OK, I'm back again, sorry to keep leaving you folks hanging.

Some of y'all got a lot better deal than I did, I think! But like's been said, I got a functional gun at a rock-bottom price. Still kinda flabbergasted at the Sandersons, looks like on a good day I could get more for them than I paid for the gun mit. Might have to re-write the thread title to The -$35 Highway Patrolman.

steelslaver, that rust blue sounds like a great idea. It's right up my hobby alley, something I can do in an apartment closet that will look nicer than I deserve. Is that what one would call "an old-fashioned rust blue"? I'm thinking I could even use a heavy/reinforced cardboard box, just have to find a place to get the gun blasted cheap.

The piece had already been completely taken down, thoroughly cleaned and de-rusted with Evapo-Rust before posting. The only thing I didn't get off was the rear sight assembly, I thought that the de-rusting treatment would loosen it up but it had the opposite effect. Still haven't gotten around to trying it again since the OP, but have hit it with the Kroil a couple more times but don't let it sit & soak since the gun is still on standby for ready use. I realized vibrating the screws was pretty useless considering that Kroil is supposed to get into gaps a millionth of an inch wide. Seems to me that the ATF/kerosene thing would be better for a more time-consuming treatment of guns that've been rusted shut, provided you put the gun in a sealed container.

General Flunky, from what I've read Ospho doesn't remove rust, it converts it to iron phosphate as a base for painting. (I seem to recall that "Parkerizing" is a basic phosphating process that was invented for the same reason, as a base for other finish work.) It would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about a hidden speck of rust getting missed by the bead blasting, but also more expense. Think I'll just hit it with the Evapo-Rust one more time before blasting and doing the rust-n-rub process. Looks like I'll have some time to get caught up on the chores & projects, my current schedule has 3 days off a week.

Also found this in an Amazon review, just an FYI:

"I shared my discovery with a friend and he pointed me to the data sheets for this and Klean Strip’s “phosphoric prep and etch” product. They’re identical—each are 45% orthophosphoric acid. The difference however is that Klean Strip’s product is $16 per GALLON, making it less than a QUARTER the price of Ospho."

Your testing on critters is very good info. The classic lightning bolt .357 Magnum round for decades has been the Remington scalloped jacket 125 grainers, representing the ultimate one-shot-stoppers. But we all know bullet technology has marched on... I did a good bit of research and picked bullets that have been shown to stay together and penetrate, not just blow up in 10" of jello. (Gold Dots.)

That brings up a point that always confounded me: Almost all gun guys will espouse rapidly expanding bullets as the only acceptable thing for SD, "energy transfer" or whatever, but then those same people in hunting threads will say how you have to have a solid bullet that can penetrate. Seems to me that stopping, say, a 180 pound deer isn't that far removed from stopping a human assailant. To my mind the main reason for expansion isn't a bigger wound channel or "energy transfer", it's to limit penetration to minimize danger to people beyond your target. Subject for another thread I think.

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