho Blue paste from Brownells and NuBlue.

See Various BLUING Products test here:

Evaluation of several cold bluing products (w/pics) - 24hourcampfire

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Jim
S&WCA #819

My opinion may be different here than most, but if I were buying a quite common model such as you are talking about, I would NOT start out with a damaged gun. The minute you decide to repair it you are looking at what a nicer one would cost without the headache.

A model 36 is as common as the chicken pox and there are thousands for sale without the "rash". Just my opinion of course.

I'm beginning to think you have a point. I just picked up a pretty nice 36 and was considering this one because of the price and the fact that other than the spots mentioned, the bluing seems quite nice. I'm just on the fence right now.

36s might be common, but not for $299.
I vote to grab it.

And you may have a point as well. It pretty much looks like this, but with rash on most of the blackstrap and less so on the underside of the trigger guard.

Attached Images

IMG_3939.jpg (245.6 KB, 72 views)

Thanks for that link. It was an interesting read and something I've been curious about for a while (i.e., choosing between bluing products and which is "the best").

You're very welcome, my pleasure.

For that price of $299 you can always get your money back plus.

If you like little projects it can be fun. I'll always grab a worn gun that's sound so my grandkids can shoot it and I don't have to worry about them scratching it. They can learn how to handle properly with it before they graduate to shooting my nicer guns.

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Jim
S&WCA #819

it was discussed here before: soak for a day in Kroil, then go over with 0000 steel wool (careful) or bronze wool. Soak again a few times, repeat the process. Let it sit with RIG grease on it a few days and all the rash will kind of heal away. If yo are impatient, use Flitz cream but that takes more bluing off. You can also use a fine polish jewelers cloth but that takes blueing off when not careful as well. Never left a gun behind only because of some rush spots...thise are the best deals and often unfired (why otherwise would they be rusted).

Freckling is another term for the rash. It is surface rust , commonly seen on the back strap on guns carried , hands and fingers leave rust causing prints from acids in the skin ( sweat moisture ).
Is there nice blue under it ? Not really , it's like scar tissue , more brown than blue. The model 58 in my avatar was carried for years by a police officer friend. He traded it to me with a bad case of rash , like yours. It looked bad.... I had a can of Turtle Wax Chrome Polish and Rust Remover..****st remover ? I tried it, the results were good. It doesn't reblue your gun but it does clean and remove all the surface rust . It did not remove any existing blue , it did clean and brightened the existing blue. After I was done I decided I liked the honest wear left by the years of patrolling our cities streets. The backstrap is not a high blue but a subdued grey...it's from honest use .
Follow the instructions , work on a small section at a time, at first a brown color will be picked up by the cleaning cloth, that's rust and grime, when the cloth shows a grey or black color on it the rust is removed and metal cleaned.
Be careful with 0000 steel wool , it will remove bluing. 0000 copper wool, from Brownells, is much safer to use.
Trying to remove rust once I discovered how easy it was to go down to bare metal with steel wool....be careful with it .
Do the Turtle Wax cleaning and see how it looks, might surprise you how much better it looks...a wax job, after cleaning , also makes it a bit better.
Good luck,
Gary

Around my neck of the woods you can easily find a used M36 in respectable and good mechanical shape for $350. For the extra few bucks I can't see why anyone would want a damaged, rusted or pitted gun - just my .02 cents though.

Well that was easy. The Model 36 sold last night about 15 minutes before closing. I think someone probably saved me about $100-200 worth of headache.

Same here, but everyone is different and price is subjective. So we lay our best advice on the table and it's up to the OP to decide how to move forward. Informed decisions are based upon data, and the more data the better.

I would like to point out though, I believe there are TWO types of "rashes". Which one it is could matter.

The first type of rash is from rust and corrosion. It could range from light freckling to thick bumpy mounds, depending on severity.

This type of rash requires the rust be removed, and once removed the possibility of bare metal spots is pretty high. Since you never hear cold blue matching real well to the original finish, I would rather not have a gun that needs portions reblued. I would either leave it as and use it (after cleaning off), or not buy it. Refinishes are out of the question, for me at least.

The other type of "rash" is from handling. This is usually found on the muzzle ends. I'm not talking about blue loss, I'm talking about handling rash which is often from careless/abusive owner. Letting the muzzle bump off stuff, sitting the gun on rough surfaces, dropping it, sliding the gun across surfaces, etc.

This produces white "pits" immediately, no rust. It also looks terrible. So when you see a gun with muzzle rash, you can rest assured that it was not from "honest" wear. Although, I guess it could be depending on your definition of "honest wear" when it comes to revolvers, but in general, a gun that has been banged around and dinged enough to cause rashes isn't considered "honest wear".

Make the best decision for you OP.

without actually 'seeing' the gun and just what YOU call rash (or freckling) we've seen so many over they ears , and have that bit of corrosion over those two areas the trigger bow , underneath, and on the back strap, we cannot say how many we have TLC'd, touched up and it is so easy , could do it faster than it takes to type it all out here.
At that price ,get it, and take it to any GOOD shop that has a smith who knows how to refinish or send me pictures in an email and I'll explain to you, heck if you were here ,now that I am retired, I'd do it for you for NOTHING.

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dan
NRA Benefactor,PMA

My deepest condolences on the loss of that Model 36. Yes, there are the naysayers who think that paying more for a less finished challenged gun s the way to go (and there is nothing wrong with that), there are those who choose to look at the less attractive orphans as opportunities/projects. While only a couple of my modest accumulation could possibly be classified as safe queens the pride in making a slightly neglected revolver look more presentable is a worth the effort. Not only are those projects fun but you learn and while evaluating the wealth of knowledge on this forum then using what works best for a particular project one can, if careful, not mess up. hardcase60

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You want me to do what?

I think in the long run you will be much happier! There are so many M36's around you should not have any problems finding a descent one for not much more than this one was selling for.

I could understand your reason to buy the gun if it had been $175 - $200. For that price and for a shooter grade many could justify that. But to save only around $50 bucks and have a rusted or pitted gun did not make much sense to me. Especially on such a common model!

I've been in this hobby for 50 years and I have tried doing things like this in the past - I have learned my lesson well.

I have on occasion paid a small premium (knowingly paid a few dollars too much) to get something new in box even though my intention was to shoot the gun. I'm the type that if the gun gets scratched or nicked I want them to be my scratches or nicks. While that may sound funny to some, it's just my preference in life. I'm the guy you want to buy a gun, car, tool etc from.

In the instances where I've paid a premium, the value of the guns I've purchased have gone up so much, the extra $50 or $100 bucks is totally irrelevant at this time (I knew that at the time I bought them). The best part is ...... I've got really nice guns and never have to deal with having them refinished which today (along with shipping, insurance and the hassle of sending them out) "ain't cheap"!

In the past I've had 3 guns refinished. They all came out great however there were hassles and problems along the process. These were not guns that I bought on the cheap (all were purchased new at the time), but rather guns that I just wore the finish out over many many years of competition. Since I was "attached" to those guns and they were part of my "history", I did not really care what the cost of refinishing was.

Some guys are OK with saving $50 or so bucks on a gun and living with an "ugly ducking" - I'm not one of them. To each his own, no right or wrong this is just what works for me.

Good luck on your new hunt! You'll find one.........

A perfect example of what I was talking about.......

About 20+ years ago I fell in love with the Colt 1908 Series M Pistol in .380 acp. They were out of production for many many years and the average run of the mill examples were selling for about $225 - $275. I knew I wanted one bad, I knew enough to realize I did not want to have a historical gun like that refinished, and so I found one in the Shotgun News for $325 + S&H. The gun was 100% original, 98% condition, original grips, and from the period I wanted. I think the total price wound up costing me about $360 delivered. The gun also came with TWO 2-tone original Colt Magazines (now worth almost $300 bucks each when you can even find them) and said gun is now selling for well over $1300 in the condition it's in. NO REGRETS!

A few friends at the time of purchase were telling me I was an idiot to spend that much money but I knew what the future was to be and did it gladly. I only wish I had taken my own advise when Pythons were selling for under $500 brand new!